Atheist activists lost a major years-long battle this week over the so-called Big Mountain Jesus statue, which has been standing for six decades on public land atop a Montana mountain.
The statue, which is intended to commemorate World War II soldiers, has volleyed back and forth in the court system since 2012, as the Freedom From Religion Foundation has argued that its presence on public land near the Big Mountain ski resort in Whitefish, Montana, is unconstitutional.
But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the Big Mountain Jesus statue, which is on government-owned land, can stay right where it is, dealing a blow to the atheist activist group in its quest to force the U.S. Forest Service to remove it.
in this Feb. 20, 2011 file photo, freshmen at the University of Montana, Jake Coburn, Stephanie Ralls and Claire Dal Nogare, from left, visit a statue of Jesus Christ at Whitefish Mountain Resort Whitefish, Mont. (AP)
The statue had previously gained the support of the Obama administration; the Knights of Columbus have been represented by the Becket Fund, a conservative legal firm that is claiming victory in the wake of the decision.
"Does a statue standing alone in the forest establish an official state religion? Today the Ninth Circuit emphatically said no." Eric Baxter, an attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said in a statement. "The Court rightly rejected Freedom From Religion Foundation’s radical idea that a privately-owned memorial standing in the middle of a ski resort violates the Constitution."
A judge had previously said in 2013 that the monument could stay. At the time, the Becket Fund explained the complicated history behind the land on which the statue stands. According to the law firm, the Knights of Columbus leased the land from the U.S. Forest Service, and its agreement with the government was renewed every 10 years without incident until 2010.
While the government at first reconsidered the statue's placement on the land after atheists spoke out, officials eventually decided to once again permit it, leading the Freedom From Religion Foundation to sue.
It appears Big Mountain Jesus will remain on full display — at least for now. The Freedom From Religion Foundation announced on Monday that it would continue its quest to represent its atheist members who "have had direct and unwanted exposure to the shrine."
The group is planning to ask the entire panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to review Monday's rulings.
In this Feb. 20, 2011 file photo, the statue of Jesus Christ at Whitefish Mountain Resort overlooks Whitefish Lake and the Flathead Valley in Whitefish, Mont. (AP)
"Federal taxpayers are subsidizing religious speech, in this case Catholic," Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement.
Read more about the complicated history behind the Big Mountain Jesus monument here.
