City of Contradictions

Some inquiries have asked for clarification of my term for Las Cruces: "City of Contradictions." Las Cruces has earned some less flattering terms, but I will stick to this one and none of the following comments are in event order.

The strangest, yet confusing contradiction one will find, be they native, visitor, or newcomer, is the on-going silent battle between the Las Cruces Convention/Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the City Hall culturally deviate (CD) gang. The CVB promotes Las Cruces as "The Crossroads." The City Hall CD gang steadfastly maintains Las Cruces is the "City of the Crosses," a name invented by the local private Chamber of Commerce with help from the private El Paso Chamber of Commerce in 1949. No historical records have been produced to substantiate the fakelore promoted by the City Hall CD gang and their pals. Several generations have now succumbed to the tall tales.

1. The NMSU history professor, Jon Hunner, who was selected to be the court 'expert,' admitted on the witness stand that he had not read any of the standard, legitimate history books of this area. Now, he is unabashedly on the state-panel representing this area for the 2012 statehood centennial. After Hunner's display of ignorance of the local history in court, his pal Judge Brack let him keep his 'expert witness' title which Hunner now plays up for the glory and gain.

2. In the City's Branigan Culture Center (BCC) is a nice, but spoiled, historical display of local history. To get inside the BCC one has to pass a gauntlet of banners displaying the crosses representing the shame of a city. Over the door to the display room is the sign, "Las Cruces: The Crossroads," which referrers to the various trails, roads, and highways that crisscross the area, and the river that flows south through through the city. Once inside over the displays in twenty-six locations, the visitor will see the perverted time-line that instead of saying 'Las Cruces' at the 1850 mark, it says "City of the Crosses." This fictitious accounting of various stories is the debrained-'child' of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce to promote Christianity for Profit since there is nothing else in Las Cruces. Guess who was the historical director of the exhibit? Expert professor Jon Hunner, no less. How much was he paid for this?

3. The two local, appointed federal judges, Robert Brack and Lourdes Martinez, who represent the national laws of the land, but put their religion above those laws, are still on the bench they disgraced when they joined the defense to harass the plaintiffs at every opportunity. The tandem harassment was orchestrated to force the plaintiffs to quit their First Amendment cases against the public school district and the city for the promotion of religion.

The courtroom antics, especially the dismissing of the plaintiffs' evidence, by these two judges are recorded in the public record. Their misbehavior is excused by the catch-phrase "judge's discretion."

4. In Las Cruces Protestant and Catholic groups have installed three Latin crosses in various locations over the years and then claim the crosses are not religious. To cover themselves 'massacre' stories were made up - fakelore. Apaches killing first Spaniards and later Euro-Americans has been a Hollywoodesque addition to popular stories with voluminous numbers.

Of course, all the dead were good Christians as every grave got a cross except those carried away by vermin and relatives. There are no records of course, nor markers. Just stories for tourist and obedient citizens.

An example of how repetition spoils a good story is when one thinks of crosses over graves a vision of nice, white boards being used. There was no lumber! Especially to waste over graves when a stick would do. Susan Magoffin's "a rude cross" is an example.

5. Now, how can faithful Christians, whose beliefs are represented by the display of Latin crosses, claim the crosses are not religious? Like in the trois singes ruling from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that appears to have been written by an outside evangelical group, claim that three Latin crosses are not religious. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled several times that the Latin cross, and everyone knows this, is a Christian religious symbol recognized throughout the world as a Christian symbol. But here and in Denver the crosses are not religious when used by the city and public school district, but those the local Bishop wears are, obviously. If it wasn't a payoff involved, what would be the answer?

6. In Las Cruces there is the old Highway 70 (North Main Street) that runs basically east and west, connecting Alamogordo to the city. It appears that Protestants claim it is the entrance to Las Cruces from the east. The Catholics have been traveling north and south for several centuries from the time when the Spaniards came. At the junction of North Main and Solano Drive are three large black steel crosses representing Calvary (Protestants installed them.). The Trinity if Catholics had done it. Now the crosses are lighted at night with red-white-blue Christmas lights.

Since these are the national colors, are only Christians the real Americans? Since the court ruled that the crosses aren't religious is this still an insult directed to non-believers and non-Christians? When you drive by for the first time and see the lights on the crosses, it's a 'What the f...!' moment. Those moments are almost a daily occurrence in Las Cruces.

7. With the laughable title of "Las Cruces International Airport" on the west side of the city, the airport has a large water tank - the bulbous type - like a Tootsie Pop. The well-traveled I-10 Interstate passes by this landmark. It is New Mexico Yellow with a large red Zia symbol on the southside that faces the interstate. But! on the northside is the shameful city symbol of crosses. The highway traveler cannot see it, but those arriving at the airport and departing the airport by vehicle or aircraft can see it. The visitor is greeted at the terminal with a large symbol of the ubiquitous crosses over the entrance. Apparently, St. Christopher has been fired by the City Council.

8. A major contradiction that is totally observable outside and inside City Hall, but undeniably a point that escapes the abilities of the Mayor and the City Council due to cultural deficiencies.
There are two large lions resting in front of the building, a donation by a Jewish family several years ago. The front of the building had three Latin crosses, but that was changed after several citizens complained about the appropriateness of Christian symbols on a government building. Well, the City took them down! But, in all the belligerence of ignorance the crosses were replaced with the Gothic symbol now used. The City steadfastly maintains the crosses represent the fictitious graves from fictitious 'massacres' by "heathens."

Inside the City Hall is a serious "What the f...!" moment to greet the visitor. Dutiful citizens are in line to pay their city bills that carry the crosses marker. A picture of God is on one wall. A miracle plaque on another - "Here they saw a cross for which Las Cruces was named."
The crosses markers are all over the building. On everything! A righteous plague.

Then the public meeting room of the City Council is overpowered by a large crosses emblem on the wall behind the raised Inquisitional-like dais where the council sits. The two podiums have smaller versions of the crosses emblem on the front. One next to the dais is used by presenters and the citizens can see and hear the influence of the holy. The other podium for citizens faces the council so they can be influenced by the crosses when they should be listening to the citizen.
A bizarre situation unrecognized by the faithful.

9. The "a cross" mentioned above, recorded on the plaque inside City Hall, has an interesting history. The only true recorded early history of this area is found in the American citizen Susan Magoffin's 1846-1847 diary, "Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico." As Susan Magoffin and her family passed through she recorded seeing the ten-year-old graves of fourteen Mexican soldiers killed in a battle with the Apache. Ms. Magoffin wrote on page 202, "the graves of whom, marked with a rude cross, are now seen...." The location of those graves is unknown.

In the federal trial against the Las Cruces Public Schools, Judge Robert Brack interrupted the pro se plaintiff when he was attempting to question the Court's 'expert' historian, professor Jon Hunner. Previously, the judge ruled that Hunner would be the 'expert' in this trial and the City of Las Cruces trial. The pro se plaintiff managed to get Hunner to admit that 'a' meant 'one' before being cutoff by the judge with his, "That question doesn't make sense.", because Hunner had written that Ms. Magoffin had not recorded the number of crosses over the graves. Ms. Magoffin never, ever wrote: 'crosses' which would mean one on every grave.

10. The Las Cruces Public Schools has a rewritten and backdated Policy and Procedures 424, Religion in the Schools. The District adamantly has refused to change some irregularities in the syntax of some sentences. In the Policy portion of 424 it states: "....but does have the responsibility to teach about religion."

The use of the word 'religion' in its singular form in this policy denotes a favoritism toward Christianity. Public schools have the responsibility to teach about the various religions in an open manner so as not to be derogatory. The insistence by those degreed authorities in the School District, and the 'bought' federal judges mentioned above, that there is no difference between the words 'religion' and 'religions' have lied. Pure and simple. In federal court under oath on the witness stand the witnesses for the defense lied about the words. Of course, Judge Brack said he didn't see any difference.

11. Piety of the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education and the Superintendent. The site was formally a Catholic school until the outgoing Bishop sold it and the 'dilapidated' church to a banker and retired to El Paso. The site became a shopping center, then a office complex. Now, the north end anchor is a bank with a large, perfectly proportioned, New Mexico Zia symbol on the front. Separated from the bank by the entrance to other offices is the Las Cruces Public Schools Administration Offices. Over the words 'Administration Offices' at the entrance is a child-like drawing that includes a modified Zia symbol changed to represent the Trinity of the Catholic religion. The now retired spokesman for the Las Cruces Public Schools, John Schutz, claimed an unnamed student in an unnamed contest at some distant past drew the picture that is in tile. Schutz proved in federal court that his testimony is unreliable at best. This picture is now the school district logo after the crosses logo was removed from the vehicles. This picture appears to have been drawn by the art teacher at the Hillrise Elementary School.

12. The City of Las Cruces has steadfastly maintained that the Christian Latin crosses used on the City seal and City symbol are not religious, even though they represent The Trinity, and these [Christian] crosses represent "the community." Can anyone say that when they see the Nazi swastika they don't know what it represents? The 'bought' federal judges ruled with the city story. Now we have a new, obvious Christian symbol promoted by Mayor Kenneth Miyagishima on plaques he hands out. The larger white center cross emanates rays of light indicating, as any non-Christian knows, a representation of the divine of the cross. In the
5 February 2009 Las Cruces Sun-News, the only daily newspaper, is yet another picture of the mayor awarding one of his plaques. This time to a New Mexico National Guard Sergeant Major for the unit's role in some operation (not explained).

13. The city government of Las Cruces, led by the nose by the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, continues to promote itself as a Christian city and at the same time denies it. The City Council still holds court in the Inquisitional setting of the Catholic Church, which the local Christians enjoy, and for those who cannot go to the meetings, there is the City-owned Comcast Channel 20 for viewing in the privacy of the home. Only those citizens with cable television can get the broadcast.

14. The City of Las Cruces publishes a quarterly, 8-page, bi-lingual newspaper it mails to thousands of residents. Recipients can only wonder why and what is the purpose until they look at the pictures of those who have their hands in the taxpayers' pockets. Citizens living outside the city limits, but inside the ETZ cannot participate in city government affairs.
The example for the month of February is the Sun-News City ad prefaced with the ubiquitous
Christian crosses and "Public Notice." The ad is titled "Members Sought for Ratepayer Advisory Committee." "To qualify for appointment......a resident must be.....a Las Cruces utilities customer." This prevents thousands of residents from even thinking about membership on the committee. Many residents have wells and propane tanks, so they can't be a "utilities customer."

15. The City has published its 2009 edition of the City of Las Cruces Reference Guide which does contains some important services information if it is read. The City continues to use public funds to promote the Christian religion with the ubiquitous crosses dispersed throughout the document. Readers are encouraged to go to the City website for further information, but be prepared to get an additional of the crosses. The crosses of the fire department are shown on p.12, but the police crosses are missing. And the museum section doesn't bother to mention that the permanent display of the history of the City in the Branigan Cultural Center is promoting Christianity.

Of course, the local federal judges, Robert Brack (Dominici hack.) and Lourdes Martinez (Gov. Richardson's hack.), who said the Latin crosses are not religious, are still on the bench despensing 'justice' according to the Gospel.