Court Pushes Back On American Atheists

Headline:

Ground Zero Cross: Court presses atheist group to explain why artifact is 'offensive'

The American Atheists under David Silverman filed a suit claiming that the Ground Zero Cross gave them dyspepsia at the sight of it. Yes, they did that. A court kicked them out, so they took it to appeals. This is the appellate court.

"American Atheists filed the suit in 2011, which was thrown out last year by a federal judge in the Southern District of New York.

The appeals court ruling Thursday cites an amicus brief filed by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm that specializes in church-state law and protecting the free expression of all religious traditions.

“We’re thrilled that the court picked up on this issue,” said group lawyer Eric Baxter, whose brief argued that American Atheists had no right to bring a lawsuit in the first place. “Courts should not allow people to sue just because they claim to get ‘dyspepsia’ over a historical artifact displayed in a museum.”

The museum officially opened on May 21.

The judge has now given the plaintiffs until July 14 to file supplemental legal briefs before deciding whether the case will proceed. Among the questions that must be answered in the new filings is how the offensiveness of the cross, which the plaintiffs view as a Christian symbol for all 9-11 victims, becomes a “constitutional injury.”

The other question is -- if the plaintiffs indeed feel displaying the cross “marginalizes them as American citizens” -- then how is that a “particular and concrete injury" compared to just “the abstract stigmatization of atheists generally.”

The judge has also asked the plaintiffs to substantiate their claim the museum and Sept. 11 memorial are getting taxpayer dollars."

Probably the American Athiests thought it kitschy to claim dyspepsia. But apparently they lied about the use of taxpayer dollars for the museum. Even so, that would compare with the use of taxpayer dollars for Planned Parenthood, it seems. And that causes dyspepsia in me, and death in a class humans. Regardless, here the court is excercising rational due process, it appears. How refreshing.