In 2014 the Freedom From Religion Foundation appealed the dismissal of their lawsuit intended to remove a statue of Jesus from public land (which is leased as a ski resort). The affectionately named “Big Mountain Jesus” statue was erected as a memorial to the 10th Mountain Division, who recalled seeing many similar shrines during their campaign in Italy during World War II.

A 3-member panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard their appeal, and the Becket Fund’s Eric Baxter said it went well for the defenders of the memorial:

“The court seemed very prepared for the arguments. They asked the Freedom From Religion Foundation a lot of hard questions,” said Baxter.

“They seem to understand the issues in the case and I am optimistic that we will get a good outcome.”

The effort is one of many by groups like the FFRF to scrub religious imagery from the American landscape — using a twisted and illogical understanding of the US Constitution to do so.

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