Sometimes that one cross is too much of a cross to bear.

Sometimes you just have to draw a line in the sand and dare someone to drag a cross over it.

No one is presently worshipping Pomona, but there are plenty of people preparing for the Apocalypse.

And Tom, you regularly go to a Christian church, of your own free will, so you are somewhat innoculated from the effect of continuous, relentless, infused exposure to religious symbolism and declarations. It's like a kind of spiritual smog.

That particular setting for the paramount Christian symbol is probably not one I would choose to sue over, but I really and truly understand.

Christian music in the gym. Christian tee shirts. Christian bumper stickers. Christian fundraisers knocking on my door (and how can I turn away the kids?). Christian jewelry. Christian god-help-us tattoos. Christian billboards. Christian pamphlets in with my groceries. "Where is your Christian fiction?" ("Interfiled with the rest. You'll just have to contaminate yourself.") I have to take a deep breath every day. Some days are better than others, but not because the input from Christian culture is any different. Most days I can regulate my response pretty well. On other days, I mostly smile and write a little hash mark on my hand, indicating an additional dollar to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

That's my way of fighting back. Other people resort to lawsuits. It's the American Way.

Christians, as the majority, see themselves as the dominant culture, and don't understand how the constant drumbeat of their expression of their religious beliefs could possibly be a problem. If we non-Christians don't like it, well, we should just suck it up and ignore it. The problem with this is, I am not allowed to drive to work wearing a mask and earplugs, which is what it would take to ignore it.

So sometimes people snap under the pressure. There is precious little I can do about Christian expressions in my personal space if they're on private property -- like cars' back windows and in people's earlobes. But I can see some put-upon Californian looking at that crest after a morning of religious assault and saying, "And now I have to pay for this????"

If they want to keep the cross as a symbol of the missions, they can change the picture to one of a mission building with a cross on top, so everyone "gets" that it's an historical reference. I don't really understand what's with the two stars and the rainbow-looking thingie that appear with the cross in that portion of the crest anyway. It doesn't say anything about history to me.