Last week, a federal district court in Montana dismissed a lawsuit by Freedom From Religion Foundation seeking theU.S. Forest Service to remove a privately designed and maintained monument to soldiers who gave their lives in World War II. The organization argued that the 60-year-old monument — which stands in the middle of Big Mountain ski resort in Whitefish, Mont. — could not be displayed on government-owned land. District Court Judge Dana Christensen, said the monument did not violate church-state separation.
“We still don’t know if a tree falling in a forest makes a sound. But we can be sure that a lonely Jesus statue standing in a Montana forest doesn’t create an official state religion for the United States,” said Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty who defended the monument in court. “The Court’s common-sense decision today honors our veterans, preserves our Nation’s history, and rejects the idea that all religious symbols must be banished from public property.”
Christensen said, “Unquestionably, Big Mountain Jesus is a religious symbol commonly associated with one form of religion. But not every religious symbol runs afoul of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. . . . Big Mountain Jesus is one of the only vestiges that remains of the early days of skiing at Big Mountain, and to many serves as a historical reminder of those bygone days of sack lunches, ungroomed runs, rope tows, t-bars, leather ski boots, and 210 cm. skis.”
According to a press release, nearly 60 years ago, the Knights of Columbus leased a 25-foot x 25-foot plot of land, which lies within a commercial ski resort, from the United States Forest Service on Big Mountain, to erect a monument honoring fallen soldiers from World War II.
The permit has been renewed every 10 years.
