A US atheist group has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to order the removal of a cross-shaped steel beam at the 9/11 memorial in New York or request that other religions and nonreligious views be equally represented.
The cross was found amid the wreckage from the terrorist attacks by a construction worker who said he stumbled onto a miracle. It was last weekend moved to the Ground Zero memorial – due to open on the 10th anniversary of the attacks in September – after a blessing by a Catholic priest. It is to become part of the permanent collection of a 9/11 museum opening next year.
Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, the group which filed the lawsuit, said its main concern was equality.
He said 9/11 was an American tragedy, "but the Christian community has secured sole representation in the memorial for itself at the exclusion of other religions and philosophies."
He added: "What we're looking for is a remedy that honours everyone equally, with a religion-neutral display, or display of equal size and prominence." Silverman said American Atheists has offered to pay for such a display and has several ideas to represent all religions – such as a firefighter carrying out a victim.
Reverend Brian Jordan, who was instrumental in their preservation, said people from other religions came to pray collectively when he blessed the beam. He said it provided comfort to hundreds of suffering people and continues to do so.
Museum officials said the cross was being displayed not because of its religious value but the role it played in the aftermath of the attacks.
"The mission of the National September 11 Memorial Museum is to tell the history of 9/11 through historic artefacts like the World Trade Center cross. This steel remnant became a symbol of spiritual comfort for the thousands of recovery workers who toiled at ground zero, as well as for people around the world," museum president Joe Daniels said in a statement.