Memorial crosses honoring fallen UHP troopers have more in common with holiday decorations and secular displays of the Ten Commandments than they do with promoting religion, the state of Utah says.

What's more, the Utah Attorney General's Office notes that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who do not use the cross as a religious symbol, have not taken issue with use of the crosses, even though LDS members make up an estimated 70 percent of the state's population, according to the Attorney General's Office.

These are just a few arguments posed in a recent memorandum filed in U.S. District Court by the state in response to a lawsuit filed by an atheist group over some thirteen 12-foot-tall crosses erected near Utah roads and highways. American Atheists sued the state last December, claiming the symbol of the cross used in the memorials violates the separation of church and state and endorses one religious belief over others.

Assistant attorney general Thom Roberts also noted a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, recognizing the historic significance of some Ten Commandments displays on government property, as a defense of the crosses. Like the Ten Commandments, the crosses could also carry a non-religious message.

"The cross is also firmly recognized as a symbol of death or a place of burial," Roberts wrote. Additionally, other religious symbols have taken on more secular meanings over time.

"The Christmas tree once had a religious connotation but now is a secular symbol of Christmas," Roberts noted.

The cross itself, Roberts argued, also predates Christianity and is used in other nonreligious contexts, such as survey markers and mathematical symbols. Also, the "Utah Cross" is the second- highest honor given by the Utah National Guard to its members.

Attorney Brian Barnard disagrees with the state's arguments.

"American Atheists has no objection to honoring law enforcement officers who gave their lives in public service. However, government should not participate in such a program using such a poignant religious symbol," Barnard said. "They claim that the Christian Cross is a universally recognized nonreligious symbol of death, remembrance and sacrifice and its display does not advance religion. They cite no legal authority for that claim."

Barnard also took issue with the state equating the Christian cross with highway markers and mathematic symbols, adding such an argument does not relate to the claims in the lawsuit.

The case has sparked community debate over the issue. Some family members of fallen UHP troopers have said they were offended by the suit. The Utah Highway Patrol Association, a private organization that raised the funds to erect the crosses, has intervened in the suit.

American Atheists is asking a federal judge to order removal of those crosses located on government property. The group also suggests that the crosses be replaced with a more secular symbol, such as the Utah Highway Patrol symbol, which is a beehive.

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