Tension continues to grow over an Eruv in Miami Beach as the city defends it against an atheist group that has compared the Jewish structure to the Islamic Sharia law. Raul Aguila, attorney for Miami Beach city, responded last month to complaints from the Freedom From Religion Foundation that said the Eruv in Pinetree Park is unconstitutional.

According to the Aguila, the Eruv has been sanctioned by the city only because it is consistent with United States court decisions. However, FFRF has maintained that there is nothing secular about the religious structure.

“What do you think the reaction would be if Miami Beach endorsed and even helped devout Muslims rope off an area in which to adhere to Sharia law?” wrote Andrew Seidel, attorney for FFRF.

The contention over the Eruv started earlier this year when some residents of Miami Beach complained about the structure popping up suddenly. Thereafter, FFRF took the issue to the city’s authorities saying that the Eruv is nothing but a violation of separation of church and state.

“The religious significance of Eruvin is unambiguous and indisputable. They are objects, which are significant only to some Jews as a means to obey religious laws that have no bearing on non-adherents. They have no meaning except as a visual, public communication of a purely religious concept for religious believers of a single faith. The City cannot allow such permanent religious displays to be erected on public land,” said Seidel.

FFRF also went on to suggest that the Eruv managed to rope in even non-orthodox residents of Miami Beach without bothering to inform them or seek their consent.

“Allowing an eruv to be established and maintained publicly designates the enclosed area, in this case the entirety of Miami Beach, as affiliated with Orthodox Judaism. It imposes Orthodox Judaism on members of the public by surrounding their community with the physical indicia of a religion that they do not practice,” Seidel elaborated.