CBS 2
August 17 2010
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/downstate.cross.lawsuit.2.1862476.html
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| Rob Sherman (File Photo) |
A north suburban atheist has made good on his pledge to file a lawsuit over state funding for repairs to a towering cross in southern Illinois.
Activist Rob Sherman, of Buffalo Grove, filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in Springfield. He sued Thursday after officials behind the Bald Knob Cross of Peace rebuffed his insistence to return the money.
Sherman had objected to the grant as a bit of unconstitutional pork, and in May he threatened to sue if the money wasn't given back.
"There has never been any question, outside of southern Illinois, that this State Grant is blatantly unconstitutional," Sherman wrote on his Web site.
In announcing the filing of the lawsuit, Sherman made repeated reference to the unrelated arrest of the Rev. Bill Vandergraph, the pastor of Full Gospel Pentecostal Church in Alto Pass and the former president of the board for Friends of the Cross, the fundraising group that received the state grant for the repairs. Vandergraph, 72, is charged with the sexual abuse of a 4-year-old girl.
Vandergraph is named as a defendant in Sherman's lawsuit, but not with any reference to the criminal charges against him.
"The job of atheists is to take clergy to court to challenge the epidemic of civil wrongs that they have perpetrated, on the sneak, against the People of Illinois, such as stealing massive quantities of taxpayer dollars to operate or maintain their houses of worship, parochial schools and religious ministries," Sherman wrote on his Web site. "It's a big job, but somebody's gotta do it."
The cross' caretakers have argued that the 11-story landmark is a tourist attraction, not specifically a religious icon. They note the $20,000 already in question has been spent on ongoing efforts to restore the landmark near Alto Pass, about 12 miles south of Carbondale.
The cross is a concrete structure covered by white porcelain panels and can be seen for miles. Easter services on Bald Knob Mountain have been a tradition since 1937, according to the Springfield State Journal-Register. The cross was completed in 1963.
The restoration focused on the porcelain tiles is expected to be completed within months, the Journal-Register reported.
Sherman previously made headlines when he successfully sued to overturn an Illinois state law requiring a moment of silence at the beginning of the day in public schools.
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