From my back yard in Boise I have quite the nice view of the foothills and Table Rock. It’s nice, except for one eye sore. It’s a 2100W six story lighted cross. It actually doesn’t bother me much, mostly because it’s on private land. Of course, now I know more of the story:

For years, the Table Rock Cross of the Idaho Jaycees Inc., to which Ryals belongs, has quietly kept the 4,500-pound cross lit. The brainchild of Jaycees who were inspired by a similar cross erected in another small American town, it went up 55 years ago on land owned at the time by the Idaho State Department of Correction.

By the early 1970s, however, locals watched Oregon courts rule that a similar cross in Eugene violated the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state, and they grew fearful of a similar result. A 1972 deal with the state of Idaho remedied that, putting the 70-foot by 44-foot patch of ground on the southwestern edge of Table Rock’s jagged butte in private hands.

There have been a few failed lawsuits over the years claiming that the sale of the land was an illegal attempt to keep the state constructed cross around.

Next month, thanks to modern technology it’s getting brighter and cheaper to operate.

The private group that owns the cross atop Table Rock is replacing its electricity-devouring fluorescent tubes with 2,600 energy-efficient LED lamps to cut the power bill from about $60 monthly to just $20.

According to one of the people pushing for the upgrade says:

“It’s going to be even brighter,” he said Tuesday. “It’s a beacon of peace and hope to the majority of Idahoans.”

I wonder how the majority of Idahoans would feel if instead of a cross it was a crescent moon or a pentagram? After all, wasn’t it Jesus who said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”?

I wonder how this makes Boise’s refugee population feel, especially the non-Christian refugees.

I know some atheists in town don’t like it, but most of learned to live with it. When I first moved here it bothered me a little. Once I found out it was on private land I didn’t care so much. Now that I know it was originally built by the state and the land was sold in a shady deal it might bother me a little more.

I see this every day and now that it’s going to be brighter, especially now that I know it’s history, I’m not sure if it’ll start bothering me. On the one hand it’s a reminder of what I’m free of. The final thread in my theological unraveling was salvation. Once I concluded that the doctrine of salvation was complete and utter BS, it started my finally steps towards freedom. In many ways I was freed from bondage by the cross. On the other hand, it’s an in your face reminder that I’m in hostile territory…

When it comes down to it, there are bigger issues to address in Idaho, such as the state’s failed education system, the lack of gay rights, and churches being used for polling places just to name a few.