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24 

AMERICAN LEGION v. AMERICAN HUMANIST ASSN. 

Opinion of the Court 
Opinion of ALITO, J. 

women  who  have  played  an  important  role  in  the  history 
of  our  country,  and  where  religious  symbols  are  included 
in  the  monuments,  their  presence  acknowledges  the  cen-
trality of faith to those whose lives are commemorated. 
  Finally,  as  World  War  I  monuments  have  endured 
through the years and become a familiar part of the physi-
cal and cultural landscape, requiring their removal would 
not be viewed by many as a neutral act.  And an alteration 
like  the  one  entertained  by  the  Fourth  Circuit—
amputating  the  arms  of  the  Cross,  see  874  F. 3d,  at  202, 
n. 7—would  be  seen  by  many  as  profoundly  disrespectful.  
One member of the majority below viewed this objection as 
inconsistent  with  the  claim  that  the  Bladensburg  Cross 
serves  secular  purposes,  see  891  F. 3d,  at  121  (Wynn,  J., 
concurring  in  denial  of  en  banc),  but  this  argument  mis-
understands  the  complexity  of  monuments.    A  monument 
may  express  many  purposes  and  convey  many  different 
messages, both secular and religious.  Cf. Van Orden, 545 
U. S.,  at  690  (plurality  opinion)  (describing  simultaneous 
religious and secular meaning of the Ten Commandments 
display).    Thus,  a  campaign  to  obliterate  items  with  
religious  associations  may  evidence  hostility  to  religion 
even  if  those  religious  associations  are  no  longer  in  the 
forefront. 
  For example, few would say that the State of California 
is  attempting  to  convey  a  religious  message  by  retaining 
the  names  given  to  many  of  the  State’s  cities  by  their 
original  Spanish  settlers—San  Diego,  Los  Angeles,  Santa 
Barbara,  San  Jose,  San  Francisco,  etc.    But  it  would  be 
something  else  entirely  if  the  State  undertook  to  change 
all those names.  Much the same is true about monuments 
to soldiers who sacrificed their lives for this country more 
than a century ago. 

D 
  While the Lemon Court ambitiously attempted to find a 
grand unified theory of the Establishment Clause, in later