‘Big Mountain Jesus’ War Memorial Under Assault from Atheist Group

July 8, 2015, Breitbart

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization, is being represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions.

“The statue is an important, cherished part of local history at Big Mountain,” said Eric Baxter, Senior Counsel of the Becket Fund. “Intentionally modeled after the statues soldiers encountered in the Alps during World War II, the monument honors those who lost their lives far from home. You can’t censor history just because it includes religious meaning to some.”

The Becket Fund is arguing that the Forest Service allows many instances of private expression on the land it oversees, without anyone considering this a government endorsement of the content of that speech.

“The statue stands in the middle of the ski resort and is just one of many examples of private speech permitted by the Forest Service on public land. The Forest Service is no more endorsing religion than it is endorsing the speech by the ski resort on the same public land,” said Baxter.