Court Opinion

ID: 9611590
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:58:29.60091+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:35:03.339904
License: Public Domain

BIRD, C. J.
I concur in the judgment of the majority. I write separately to express the reasons that persuade me that both the California and United States Constitutions prohibit the City of Los Angeles from displaying a symbol unique to one religion on the face of the very building housing the representatives of all the people.1
I
Two sections of the California Constitution, article I, section 4 and article XVI, section 5, must be consulted. Article I, section 4 of the Constitution of the State of California provides in pertinent part: “Free exercise and enjoyment of religion without discrimination or preference are guaranteed.” The substance of this guarantee of religious freedom has appeared in our State Constitution since 1849.2 Those who framed its language were hardly hostile to religion. Rather, they understood that individuals remain free to choose on matters of belief only so long as “the power and the authority of the state [are] never . . . devoted to the *800advancement of any particular sect or denomination.” (Gordon v. Board of Education (1947) 78 Cal.App.2d 464, 472-473 [178 P.2d 488].)
In detailed and comprehensive language, the delegates to the 1849 Convention committed this state to the fundamental policy of neutrality in matters of religion. Their legacy to us was a society where religion is a matter of faith, not law. “By its express terms, what [art. I, § 4] mandates is the perpetual guaranty of the ‘[f]ree exercise and enjoyment’ of religion; what it prohibits is ‘discrimination’ against, ‘or preference’ in favor of, one religion as opposed to another.” (Mandel v. Hodges (1976) 54 Cal.App.3d 596, 617 [127 Cal.Rptr. 244].) As the attorney general’s office has noted, “It would be difficult to imagine a more sweeping statement of the principle of governmental impartiality in the field of religion.” (25 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 316, 319 (1955).) This court has recognized that governmental action that either “favors, fosters [or] establishes any religion . . .” or which “in any way, directly or indirectly, infringe[s] upon the free exercise rights of the people of this state” violates the strictures of article I, section 4. (California Educational Facilities Authority v. Priest (1974) 12 Cal.3d 593, 603 [116 Cal.Rptr. 361, 526 P.2d 513].)
Article XVI, section 5 is an equally emphatic ban on state support of religion. It provides in pertinent part: “Neither the Legislature, nor any county, city and county, township, school district, or other municipal corporation, shall ever make an appropriation, or pay from any public *801fund whatever, or grant anything to or in aid of any religious sect, church, creed, or sectarian purpose, or help to support or sustain any school, college, university, hospital, or other institution controlled by any religious creed, church, or sectarian denomination whatever . . . .”
This provision was new to the 1879 Constitution.3 It does not mirror or derive from any part of the federal Constitution. By the force of article XVI, section 5, the California Constitution since 1879 has precluded the spending of any public money to directly support any religious group. The adoption of this ban on state or local aid to religion was especially significant in light of the fact that the 1879 Constitutional Convention rejected numerous proposals involving religion. These included requests for a legal framework that would acknowledge God as the source of civil authority, prohibit blasphemy, and allow Bible reading in public schools. (See Proceedings, supra, pp. 89, 120, 156, 217-218.) One such request stated that “a written Constitution should contain explicit evidence of the Christian character ... of the State . . . .” (Id., at p. 89.) The delegates chose instead to emphasize the separation of church and state by adding article XVI, section 5, and by retaining article I, section 4.4
In California Educational Facilities Authority v. Priest, supra, 12 Cal.3d 593, this court recently reaffirmed the principles that have long guided our interpretation of article XVI, section 5. As a general matter the court *802first noted that “the provision was intended to insure the separation of church and state and to guarantee that the power, authority, and financial resources of the government shall never be devoted to the advancement or support of religious or sectarian purposes. [Citation.]” (Id., at p. 604.) The court emphasized that article XVI, section 5 forbids all forms of governmental aid to religion, whether that aid be in the tangible form of cash or in the intangible form of prestige and power. Article XVI, section 5 “bans any official involvement, whatever its form, which has the direct, immediate, and substantial effect of promoting religious purposes.” (Id., at p. 605, fn. 12.)5
Finally, the court carefully pointed out that under article XVI, section 5, “the fact that a statute has some identifiable secular objective will not immunize it from further analysis to ascertain whether it also” directly and substantially advances religion. (Id., at p. 604.) Thiis, in Frohliger v. Richardson (1923) 63 CalApp. 209, 217 [218 P. 497], the court refused to allow public financing of the restoration of the San Diego Mission, even though the court acknowledged that historical as well as religious interests were served by the project. Similarly, in County of Los Angeles v. Hollinger (1963) 221 Cal.App.2d 154 [34 Cal.Rptr. 387], the court disapproved of public financing for a film of a religious parade depicting the life of Jesus Christ. The court acknowledged that the film had the secular purpose of publicizing county attractions in order to promote tourism. Nevertheless, the court denied that “a governmental body may expend funds collected by the exercise of its taxing powers in a fashion that so directly supports the religious beliefs and purposes of some of the many segments of our pluralistic society.” (Id., at p. 159.) Most recently, in Johnson v. Huntington Beach Union High Sch. Dist. (1977) 68 Cal.App.3d 1 [137 Cal.Rptr. 43], the court upheld the refusal of a school district to permit a voluntary student Bible study club to conduct its meetings on the school campus during the school day. The court noted at page 16 that “permitting the club to operate on campus implicates school authority and prestige behind the dissemination of religious dogma.”
*803The attorney general’s office has also often expressed its view that article XVI, section 5 “prohibits the use of any public funds to aid any religious or sectarian purpose . . . (37 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 105, 107 (1961) [tax funds cannot be used to support the production of a dramatized version of the Gospel]; see also, 60 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 269, 276 (1977) [sectarian institutions may not lease vacant classrooms in public schools to conduct religious education]; but see 43 Ops.Cal.Atty. Gen. 62 (1964).)
This review of article I, section 4 and article XVI, section 5, makes clear that our own state Constitution is committed to the principle of separation of church and state. The mutually reinforcing constitutional provisions have helped make this state one in which persons of different religious beliefs might live together in mutual tolerance and respect. With this background in mind, I proceed to apply the dictates of the California Constitution to the undisputed facts presented at the hearing below.
II
For 30 years prior to 1975, the city council of Los Angeles authorized the Christmas display of a single-barred Latin cross on the tower of City Hall. The record discloses that the city council has authorized a similar display on Easter and Eastern Orthodox Easter in past years. The unconstitutionality of this practice crystallizes when we consider what is being displayed where and when. There is no question that the trial court was correct when it found that “the single-barred cross is a symbol particularly pertinent to the Christian religion.” This religious symbol was customarily displayed upon City Hall on three of the religious holidays when the spiritual meaning of the cross is felt most deeply. Moreover, the cross was lit on the face of the city building which indicated government’s sponsorship of the display in the clearest of terms.
When a city so openly promotes the religious meaning of one religion’s holidays, the benefit reaped by that religion and the disadvantage suffered by other religions is obvious. Those persons who do not share those holidays are relegated to the status of outsiders by their own government; those persons who do observe those holidays can take pleasure in seeing the symbol of their belief given official sanction and special status.
The simple but crucial fact at issue is that the city government of Los Angeles has identified itself with the central symbol of one religion. As *804judges, it is our unmistakable constitutional duty to protect those of other faiths or no faith from the coercion toward conformity that attaches to every official endorsement of any religion, particularly the majority religion. Our ancestors would ask nothing less o'f us. Having experienced religious intolerance themselves, they understood that faith flourishes more freely in a sanctuary protected from the dictates of the majority. City-sponsored display of the Latin cross invades that sanctuary. “The employment of publicly owned . . . property for a highly visible display of the character of the cross . . . necessarily permits an inference of official endorsement of the . . . religious beliefs which underlie that symbol.” (Lowe v. City of Eugene (1969) 254 Ore. 518, 544 [463 P.2d 360, 363], decree set aside due to changed circumstances, Eugene Sand & Gravel, Inc. v. City of Eugene (1976) 276 Ore. 1007 [558 P.2d 338, 349].)
This court’s judgment cannot be affected by appellant’s suggestion that the preferential effect of the city’s display of the cross is trivial. A towering cross on the city hall of this state’s largest metropolis is hardly a sight to be overlooked. As James Madison warned: “ ‘[I]t is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. . . . Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects?” (Engel v. Vitale (1962) 370 U.S. 421, 436 [8 L.Ed.2d 601, 611, 82 S.Ct. 1261, 86 A.L.R.2d 1285], quoting Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments.)
The city argues that no preference was given to any religion, since the purpose of displaying the cross was the wholly secular one of promoting “peace and good fellowship toward all mankind.” Whatever the city’s subjective purpose, an impermissible religious preference has objectively resulted. Had the city delivered its message by simply lighting the words “Peace on Earth” on City Hall, no constitutional questions would have been raised. Instead, the city chose to deliver its “secular” message through a religious vehicle. The medium was the message. Once the cross blazed from the top stories of City Hall, some individuals obtained the satisfaction of knowing their faith was officially approved. Others had to pursue their faith knowing that beliefs they did not share had received official blessing.
The city emphasizes that the cross was displayed on Christmas for 30 years prior to 1975 without complaint. However, far from indicating acceptance, such silence may bespeak only the hesitancy of religious *805minorities to come forward to complain about the recognition given to the majority religion. Moreover, this court cannot overlook the concrete complaint presented to us by respondent. The guarantees of this state’s Constitution exist to protect the lone dissenter, just as they exist to protect the religious freedom of the majority. It cannot sway us that others in years past have not submitted similar complaints. As the Court of Appeal noted below “mere longevity of custom does not in itself insulate a practice from constitutional scrutiny.”
It is noteworthy that city officials have customarily authorized display of the cross at their own initiative. However, these same officials have not similarly taken it upon themselves to recognize the symbols or holidays of other religions. This is a clear act of preference in violation of article I, section 4.6
After repeated requests of a member of the Eastern Orthodox faith in 1970 and 1971, the city council authorized the display of an illuminated cross on or about Eastern Orthodox Easter. The city defends this display as a gesture of “inter-faith recognition.” How are non-Christian religions “recognized” by the display of a cross on City Hall on two different dates on which various Christian sects observe Easter?
Since the display of a sectarian symbol on City Hall involves the City of Los Angeles in promoting the spiritual significance of one religion’s holidays, article I, section 4 of the California Constitution has been violated. We must never forget that the religious freedom of every person is threatened whenever government associates its power with one particular religious tradition. The threat today may seem small, but the breach in principle is large.
Similarly, the city has violated the provisions of article XVI, section 5. There can be no doubt that “the power, authority, and financial resources” of the city government stand behind the illuminated Christian cross. (California Educational Facilities Authority v. Priest, supra, 12 Cal.3d 593, 604.) A sectarian symbol is placed on the top floors of City *806Hall at public expense and the religious beliefs for which the Latin cross stands are promoted through alliance with the good name and resources of the government housed in City Hall.
The city’s actions cannot be found to be entirely free from “any direct, immediate, and substantial effect of advancing religion.” (Ibid.) The religious impact of a cross superimposed on City Hall is certainly as direct and substantial as the religious impact of financing a film of a religious parade (County of Los Angeles v. Hollinger, supra, 221 Cal.App.2d 154) or of financing the restoration of the Mission of San Diego (Frohliger v. Richardson, supra, 63 Cal.App. 209, 217). Furthermore, the display of a cross on City Hall “implicates [governmental] authority and prestige behind the dissemination of religious dogma” just as much as the meeting of a Bible study group on school grounds implicates the school’s authority and prestige. (Johnson v. Huntington Beach Union High Sch. Dist., supra, 68 Cal.App.3d 1, 16.) To refuse to find direct benefit to religion in the city’s display of the Latin cross is either to engage in a legal fiction of startling proportions or to overrule, sub silentio, a consistent line of cases interpreting article XVI, section 5.
Those who argue that the amount of taxpayer funds expended to light the cross is so minimal7 as to be beneath this court’s notice, overlook two important considerations. First, article XVI, section 5 admits of no de minimis exception. The language is explicit: No “city . . . shall ever . . . pay from any public fund whatever, or grant anything to or in aid of any religious sect . . . .” Secondly, the prohibitions of article XVI, section 5 would come into play even if no funds were expended. The ban is on aid to religion in any form.
Our Constitution does not tolerate the intimate involvement of a city in promoting the religious symbol of various sects of one religion, and this court must be faithful to that mandate.
III
Although the majority rests its decision solely on state constitutional grounds, I am persuaded that the display on Christian holidays of the Latin cross on Los Angeles City Hall violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution as well.8
*807The framers of the First Amendment understood that “ ‘the rights of conscience are, in their nature, of peculiar delicacy, and will little bear the gentlest touch of governmental hand . . . ”9 To assure that individuals are free from governmental intrusion on matters of religion, the first sentence of our federal Bill of Rights declares absolutely “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The language of the First Amendment prohibits “not simply . . . enactments] establishing a church; it forb[ids] all laws respecting an establishment of religion.” (Original italics.) (McGowan v. Maryland (1961) 366 U.S. 420, 442 [6 L.Ed.2d 393, 408, 81 S.Ct. 1101].) This sweeping prohibition testifies to the conviction of the founders that religious diversity cannot long thrive in an atmosphere fouled by the stale air of orthodoxy. Religion itself flourishes when faith is arrived at freely. Government prospers when it avoids involvement in the religious quarrels that have brought civil war to many nations, past and present. These are the twin policies served by the First Amendment. As the Supreme Court has stated, “Government. . . must be neutral in matters of religious theory, doctrine, and practice. It may not be hostile to any religion or to the advocacy of no-religion; and it may not aid, foster, or promote one religion or religious theory against another . . . .” (Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) 393 U.S. 97, 103-104 [21 L.Ed.2d 228, 234, 89 S.Ct. 266]; accord Everson v. Board of Education (1947) 330 U.S. 1, 15 [91 L.Ed. 711, 723, 67 S.Ct. 504, 168 A.L.R. 1392]; Zorach v. Clauson (1952) 343 U.S. 306, 314 [96 L.Ed. 954, 962, 72 S.Ct. 697].)
In Wolman v. Walter (1977) 433 U.S. 229, 236 [53 L.Ed.2d 714, 725, 97 S.Ct. 2593], the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed the “tripartite test” which we must apply in determining whether government has impermissibly involved itself in matters of religion: “In order to pass muster, a statute must have a secular legislative purpose, must have a principal or primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and must not foster an excessive entanglement with religion.” The tripartite test, though difficult of application, brings together a consistent line of Supreme Court cases. (See Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) 403 U.S. 602, *808612-613 [29 L.Ed.2d 745, 755-756, 91 S.Ct. 2105]; Walz v. Tax Commission (1970) 397 U.S. 664, 674 [25 L.Ed.2d 697, 704-705, 90 S.Ct. 1409]; Epperson v. Arkansas, supra, 393 U.S. 97, 107 [21 L.Ed.2d 228, 236]; Abington School Dist. v. Schempp, supra, 374 U.S. 203, 222 [10 L.Ed.2d 844, 858].)
The trial judge found that the display of the cross on City Hall failed this tripartite test since it had an impermissible religious purpose and effect, and excessively entangled the city in religious matters.10 I agree.
It is beyond dispute that the display on the Los Angeles City Hall tower of a symbol so replete with spiritual content as the Latin cross has a substantial impact, pro and con, on the religious feelings of many who view it.11 As the United States Supreme Court has emphasized, “[w]hen the power, prestige and financial support of government is placed behind a particular religious belief, the indirect coercive pressure upon religious minorities to conform to the prevailing officially approved religion is plain.” (Engel v. Vitale, supra, 370 U.S. 421, 431 [8 L.Ed.2d 601, 608].)
*809The particular and dramatic way in which the cross was lit on City Hall contributed to its substantial religious impact. This was not the creation of a “secular” Christmas scene, replete with Santas, reindeer, and trees. This was an isolated cross stretching for several stories atop City Hall tower. The religious symbol, visible from a distance, stood without qualification or explanation, like the cross atop a traditional church. The city made no significant attempt to cushion the feelings of those, such as respondent, who were offended by the use of their tax funds to display the symbol of a religion whose beliefs they did not share.
Further, whatever may be said for the secular nature of the Christmas holiday, the same cannot be argued for Easter. Easter Sunday is no more a legal holiday in this state than any other Sunday. To the extent that non-Christians observe the day, they do not typically share in the display of the Latin cross. Indeed, that the spiritual content of the cross is central to the spiritual significance of Easter is a matter of common knowledge. The appearance of governmental identification with one religious tradition is thus even greater at Easter than at Christmas.12
The display of the cross on Eastern Orthodox Easter has a substantial religious impact as well. The decision to display the cross on that holiday was taken after a member of the Orthodox religion requested such a display in 1971. The text of that request, reprinted in the record of the trial court below, makes abundantly clear the religious motivation of the writer; “It has come to my attention . . . that as night will fall on Civic Center April Tenth a giant cross . . . will welcome Easter for members of the Protestant and Roman Catholic faith whereas some two hundred thousand members of Eastern Orthodox faith . . . will be chanting their traditional ‘Christ is Risen’ on Sunday April 18th as Orthodox Easter is celebrated.”
*810Though it proved too late to grant this request in 1971, the city council authorized the display of the cross on Orthodox Easter beginning in 1972. The council did preface its authorization by stating that the event was only “a further symbol of the spirit of peace and good fellowship toward all mankind on an inter-faith basis, particularly toward the eastern nations in Europe.” However, this declaration, characterized by the trial court as “self-serving,” cannot alter the fact that the city council henceforth was engaged in displaying a sectarian symbol on a holy day having no independent secular significance. The only effect of the city’s action was to equalize the recognition bestowed upon various branches of Christianity. Clearly, such an extension of recognition to another Christian sect only reinforces the conclusion that the City of Los Angeles was furthering one particular religion.
Appellant contends that the federal Court of Appeals decision in Allen v. Morton, supra, 495 F.2d 65 governs since the display of a creche or nativity scene in the Ellipse across from the White House was found not to violate in and of itself the First Amendment. However, the reasoning of the court in Allen advances the view that the cross, as displayed by the City of Los Angeles, does have a substantial religious impact.
In an earlier proceeding, the Allen court remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the display of the creche had any substantial religious impact. (Allen v. Hickel (D.C.Cir. 1970) 424 F.2d 944, 950.) The court declared “we cannot say ... on the record before us . . . that it is conclusive beyond dispute that the visual impact of the creche does not entail substantial religious impact. Nor can we say . . . that it is impossible to present the créche and other holiday symbols in a manner designed to obviate or at least minimize offense to the sensibilities of citizens who are offended .... Perhaps an appropriate accompanying plaque, rather than a mere explanation in pamphlets with lesser circulation, might serve ... to allay the impression of Government sponsorship of religious belief. . . .” (Id., at pp. 949-950.)
On remand, the district court held that the display of the créche did not involve substantial religious impact. While reversing the district court on “entanglement” grounds, the Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The court noted that the explanatory plaques, suggested in its first opinion, had been put in place. The court also noted that “the creche should not be considered in isolation but as an integral part of’ a pageant whose purpose was to show how the American people celebrate Christmas. (Allen v. Morton, supra, 495 F.2d 65, 74.)
*811However, in the present case the City of Los Angeles chose to display the isolated Latin cross on the top stories of City Hall.13 The Allen case suggests that, absent the qualifications inherent in plaques and surrounding secular symbols, the display of a religious symbol alone does have substantial impact in advancing and inhibiting religious belief. Therefore, the Allen case supports this court’s decision.
The administrative and political difficulties spawned by anything more than minimal governmental involvement in the affairs of religion is considered in the “excessive entanglement” test. “Entanglement” first emerged as a separate doctrinal requirement in Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra, 403 U.S. 602, 616-620, 622-624 [29 L.Ed.2d 745, 757-760, 761-762]. The Supreme Court scrutinized aid to education programs which required states to monitor the use to which their funds were put by religious schools. The tying of state aid to state surveillance was. found impermissible under the First Amendment if the state became involved in monitoring the programs of schools whose religious and secular functions were inseparable. The court concluded that government had no business intruding in the everyday policy decisions of church-related institutions.
More importantly for our purposes, the Lemon court noted the dangers of political division along religious lines in regard to such aid to education programs. (Id., at pp. 622-624 [29 L.Ed.2d at pp. 761-762].) The annual debate on appropriations, the pressure to increase support as costs grow each year, threatened to turn religion and religious differences into central political issues. This was the precise danger the establishment clause was originally meant to prevent. As Justice Harlan wrote in Walz v. Tax Commission, supra, 397 U.S. 664, 694 [25 L.Ed.2d 697, 716], the establishment clause precludes “that kind and degree of government involvement in religious life that, as histoiy teaches us, is apt to lead to strife and frequently strain a political system to the breaking point.” (See also Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, supra, 413 U.S. 756, 797 [37 L.Ed.2d 948, 977] [“. . . where the underlying issue is the deeply emotional one of Church-State relationships, the potential for seriously divisive political consequences needs no elaboration.”].)14
*812The United States Supreme Court has never ruled on the “entanglement” problems presented by the display of a religious symbol.15 However, as with the “entanglement” found in Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra, 403 U.S. 602, 622-624 [29 L.Ed.2d 745, 761-762], the City of Los Angeles has opened itself up to successive requests for—and successive debates over—the display of religious symbols on its City Hall. This process has already started. The display of the cross on Easter triggered a request from a member of the Eastern Orthodox faith that “the same consideration be extended to members of Eastern Orthodoxy.” Since a refusal of that request would have exposed the city to charges of favoritism, members of the city council were placed in the compromising position of granting a religiously motivated request. Where will this process end? It does not take foresight to see that this situation is fraught with dangers of political divisiveness. As the majority opinion points out, once the tower of City Hall is converted into a giant calendar, marked with symbols such as the Latin cross, the Jewish Star of David, the Moslem crescent and star, the Buddhist wheel, and the Hare Kirshna “Om,” passions for and against one or another religion will have become part and parcel of the once neutral experience of travelling within sight of City Hall.
Moreover, the City Council of Los Angeles has no business deliberating on such questions as what symbols of other religions are equivalent to the cross and what holidays of other religions are equivalent to Christmas and Easter. These are questions whose answers the First Amendment reserves to the respective religions. The fact that the city council may have to answer already tells us that excessive entanglement is at hand. The trial court was correct when it found that “the wisdom of the founding fathers in proscribing governmental entanglement is illustrated by the difficulties]” the city council faces in responding to requests for displays of religious symbols on religious holidays.
*813IV
Since the display of a sectarian symbol on the Los Angeles City Hall involves that city in the promotion of one particular religious faith, it violates both the California and United States Constitutions. Religious freedom is one of our most cherished heritages. As judges sworn to uphold the constitution, we have no more solemn duty than to preserve this heritage for our children just as our ancestors preserved it for us. This we can only do by guarding against every governmental intrusion, large or small, into the inner sanctum of conscience.
Tobriner, J., concurred.

This case comes before the court today on appeal from the granting of a preliminary injunction below, restraining the City of Los Angeles from “[displaying a lighted single-barred cross on . . . City Hall. . . .” It has long been recognized that an appellate court will reverse the granting of a preliminary injunction only if it finds an abuse of discretion by the trial court. (Weingand v. Atlantic Sav. & Loan Assn. (1970) 1 Cal.3d 806, 820 [83 Cal.Rptr. 650, 464 P.2d 106]; Continental Baking Co. v. Katz (1968) 68 Cal.2d 512, 527, 528 [67 Cal.Rptr. 761, 439 P.2d 889]; San Francisco Police Officers Assn. v. City and County of San Francisco (1977) 69 Cal.App.3d 1019, 1022 [138 Cal.Rptr. 755].) The test on review balances two factors: “(a) whether or not greater injury will result to a defendant from granting a preliminary injunction . . . than to a plaintiff from its refusal and (b) whether there is a reasonable probability the plaintiff will ultimately prevail in the litigation.” (San Francisco Police Officers Assn. v. City and County of San Francisco, supra, at p. 1022; see also Code Civ. Proc., § 526.) Considering the limited nature of appellate review of preliminary injunctions, I agree with my colleague Justice Newman that an abuse of discretion by the trial court has not been established as a matter of law.
Upon remand this case may yet proceed to trial on the merits. The importance and novelty of the issue, as well as considerations of judicial economy, convince me to review at some length the provisions of the state and federal Constitutions upon which respondent rests her objection to the display of the cross on City Hall.

As adopted at the 1849 Constitutional Convention, article I, section 4 read, in *800pertinent part: “The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this State . . . .” The 1879 Constitutional Convention retained article I, section 4, but strengthened its language by substituting the word “guaranteed” for “allowed” in the article’s first sentence. An explanation for the change, given by a delegate on the convention floor, is evidence for the power of the provision: “Mr. O’Sullivan: ... I propose this amendment, because it is quite evident that the word ‘allowed’ conveys the idea that the right to disallow or deny exists. Now, sir, I deny that any Government or any power on earth has a right to grant or deny freedom of religious belief. . . . ‘Guarantee,’ therefore, is the proper word (Debates and Proceedings, Cal. Const. Convention 1878-1879, p. 1171 (hereinafter cited as Proceedings).)
The present language of article I, section 4, supra, dates from its adoption by vote of the people on November 5, 1974, in conjunction with the repeal of article I, section 4 as formerly worded. In addition to minor editorial changes, the 1974 text adds a provision that “[t]he Legislature shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This sentence is virtually identical to the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In my view, this court need not decide today whether the California establishment clause differs in any respect from its federal counterpart since the more explicit prohibition of this state’s free exercise clause against discrimination or preference is sufficient to question the display of a Latin cross on a city hall. I discuss the establishment clause problems raised by the display of the cross separately in part III of this opinion.

Numbered originally as article IV, section 30 in the 1879 Constitution, the provision was renumbered as article XIII, section 24 and amended on November 8, 1966. The present article XVI, section 5 is materially identical to its predecessors and was added on November 5, 1974. For convenience, all references below to this provision will be to article XVI, section 5.

The 1879 convention also added a specific ban on state aid to sectarian schools. (Cal. Const., art. IX, § 8.)
The most extensive debate at the 1879 convention regarding article XVI, section 5 concerned whether to amend it to declare that nothing in the article prevented the state from granting aid to orphanages affiliated with religious orders. An amendment so providing was eventually adopted by the convention. (Proceedings, pp. 1272-1273.) But the debate made clear that the delegates worried greatly that a loophole was being opened through which religious sects, merely by affiliating themselves with orphanages, could qualify for state support:
“Mr. Stuart: I ask the gentleman if this [exception for aid to orphanages] will not open the treasury for others?
“Mr. Wilson: Not at all, sir. It does not extend any further than [aid to orphans]. This is the extent of the amendment. I am just as much opposed as any gentleman upon this floor to any union of church and state. But I do not look upon this as State aid to a church. It is for the orphans.”
The explicit amendment to article XVI, section 5 necessary to allow state aid to church-sponsored orphanages thus testifies to the delegates’ shared conviction that the article’s ban on state aid to religion was otherwise total.

In California Educational Facilities Authority v. Priest, supra, 12 Cal.3d 593, itself, the court upheld the constitutionality of a state act creating a public authority with the power to issue bonds to help private colleges finance new facilities. The court noted that no expenditure of state funds was required by the act since the participating colleges were to repay all bond issues and to bear all operating expenses. The court also was of the opinion that any benefits that accrued to religion were truly remote and incidental to the primary purpose of benefiting education. It was significant that all private colleges, sectarian or nonsectarian, were eligible for aid. Our case today is distinguishable in that public funds are being expended, and in that the benefits go directly to one and only one religion.

My colleague Justice Richardson suggests in his dissent (dis. opn., post, at p. 817) that no “preference is worked until the city has both received and rejected similar applications” from other religions for the display of their symbols. But surely a preference already results from the mere fact that some religions did not have to apply for recognition of their holidays. Moreover^ the majority rightly object to the notion that the city may turn City Hall into a vast billboard for religious messages. Even if this were not found to be a preference for religion, it raises serious “establishment clause” questions under the state and federal Constitutions. These questions are discussed in part III of this opinion.

According to the director of the bureau of public buildings, the cost for lighting the cross for Christmas in 1975 was to be $103.

As indicated above (fn. 2, ante), article I, section 4 of the California Constitution contains an establishment clause virtually identical to that of the First Amendment. In my *807view, since the display of the cross violates the First Amendment, we need not decide today whether the state establishment clause has any greater force.

Abington School Dist. v. Schempp (1963) 374 U.S. 203, 231 [10 L.Ed.2d 844, 863, 83 S.Ct. 1560] (conc. opn. of Brennan, J., quoting Representative Daniel Carroll of Md. during the debate upon the proposed Bill of Rights in the 1st Cong., Aug. 15, 1789, I Annals of Cong. 730).

However, this court need not presently judge the city’s purpose in displaying the cross. According to a 1970 memorandum from the director of the bureau of public buildings, the lighting of a cross at Christmas and Easter was “not in religious tribute but more in a spirit of peace and good fellowship toward all mankind.” Upon approving the display of the cross during Eastern Orthodox Easter, the public works committee of the city council noted in 1971 that its approval was “predicated upon the display being a further symbol of the spirit of peace and good fellowship toward all mankind on an inter-faith basis, particularly toward the Eastern nations in Europe.” The city argues that these declarations must be accepted at face value. It is, of course, true that the courts hesitate to question the motives of other branches of government. But “[i]n contrast to the general rule that legislative motive or purpose is not a relevant inquiry in determining the constitutionality of a statute . . . , our cases under the Religion Clauses have uniformly held such an inquiry necessary . . . .” (McDaniel v. Paty (1978) 435 U.S. 618, 636, fn. 9 [55 L.Ed.2d 593, 607, 98 S.Ct. 1322, 1333] (conc. opn. of Brennan, J.).) Were it necessary to reach the question of purpose in this case, substantial grounds exist for affirming the trial judge’s finding that the “real” purpose of the display was a religious one. The sectarian connotations of the cross are beyond dispute. The fact that the city chose to display the cross on three Christian holidays strongly suggests that those sectarian connotations were recognized and intended by city officials.

In Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist (1973) 413 U.S. 756, 783-784, footnote 39 [37 L.Ed.2d 948, 969, 93 S.Ct. 2955], the Supreme Court warned against applying the “principal or primary effect” test in a way that would require “metaphysical judgments” between “primary” and “secondary” effects. “Our cases simply do not support the notion that a law found to have a ‘primary’ effect to promote some legitimate end under the State’s police power is immune from further examination to ascertain whether it also has the direct and immediate effect of advancing religion.” (Ibid.) The court then referred to its upholding of Sunday closing laws in previous cases, making clear that such laws “were upheld, not because their effect was, first, to promote the legitimate interest in a universal day of rest. . . and only secondarily to assist religious interests; instead, approval flowed *809from the finding . . . that [such laws] had only a remote and incidental effect advantageous to religious institutions.” The phrase “primary secular effect” therefore only roughly describes the test the Supreme Court itself applies. It would be more accurate to say that “any non-secular effect [of state action must] be remote, indirect and incidental.” (Tribe, American Constitutional Law (1978) 840, italics omitted.) Official acts must be free from any “substantial religious impact” in advancing or inhibiting religion. (Allen v. Morton (D.C.Cir. 1973) 495 F.2d 65, 87 (conc. opn. of Leventhal, J.).)

The Court of Appeal in this state has previously held unconstitutional the Governor’s executive order closing state offices from noon to 3 p.m. on Good Friday and allowing state employees paid time off. (Mandel v. Hodges, supra, 54 Cal.App.3d 596.) On March 24, 1978, the United States Supreme Court also stayed a judgment by a federal court of appeals that would have allowed the- State of New Hampshire to lower its flags to half-mast in commemoration of Good Friday. (Brown v. Thompson (1978) 435 U.S. 938 [55 L.Ed.2d 535, 98 S.Ct. 1515.]

It is troubling that the display of a cross high on City Hall lends a certain church-like appearance to the building. I can presently see no way in which the display of a cross on City Hall could be arranged so as to be constitutional. When it comes to as spiritually laden a symbol as the cross, the Allen court’s emphasis on plaques and surrounding symbols may not suffice.

The court has been most likely to find potential for political division when the state involvement with religion takes on a self-perpetuating quality. It was the prospect of *812annual, acrimonious appropriation debates that troubled the court in Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra, 403 U.S. 602 at p. 623 [29 L.Ed.2d 745 at pp. 761-762], By contrast, the court found acceptable the permanent tax exemption granted to all religions, at issue in Walz v. Tax Commission, supra, 397 U.S. 664, 674 [25 L.Ed.2d 697, 704-705]. The exemption was categorical and did not necessitate state monitoring of the benefiting sects.

The federal Court of Appeals did find “entanglement” problems raised by the membership of federal officials on the executive committee of the “Christmas Pageant of Peace.” (Allen v. Morton, supra, 495 F.2d 65, 83 (conc. opn. of Leventhal, J.).) Those officials were put in the position of deciding whether removal of the creche from the pageant would be equivalent to “taking Christ out of Christmas.” The Court of Appeal of this state has also found “entanglement” difficulties presented by the Governor’s order closing state offices between noon and 3 p.m. on Good Friday. (Mandel v. Hodges, supra, 54 Cal.App.3d 596, 614-615.)