I think we can argue about whether or not a cross as a war memorial on public land is appropriate or constitutional – an issue which the Supreme Court is wrestling with right now. But I don’t see how anyone except for individuals or groups with an active hatred of Christianity can object to this one that is causing a dispute in a different part of California.

Before Monterey replaces the Portol -Crespi cross on Del Monte Beach, it wants to raise a war chest to defend the city's action against possible lawsuits — a move an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer calls "a very bizarre decision."

After holding a public hearing on the cross issue Tuesday night, the council came out of closed session saying its members were unanimous in wanting the cross replaced. The council said it marks the historic site where explorer Don Gaspar de Portol and Father Juan Crespi raised a wooden cross in December 1769 as a signal to the supply ship San Jose, expected to arrive from Mexico.

The newer cross, erected on the dunes between Roberts Lake and the beach in December 1969, was set there to mark the bicentennial of that event. Sometime during the night of Sept. 18, vandals sawed the cross off at its base and left it lying in the sand.

The council motion seems to hedge the city's bets in restoring it. It states: "The City Council does not condone vandalism. Because of the historical significance of the cross, it is the City Council's desire to restore the cross. To that end, once a legal defense fund is established by the community and $50,000 is raised, we will proceed with the restoration of the cross."

Got that, folks? This cross was placed on the site for one very simple reason – to the early exploration of the area by Spanish explorers who erected a cross on the site. This would seem to be, from a First Amendment perspective, a no-brainer. There is nothing religious about this cross – it is unquestionably the recreation of a historical event, which makes its erection a bona fide secular act.

But that isn’t good enough for the ACLU cretins who want to keep the cross from going back up. Seems to me that they simply wish to expunge the symbol from public land even when it serves a valid secular purpose – and that they probably won’t be happy until they have banned the letter “t” and the plus sign from all public facilities.