To Atheists,

You’re upset over the inclusion of the Ground Zero Cross in the Memorial Museum. You’re suing over it.

Really?

Well, too bad.

You claim the Cross is causing headaches and, “dyspepsia” among your non believers.

Get over it.

You claim that the Ground Zero Cross is nothing but “an ugly piece of wreckage that does not represent anything … but horror and death.”

I am sure, that to you, that is exactly what it does resemble because, you have no faith. However, the fact that YOU are devoid of faith does not mean others are equally devoid.

That cross, the Ground Zero Cross DOES mean something quite significant to others.

In that “ugly piece of wreckage” people found solace. People who believe, followers of Christianity, found in the midst of the rubble and death, a symbol of their belief and they gathered around it, daily, and shared their belief.

From that symbol, they gained strength to continue.

Did they think those beams were THE Cross of Christ?

Of course not. But to Christians, and there were thousands of them there, at Ground Zero every day, month after month, first as rescuers and then as recovery workers and later, there to remove the debris, saw in those beams, something that gave them direction.

They didn’t weld those beams into that shape. They didn’t bring it in from somewhere else.

It was part of what happened.

To Christians, the cross means death and rising beyond death.

It means salvation.

You don’t believe in that.

You have no religion. No God. No spiritual basis.

To you, everything is random. Happenstance. Coincidence.

Okay.

Then how do you explain a random, happenstance piece of rubble giving you dyspepsia and headaches?

Coincidence? In which case, you’re suing over something random and happenstance with no basis in fact or…

Could it possibly be something else? If the headaches and dyspepsia are REAL, there MUST be something REAL causing them.

Your lawsuit claims that your “followers” (of what we’re not really sure) suffer, “symptoms of  depression, headaches, anxiety, and mental pain and anguish,” all because of a symbol of hope found amid the devastation and death but somehow, the devastation and death itself, causes you no ill feelings.

The depth of your disbelief is quite astounding.

But you DO believe in something, don’t you?

You believe that your LACK of belief is somehow more important that the beliefs of others. You believe that because you DON’T believe, nobody ease should be allowed their beliefs in a public venue.

You believe that your right to NOT believe overrides other people’s right TO believe.

There will be other symbols of religion on display in the 9-11 Museum.

A Star of David fashioned from the steel of the World Trade Centers. A Jewish Prayer Shawl will be there as well.

You atheists don’t seem upset by that.

Maybe it’s just Christianity that upsets your tender stomachs and causes your heads to throb.

Let me explain something about Christians, 9-11 and those thousands of lost lives.

When we prayed, either around the Ground Zero Cross or around the nation, we weren’t just praying for the Christians who died or the Christians digging through the rubble.

Christians prayed for ALL the lost and ALL the responders. We prayed for their families and their friends. We prayed for the nation.

Seiks prayed at Ground Zero. So did Jews, and Buddahists and all manner of those who believed in…something.

You say there were 500 atheists who were lost that day.

Guess what?

We prayed for them too.

How does THAT sit in your stomachs? Does THAT cause you Dyspepsia? Does that make your collective heads ache?

You claim it’s just not fair that Christians get to have a symbol of THEIR beliefs on display at the 9-11 Museum because there is no symbol of YOUR disbelief being placed on display.

You have no such symbol, do you?

Here’s an idea.

Perhaps, the designers of the Museum could clear a broom closet for you and your lack of belief.

I would suggest they sound proof it too. No windows either. No lights. Just a dark, empty room where atheists could stand, where they couldn’t see the wonders of the world around them, couldn’t see the diversity of people and couldn’t hear the various voices, dialects and languages of those who come to remember and dare I say it…Pray.

The door to YOUR room should be well marked. There should be a plaque stating clearly that the room beyond the door represents the void in which atheists can contemplate…Nothing in particular…In remembrance of 9-11.

That way, those who DO believe can be just as disgusted by the existence of THAT room as YOU are of the Ground Zero Cross.

That seems fair doesn’t it?

And to show that we are tolerant of your disbelief, we’ll go a step beyond.

In the gift shop, in the 9-11 Museum, we’ll build a shrine to your lack of religious spirituality.

A special display with its own nod to the symbolism you crave.

The very symbols of your atheism.

A kiosk for antacids.

Problem solved.

Perhaps we should allow fate to decide the ultimate outcome of all of this rather than the courts.

Certainly YOU are not afraid of something so random and happenstance as FATE are you?

If YOU’RE correct, when we die, we will be nothing but…dead. There will be nothing. We will simply expire and that will be the end of it.

However…If  WE’RE correct…eternity is going to suck for you.

In the mean time, while both you and a judge contemplate exactly why an artifact which has absolutely no meaning to you has inspired you to file suit, may I suggest that you stock up on Tums, Excedrin, various anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication because…

We’re praying for you.