In 2001, when militants set out to bomb two colossal Buddhist statues that had stood untouched in Afghanistan for more than a thousand years, the global community rightly condemned the actions as religious barbarism.
To split hairs, they didn't bomb the statues, the shelled them with artillery. Either way, the Taliban where rightly condemned for destroying structures of such historical and cultural significance.
Like the statues
That's where your arguement fails. You are comparing apples with sheetrock.
the Mt. Soledad Cross is a monument to America 's cultural history
You do realize that america's cultural history includes both people of other religions and no religion.
a symbol of our Christian heritage
You mean your christian heritage. There are many, many american families that are not, and have never been christian, and every single one of them is every bit as much of an american as you are.
and a tribute to brave Americans who laid down their lives in our nation's cause.
Brave americans who's number includes jews, muslims, hindus, and even atheists. It is both ignorant and arrogant to assume that the only americans to have given their last full measure of devotion for their country were exclusively christians.
Their memories should not be besmirched.
And that is exactly what the Mt. Soledad cross does. It is a violation of the very document that each and every soldier swears an oath to defend. You seek to paint this as an issue of patriotism, but it isn't, it is an issue of constitutional and unconstitutional, period.