There will be no separation between this steel "cross" and the World Trade Center memorial.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected a bid by American Atheists Inc. to remove the famed cross-shaped steel beams that survived the 9/11 attacks from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
The federal appeals panel sided with Manhattan federal Judge Deborah Batts' ruling last year that the relic's historical importance outweighs potential concerns over issues of separation of church and state.
"[Given] the absence of any evidence of ulterior religious motives, and the undisputed historical significance of The Cross at Ground Zero, we conclude that, as a matter of law, the record compels the conclusion that the actual purpose of displaying the cross in the September 11 Museum is a genuine secular interest in recounting the history of extraordinary events," the panel wrote.
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