A California club is fighting to get back a cross it claims is private property after an atheist group launched a campaign to have it removed.
Fifty years ago, a devout Christian asked the Albany Lions Club to build and maintain a large illuminated steel and Plexiglas cross on his private property, which would be lit during the Christmas and Easter seasons. When lit, the cross will be visible for miles, and the group claims it conveys “a message of God’s love and comfort to the Christian community.”
The surrounding area has since become public land, but the cross is part of an easement dispute between the City of Albany and the Lions Club.
Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a California-based conservative legal advocacy group, filed a petition seeking relief after the city of Albany removed the cross in June 2023. . Its president, Brad Dacus, told FOX News Digital he believes the city is guilty of illegal activity. Hostility towards Christians.
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“If there was a giant LGBT flag or something like that, this city would accept it. No problem. So it’s especially from a cross point of view, a religious point of view, a point of view. It’s on the agenda,” he said.
“The city’s public statements and actions are hostile and target Christian crosses. [of] “The City Council lacked neutrality and attacked the Crosses and Lions in their free exercise of religion and freedom of speech,” the petition, filed March 22, says.
Dacus said he believes the statements made by city officials present a critical problem for him.
“This is an egregious and blatant act of unconstitutional discrimination by the city of Albany. And that’s what makes this case so shocking. You know, the city didn’t even hide it,” Dacus said. he said.
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The petition quotes comments from then-Mayor Aaron Tiedemann, a Green Party official. Mr. Tiedemann served as mayor from December 2022 to December 2023 and is currently a member of the Albany City Council.
Tiedman celebrated the cross’s removal in 2023 as a step in line with Bay Area city values.
“The city has really put its money where its mouth is,” he told the East Bay Times in June. “It seems like it’s becoming a little more acceptable.” “For the few local people who really want the cross to remain, it feels oppressive to lose it when you’ve had such a privilege for so long. It becomes an adjustment for people. But I think we all would.” I think it’s really beneficial to get used to it. ”
The petition drew attention to a report in the East Bay Times. “Mr. Tiedemann, who grew up in Albany, said people have long complained about the cross for a variety of reasons. The cross symbolizes a preference for one religion over another, and the The diverse community is an eyesore, reminiscent of the KKK cross-burnings in the East Bay hills of the 1920s. ”
Then-Mayor Tiedemann (pictured), who is now a City Council member, said of the cross’s removal at the time: “…our city now seems a little more receptive to things that I think are consistent with our values.” he said.
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Dacus said the city is using prominent land to claim ownership of the land and ensure the cross is removed.
“The expropriation clause does not allow the government to expropriate property because it does not like religious speech,” he said. “If they can get away with this, they will definitely be able to get away with destroying churches or other types of religious groups or organizations that have prominent territories. And of course the Constitution prohibits that. We all know that.”
Dacus said he is “very optimistic about the final outcome of this case” and is prepared to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
He added that anti-Christian sentiment in the United States is relatively new and coincides with a rise in anti-Semitism.
“Feelings of hostility and prejudice against Christian communities are relatively new. They have only really surfaced within the last few decades, and have particularly spiked within the past 10 years,” he said. “Religious intolerance towards the Jewish community has been seen in the past. Unfortunately, it is on the rise. Anti-Semitism is incredibly blatant and out in the open in our nation’s universities.”
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The PJI president said voters need to be aware of who they are electing to ensure they choose people who are “sensitive to religious freedom” and who “do not succumb to left-wing extremist ideology.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Tiedemann but did not immediately receive a response. The City of Albany said it could not comment at this time due to pending litigation.
