By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—I certainly hope that while the politicians are pleasing the Christian majority of our city with their vows to "save the cross" atop Mount Soledad, even though the City of San Diego has been ordered by a federal judge to remove the large religious symbol from public land, that privately, in their offices, out of view of the television cameras, they are laying contingency plans for complying with the court order.

So far, the actions of San Diego's political leadership have remained within the realm of legal maneuver—all perfectly legitimate in a democracy which values both freedom of speech and freedom of religion.  But they must be aware that the issue is not nearly so nuanced on radio—where irresponsible talk not only is cheap, it boosts ratings.  

The air waves are filled with calls for civil disobedience, such as people chaining themselves to the cross to prevent its removal from the public park on Mount Soledad.  Even such a protest as that, if conducted peacefully, is within accepted parameters of how citizens may try to change public policy.  But should that protest turn to violence—should the religious protesters attempt to do battle with the police who will have to be sent in to remove them—then the politicians will rue the part they played in seeming to give sanction to such extremism.

Right now, Mayor Jerry Sanders is leading the charge to circumvent U.S. District Court Judge Gordon Thompson Jr.'s May 3 order that the cross come down within 90 days, nine days of which have already expired. Yesterday, at a news conference in front of the cross, Sanders told of a request that he and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-San Diego) have made of President George W. Bush to nationalize Mount Soledad park.

If by a stroke of  President Bush's pen, the land were to become the domain of the federal government rather than the city government, it would mean under America's complex federal system that U.S. law, rather than California law, would govern the judiciary's consideration of the cross case.  

Thompson, in deciding for plaintiff  Philip Paulson, an atheist, against the permanent display of the large cross on public land, cited the guarantees in both the California and U.S. constitutions forbidding establishment of a state religion.  Transferring the land would mean the California constitution no longer would be as important a factor in the case.  

With President Bush having recently appointed two new members to the U.S. Supreme Court—Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito—some say the majority of the 9-member court may be ready to change previous Supreme Court rulings on what federal law means concerning the permissibility of religious symbols on public land.

Hunter, it should be noted, is not just some congressman from a district on the other side of the continent from Washington D.C., he is chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, which deals with all the defense spending issues. With the United States at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, he is a man whom President Bush likes to keep as an ally.  Hunter is a military hawk, but it wouldn't be on large policy issues that he might potentially break with the administration, it would be on smaller issues, out of the headlines, but important to the President.

We'll see how this gambit plays out; since 1991, the Mt. Soledad cross case has twisted and turned.  Courts keep saying the cross's location is illegal and the City of San Diego keeps finding new ways to keep it where it is. In several elections, the city has tried to authorize the sale of the land to a private group that maintains the cross atop Mount Soledad as part of a memorial to fallen veterans.  Courts, however, have invalidated the sales because in each case they were conducted in such a way that nobody but cross proponents could get the property.  The courts ruled that even in trying to divest itself of the cross in such a manner, the city government was showing an unconstitutional preference for religion.

James McElroy Jr., the attorney for plaintiff Paulson, appeared unrattled in face of the latest effort by the city to avoid complying with the court order.  "What part of 'unconstitutional' don't they understand?" he asked reporters.  He expressed belief that whether the case is resolved wholly on the basis of the U.S. Constitution, or on the basis of both the U.S. and California constitutions, in the end the result will be the same.  Calling a huge cross atop a mountain top a "war memorial" or a "historic landmark" does not change its primary identification as a symbol of Christianity.  

So, what about the contingency plans?  What gives me the most confidence that they are being made is the fact that Mayor Sanders is himself a former chief of police, who takes such matters as public order seriously.  I am assuming—hoping—that he and the city's current police chief, William Lansdowne, have quietly decided upon a course of action for removal of the cross should the various strategies to keep it on Mount Soledad fail. Perhaps the removal will be done when most people are asleep, or after access to Mount Soledad park is blocked, to prevent rioting. 

One hopes that arrangements have been made for some private party to accept the cross for safe-keeping, because the issue is not the symbol, it is its location.  The very same cross high atop privately owned land would not be controversial—in fact, there are several such crosses dotting  the San Diego County mountain-scape.  I would like to renew my suggestion that the City of San Diego ask the Catholic-owned University of San Diego, or the Church of the Nazarene-owned Point Loma College to accept the cross and erect it on either of the mountain tops where their campuses sit..

Mayor Sanders is married to a Jewish woman, Rana Sampson. His love for her and goodwill toward our community surely have sensitized him to our concern that if emotions are permitted to run too high, bigots may use the controversy as an excuse to attack non-Christians, including us Jews.  We must all remember the injunction to be careful of what we sow.

In my opinion, leadership of San Diego must look to find ways to unite our population behind a new Mt. Soledad symbol.  If indeed, the mountain top is a war memorial—and in this military city, such memorials touch the hearts of everyone—then perhaps the answer is in creating a public subscription fund for building a heroic monument that will depict the heroism and patriotism of our veterans.  

In my mind's eye, I see a colossal  monument similar to the famous Iwo Jimo depiction of the U.S. Marines raising the flag over Mount Suribachi. There should be a public competition for a design.  Perhaps our city will create a piece of art depicting the American spirit in such a manner that  it will attract visitors from far and wide. In such a day, all San Diegans will be able to look to the mountain top—with pride!