John R. Vile, a constitutional scholar and frequent contributor to the Free Speech Center and First Amendment Encyclopedia, has written a new book analyzing the way the Christian cross has played symbolic roles in America and around the world.
An overview from the author: “The cross is one of Christianity’s most distinctive symbols, increasingly cutting across Catholic/Protestant and other denominational divides. Although the U.S. acknowledges no official religion, a variety of both Christian and non-Christian denominations have flourished. Crosses dot the landscape, sometimes towering over it and at other times simply marking a grave or the site of a traffic accident, or providing a place for contemplation. Courts continue to decide whether it is better to remove long-standing crosses on public property to protect the separation of church and state, or whether removing such symbols might be misinterpreted as expressing hostility toward religion. Whether marking identify, triumph, love, grief, or sacrifice, the cross remains important in American life and continues to be the subject of works of art, music, and literature, and political, religious, and social rhetoric.”
The Christian Cross in American Public Life is available from Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Below, you can see a video of an interview with John R. Vile about his book.
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