I blogged about the Flight 93 memorial a couple days ago and now I hear that more are starting to speak out against using the crescent symbol in a memorial to 9/11 victims.

Actually, before I link to the story, I sent the author of this piece an email about the tragic irony of the symbol being used in this particular memorial. However, she proceeded to talk to some decidedly conservative voices and quote them. I don’t agree with many of the things that these people say. I don’t even agree with most of the rhetoric they use to attack the proposed memorial. In fact, I don’t agree with most of the rhetoric that many right-wing bloggers ar using to decry the memorial However, I do agree with the one point that a crescent symbol is the wrong shape to use in the memorial since it can be seen as the “cross” of Islam.

More from the Post-Gazette:

There’s a growing outcry that one element of the newly chosen Flight 93 National Memorial represents Islam and is a slap in the face to the passengers and crew members who died on the hijacked plane four years ago.

Ron McRae, Somerset County street evangelist — “It’s a memorial to the terrorists. It’s not a memorial to the innocent Americans who died there.”

The winning design, announced Wednesday in Washington, D.C., includes what is called the “Crescent of Embrace.” That element of the project calls for two rows of red maple trees to be planted around a bowl-shaped piece of land adjacent to the crash site. The trees, according to the architects, are there to create a physical edge to the landscape and accentuate the topography.

Almost immediately upon seeing the design, online bloggers suggested that it is inappropriate to use a red crescent in the memorial.

To many, that shape represents Islam, and the symbol is used on the flags of several Muslim countries, including Turkey, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

The four men who hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 on its way from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco were Muslim.

When I first read that, I also thought of the idea of a “red” crescent. Red is the color of blood. Imagine a red cross symbol being used in a memorial to Muslims killed by Christians. Think I’m just being dramatic? Well, if you remember the ethnic cleansing that our nation stopped, you may understand why this is certainly an apt comparison.

Now, I’ve been roundly criticized by the blog Lawyers, Guns and Money for these views, but I feel that some more understanding about exactly what this symbol means is needed. This blog, and a couple others, also use the argument that critics of the memorial are targeting ALL crescent shapes, like New Orlean’s nickname, the “Crescent City.” Again, I am talking THIS use of the crescent in THIS situation. Nothing more, nothing less.

And by the way, the story I mentioned before reveals that the designers of the memorial definitely considered this before the memorial was proposed.

The jurors recognized there could be some backlash because of the crescent. That’s why, in their recommendations, they wrote: “Consider the interpretation and impact of words within the context of this event. The crescent should be referred to as ‘the circle or arc,’ or other words that are not tied to specific religious iconography.”

This isn’t a circle. And arc I’ll give you, but they named it the “Crescent of Embrace.” This simply a semantic excuse.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: The following was part of the original post, but I completely took this comment out of context. Sloppy blogging on my part. The juror quoted below was responding to an assertion by a street evanglest named Ron McRae which suggested that the designers did this purposefully, and created it FOR the terrorists. Given that, I certainly amend my below comments. I too think that McRae’s comments are just plain wrong and I apologize for suggesting that the juror’s comment was directed at anybody but the man who made them.

Also, one juror who picked the design has a very “particular” view of those who would disagree with him.

But Tom Sokolowski, the director of the Andy Warhol Museum, and one of the Stage II jury members, said that claim is “asinine.”

“If the families of the 40 people who were killed felt this was an appropriate symbol to honor their loved ones, then I think he is delusional,” he said. “To take this small-minded, bigoted view is disgusting and repellent.”

Wow, what a statement. The people of Flight 93 knew they were going to die, but they were brave enough to stop the terrorist’s plan. Personally, I think they deserve better.

Right or wrong (or left), that’s my stance.