Atheist group appeals Jesus statue decision

A Wisconsin-based atheist group has filed a 60-page brief outlining its appeal of a federal district court decision that allowed a statue of Jesus to remain on Big Mountain.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation last summer filed notice that it would appeal the U.S. District Court ruling that kept the statue in place on Flathead National Forest land. Last week the group filed a brief supporting its position that the statue should not be allowed to stay.   

The Jesus statue is located on a small piece of national forest land above Chair 2 at Whitefish Mountain Resort. The statue has been maintained at the location by the Knights of Columbus for about 60 years and is considered a memorial to World War II veterans.

Freedom from Religion Foundation claims that the statue is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution that provides for the separation of church and state. The FFRF filed its appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“A permanent Catholic shrine on public land is prohibited by the Establishment Clause, every bit as much as a Catholic church would be,” the group says in its brief.

The Knights of Columbus have maintained that the statue was erected as a memorial to veterans.

FFRF, however, claims that the statue is “an unambiguous and intended religious endorsement.”

“The monument was intended as, and approved by the Forest Service as, a religious shrine — and Jesus on Big Mountain remains a government-favored religious icon today,” the brief states.

In a decision last year, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen ruled that leasing public land within a private ski resort to a private organization that maintains the statue does not violate the Establishment Clause. The ruling allowed the Flathead National Forest to re-issue a 10-year permit for the statue held by the Knights of Columbus.

Christensen said that the statue’s presence does not convey that the government endorses Christianity over any other faith or absence of faith.

The Flathead Forest initially denied a permit to the Knights of Columbus and called for removal or the statue. The decision was suspended after public outcry and the issue was opened to public review. The forest eventually reauthorized a special use permit last year. The decision came after about 95,000 comments were received during an environmental analysis of the permit.