Hearts of ice! Atheists' campaign to remove six-foot tall Jesus statue erected as WAR MEMORIAL at ski resort

An atheist group is going to court to protest the presence of a six-foot tall statue of Jesus Christ on federal land, erected as a memorial for soldiers who died in World War II.



The lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin based Freedom From Religion Foundation, seeking to remove the religious memorial from a Montana ski resort, has been given a green light by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen to move forward to trial.



The advocates for the separation of church and state had filed the lawsuit earlier this year but the Catholic group that erected the statue sought to dismiss the case. But with the go-ahead from the judge, a trial is now scheduled to begin in March.



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Mountaintop: An atheist group is suing to remove a statue of Jesus Christ that overlooks a Montana Mountain Resort. The war memorial is on a small plot of federal land

The white statue that depicts the Savior of the Christian faith with outstretched arms, sits on a 25 foot by 25 foot area of land owned by the United States Forest Service, on the Whitefish Mountain Resort in northwest Montana.



It was erected in 1954 by veterans of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division and members from the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal service organization, as a tribute to those who died in World War II.



The 10th Mountain Division was comprised of many local skiers, who executed ski runs across rugged terrain in World War II, primarily in Italy.

When the memorial was installed, the group had received a special-use permit from the Forest Service for the shrine, which overlooks Big Mountain in the Flathead National Forest, located in the western part of Montana that covers 2,404,935 acres.

But when the lease to maintain the statue on the property expired, the Forest Service initially said in 2011 they would not renew it, under pressure from the FFRF to remove the statue.



The decision sparked controversy and the religious liberty advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), submitted a legal opinion to the United States Forest Service in November 2011, asking the agency to reconsider.

Let the skiers come to me: Snow revelers (in February 2011) stop and take a look at the statue of Jesus Christ, decked out in ski gear, at the Whitefish Mountain Resort in Montana

The letter submitted by ADF told the agency 'there can be no doubt that the memorial honoring WWII veterans in Flathead National Forest complies with constitutional requirements and with the deeply rooted practices and traditions of this nation.'

'An atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by America’s veterans ... [the memorial's] purpose is to honor our fallen heroes and as our legal opinion to the Forest Service explained, the Constitution clearly allows for such memorials ' ADF Litigation Counsel Jonathan Scruggs said in February.

The issue also attracted widespread attention and a group was even created 'Save Big Mountain Jesus Statue' to mobilize support on social media .

Ultimately the Forest Service reneged and renewed the lease for the memorial, labeling the statue as a historical display rather than a religious icon .



Following the change of heart by the Forest Service , FFRF filed a lawsuit on the basis that the presence of a 'statue of Jesus Christ, a patently religious figure, on land owned and administered by the Forest Service was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.'

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s litigation director Erich Rassbach is providing legal representation for the Knights of Columbus.



'From their perch in Madison, Wisconsin, these professional bullies go around the country threatening government agencies and cities with lawsuits and financial ruin. The Becket Fund will not let them get away with it here,' Rassbach had said in May.

Lawyers representing the Knights of Columbus filed a motion to dismiss the suit, on the basis that the group failed to identify an injured party in their lawsuit that had been harmed by the presence of a statue.

The FFRF lawsuit then added a statement from a Montana local, William Cox, who is an atheist.



Cox lives 15 miles from the resort and has said that he 'had and will continue to have direct and unwelcome contact with the statue' which he finds offensive.



With the statement from Cox, Judge Christensen issued a ruling on November 27 to allow the lawsuit to proceed.



'Cox's declaration meets [standing requirements. He is a member of FFRF, he lives 15 miles from Whitefish Mountain Resort, he is a frequent skier at the resort who has skied past the statue many times previously and intends to again this winter, and he is a non-believer who considers the statue religious in nature and offensive.'

'Cox would have standing to sue in his own right if he were a named plaintiff,' the statement from the judge added.



A trial is scheduled for March.