FFRF objects to religious symbol at Ohio Capitol [View all]

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July 18, 2013

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, on behalf of its more than 500 Ohio members, is objecting to a religious design on a Holocaust memorial to be built at the Ohio statehouse. FFRF, a Madison, Wis.-based association of 19,000 atheists and agnostics, is a national state/church watchdog.

The design selected for the memorial, created by architect Daniel Libeskind, incorporates stainless steel rectangular structures with the prominent sacred religious Star of David in the negative space. Libeskind's justification for using an overtly religious symbol on government property was, "one cannot separate the Holocaust from the star."

However, semi-finalists Jaume Plensa and Ann Hamilton did just that.

FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor sent a letter June 14, 2013 to former Ohio Senator Richard Finan, chair of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, stating: "Either of Plensa's or Hamilton's designs would be preferable to avoid a potentially unconstitutional entanglement of government and religion. Therefore, the state, in choosing Libeskind's plan using a prominent sacred symbol, knowingly selected and endorsed a design with constitutional concerns." -

http://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/18172-ffrf-objects-to-religious-symbol-at-ohio-capitol

The symbol is the Star of David on a Holocaust Memorial.