Most of us are aware of the ongoing controversy in the country regarding the posting of the Ten Commandments in public places. But there's another controversy that's also hotly debated across the nation, with the latest flare-up being in the state of Oregon. I'm referring to the crosses frequently placed on roadsides as markers of highway deaths.
Granted, it isn't always crosses, but they are the majority of such markers. Many states consider them to be driving hazards, causing accidents when motorists gawk at them instead of watching the road. Others consider them simply inappropriate, while others maintain that the crosses do, indeed, violate the separation of church and state, since they are religious ornaments being placed on government-owned highways.
I personally have a problem with them on all three of these levels. The First Amendment aspect is a major factor, of course. I also consider them inappropriate because of what the cross signifies. I've never felt it to be an appropriate symbol of anything good. It's a symbol of how Jesus was allegedly killed, and for the life of me, I can never understand why someone would want to wear it as jewelry or hang it on a wall. If Jesus had been stoned to death, would Christians hang tiny chunks of granite around their necks? Would the Pet Rock have been blasphemous?
But the road hazard aspect truly galls me. When I lived in Pennsylvania, there was a road I traveled fairly frequently. It's a six-mile stretch of U.S. Route 322, just outside of Lewistown. It was a horrible piece of road, with many fatalities over the years. And along that simple six-mile span, I once counted over forty little white crosses.
I'm sorry, but that's an obscene number of crosses in such a small space.
And you couldn't help but look at them. Every few seconds, you'd see another cluster. How can this not affect a driver's attention to the road?
The thing is, I understand people wanting to make a statement by placing a marker in the area where a loved one died. I'm just not sure it's appropriate, whether it's a cross or any of the alternatives in use or suggested for use.
Whether it's forty crosses, or forty broken valentine-hearts, or forty little circles with "Drive Safely" in them, it's still a driving hazard, still an eyesore. The fact that most of them are ugly little religious symbols only makes it worse, not to mention unconstitutional.
