Americans United for Separation of Church and State reports some encouraging news from the San Diego Union Tribune. The giant cross on Mt. Soledad in my hometown of La Jolla is finally, really, going to have to come down (it looks like). That cross was always there as I was growing up, serving as a constant reminder that I and people like me were outsiders in our own community. It was on public land, the highest point in the immediate area, serving as constant proof that the Constitution didn’t really apply when the majority wanted to demonstrate their superiority.

Well, in 1991 (long after I no longer lived there) a Federal judge made the right decision, upheld the Constitution, and ordered the cross removed. The city tried almost endless wrangling, wriggling, and slithering, transparently trying to keep it there by whatever stratagem or excuse they could find.

Finally, last November, the voters overwhelmingly rejected the ploys, and finally finally (I hope) the city attorney and the city council have confirmed that the struggle is over and the cross will go. It probably won’t go far, but it will go to private land (a church’s land), which is where it belongs. A big victory for the Constitution and the American way.