By Rev. Thomas Hughson, S.J.
On Friday morning, Feb. 3, I walked across the central mall to Lalumiere Language Hall. Some organization had implanted large wooden crosses along the sidewalk. Somebody is making a statement on behalf of a worthy cause. I wish whoever did so, all their best intentions notwithstanding, would remove them.
The campus has crosses in classrooms, as well as in Joan of Arc and Holy Family chapels. People make the Stations of the Cross inside adjacent Gesu Church. That is reverent.
The size, placement and sudden, unexplained appearance of heavy-duty mall crosses, on the other hand, convey a coming-at-you, aggressive type of religiosity that lacks reverence. This is far removed from the spirit of inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue to which the Catholic Church and Marquette University are committed. It also contributes to the trivialization of the cross as a symbol.
I don't relish being stopped on the sidewalk in front of the library by an earnest pamphleteer asking, "Are you saved?" Similarly in my opinion, the mall crosses, whatever significant secondary purpose they are meant to serve, are intrusive. More is not always better.
Thank you.