A court case over a decades-old Jesus statue at Big Mountain ski resort in Montana will continue, thanks to a local atheist who has joined the fight. (As a former Montanan, I have skied past this Jesus a few times myself, and don’t find the sculpture at all inspiring as religious art. However, it is a quirky and somewhat endearing part of the landscape, IMHO.) Associated Press reports:
A lawsuit seeking the removal of a Jesus statue near a Montana ski resort will go on after a national group of atheists and agnostics produced a local member who says he is offended by the religious symbol whenever he swooshes down the slopes.
The Knights of Columbus and four individuals had asked a judge to throw out the legal challenge because the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation had not named anyone actually harmed by the statue on federal land next to Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Without such a person, the Knights of Columbus argued, the foundation had no right to bring the lawsuit.
So the foundation found William Cox, an atheist who lives 15 miles from the northwestern Montana resort. Cox submitted a statement that says he frequently goes to Whitefish and has skied many times past the statue, which he considers religious and offensive.
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