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July 25, 2003/Tamuz 25 5763, Vol. 55, No. 48
Thou shalt remove the monument?
AzCLU makes distinction between religion and history
BARRY COHEN
Editor
Though Wesley Bolin Plaza includes both a Ten Commandments Monument and a statue of Father Albert Braun, the Arizona Civil Liberties Union only considers the former to violate the separation between church and state.
Photos by Barry Cohen
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A monument imparting the Ten Commandments is not the only religious representation at Wesley Bolin Plaza in downtown Phoenix. A statue of Father Albert Braun casts a shadow over plaza visitors who pause to read about the missionary, church founder and teacher.
The Arizona Civil Liberties Union last month sent a letter to state officials requesting that the Ten Commandments monument be removed by Aug. 8.
However, they made no similar demand to remove Braun's statue.
"I want to make this abundantly clear. The ACLU is not out to get religion in general or Christians in particular," said Eleanor Eisenberg, AzCLU executive director. "We are speaking out for the Constitution."
Religious figures are different from religious teachings, Eisenberg said. There is nothing wrong with honoring a historical figure who happened to be a religious leader, she explained, and the statue of Braun does not bear any religious quotations.
The plaques at the foot of Braun's statue state that he was an Army chaplain in World War I and World War II and came to Arizona in 1949. He was a teacher and missionary to Native American tribes in New Mexico and Arizona and helped establish the Sacred Heart Church in Phoenix and St. Joseph's Church in Mescalero, N.M.
A local Anti-Defamation League leader agrees with Eisenberg's distinction be-tween the religious message of the Ten Commandments monument and the historical significance of a religious leader.
The ADL has consistently opposed plaques and mon-uments of religious teachings or scriptural quotes on public grounds, said Bill Straus, ADL regional director.
The monument enu-merating the Ten Com-mandments at Wesley Bolin Plaza "erodes the wall of separation between church and state," but Braun contributed to Arizona history, he noted.
"When honoring historical figures, we cannot ignore those who come from religious backgrounds," said Straus.
The American Jewish Committee has not taken an official stand on whether to support efforts to remove the Ten Commandments monu-ment.
"We need to be careful where we find it necessary to cross swords," said Rabbi Robert Kravitz, executive director of the AJC Arizona chapter. "At this point, it is not a critical issue."
The AzCLU's request to remove the Ten Command-ments monument is in line with efforts nationwide to remove religious teachings and displays on public property maintained by public funds, said Eisenberg.
Earlier this month, the ACLU national office re-quested removal of scriptural quotations from the Grand Canyon National Park.
"The state should not be emphasizing prominent religious messages on public land and maintaining them with public money," said Jim Weinstein, professor of constitutional law at Arizona State University Law School in Tempe.
Weinstein said he agreed with AzCLU efforts to remove the Ten Commandments monument.
If Wesley Bolin Plaza represented a true public forum, then religious messages representing a variety of points of view - from Buddhist to atheist - would be present, he said. "This is obviously not the case," said Weinstein.
Although he is a past AzCLU legal panel and board member, he said he is not helping litigate the effort to remove the Ten Com-mandments display.
AzCLU leaders are awaiting a decision from the state about the monument's removal, Eisenberg said. But currently at issue is who has governmental jurisdiction over Wesley Bolin Plaza.
The Arizona Department of Transportation owns the property; the Legislative Mall Commission has limited authority over the area, and the Department of Ad-ministration is the manager of the property, explained Scott Smith, head of public information of the department of administration.
If the state fails to act, then AzCLU leaders will ask a federal judge to remove the monument, Eisenberg said.
She said that even though AzCLU is attempting to remove the Ten Com-mandments monument from Wesley Bolin Plaza, it is not trying to eliminate religion from public places.
"We just want standards of how religion is expressed in the public arena," and the standards must be guided by the Constitution, she said.
Contact the writer at barry_cohen@jewishaz.com.
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