Workers push U.S. parks to decide fate of religious markers

[gnegirl]

This is affecting the Alburquerque Stupa....

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17766336

[plwk]

What would the Buddha do?

[mindyourmind]

A clear policy by the Department, consistently applied, is all we can really ask for.

This type of situation has the potential to be far more divisive than the good that comes from the perceived benefit.

[gnegirl]

If we're not allowed to keep the Stupa, at the very least I'd hope they let us recover the relics from inside of it...

[Heruka]

The land that it's on had been owned by Ariane Emery and her husband, Dr. Harold Cohen. Their house and all other structures, except the stupa, were removed when the Park Service bought the land.

property rights are the federal governments in this case if im reading this correctly.

[Heruka]

If we're not allowed to keep the Stupa, at the very least I'd hope they let us recover the relics from inside of it...

there are precedent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sole ... ontroversy


Judges have sided with plaintiffs on multiple occasions and ruled that the cross is illegal and had to be removed or sold to the highest bidder. Defenders of the cross explored several options for preserving the cross. The land under the cross was eventually transferred to the federal government. Critics of the cross allege that, even if the transfer itself is legal, it does not solve the fundamental problem of the argument that the cross is not legal on any government-owned property

[Heruka]

you have to explore the legal definition of a stupa...is it a monument, a tomb or grave, and so forth, it is more than just a symbol.