At least one Oregon state senator thinks so, as does the nation's premier news service for religious groups and on-line Christians. The controversy involves the status of Christian crosses and other impromptu memorials placed by the side of Oregon's highways, usually commemorating a loved one killed in an auto accident. Relatives often see the memorials as personal commemorations, while others consider them unsightly, and even a violation of the First Amendment.
States have different policies regarding such roadside shrines.
In Texas, the memorials are permitted only at the scene of an alcohol-related fatal accident, while Montana has allowed the displays for fifty years. There, thanks to an informal agreement with the state, American Legion posts erect a cross when someone dies in a highway crash. California and Florida, though, have banned the practice of placing homemade crosses by the side of the road. Along with safety and esthetic considerations, there has also been debate over whether such markers violate the separation of church and state. Statements by the senator, along with coverage in the nation's leading religious news service, though, have strayed far from the legal issues involved and devolved into an attack on atheists.