Agnosticism / Atheism: Marines Erect Cross Instead of Flag

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Marines Erect Cross Instead of Flag Nov 29th 2011, 12:00 The job of the Marines is supposed to be the defense of America, but some Marines it seems place their personal religious ideology above America. On Veterans Day a group of Marines erected a 13-foot cross on a hill at Camp Pendleton and did so in a way that was deliberately reminiscent of the famous photo of Marines putting up the American flag at Iwo Jima. A lot has change when Marines think it's appropriate to replace the American flag -- a symbol for all Americans -- with a cross that's a symbol just for them. To honor the memory of four Marine comrades killed in Iraq and to show respect for all military personnel sent to foreign lands, a small but determined group trudged up a steep hill at Camp Pendleton on Friday morning as the nation observed Veterans Day. ... "We wanted them all to know that they'll always be in our hearts, that they'll never be forgotten," said Staff Sgt. Justin Rettenberger. He was also with the 2/1 and will deploy soon for his second tour to Afghanistan with a different battalion. He was wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan but insisted on reenlisting. ... Radetski made sure the cross was carried rather than brought by a vehicle. The trip took two hours. Carrying the cross, he said, makes the symbolism to Marines at Camp Pendleton more profound: The fallen are never forgotten, the mission never falters. Source: LA Times How is it an expression of "respect for all military personnel" when so many of those military personnel aren't Christians? How does it express "respect" for a person when you replace a nation's flag with your own religious icon? The answer those questions is simple: it's not respect, it's disrespect. What's more, it's deliberate disrespect because these Marines surely know both that their cross does not honor veterans of all faiths and that replacing the flag with their cross is inappropriate. Image if Muslims put up an Islamic symbol and said it was designed to show respect to everyone, including Christians. What if Wiccan Marines erected a giant Pentagram and said that it was intended to show respect to everyone, including Christians? Do you really think that conservative Christians would feel "respected," or would they howl in outrage at the idea of an American flag being replaced with a religious symbol?

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