Currently there are more than 1,800 churches in San Diego. But only one local pastor has been consistently involved in the ongoing debate – Pastor Leo Giovinetti of the Mission Valley Christian Fellowship. Giovenetti laments the vote by the City Council. "The City Council was given a viable and credible way to save the cross and chose not to [take that action]," the senior pastor says.
Dr. John Steel, who worked with the Thomas More Law Center to save the cross, says the Tuesday vote demonstrates why the City of San Diego is in trouble.
"While five or six [Council members] are trying to please everyone, none of them want to take a responsible stand," he says, referring to the fiscal crisis that San Diego now faces involving an under-funded city employee's pension fund. Steel adds that "whoever voted for this measure will pay politically for their actions tonight!"
San Diego Christian activist James Hartline echoes that warning. He tells the San Diego Union-Tribune that voters will not forget who voted against giving the cross to the National Park Service. "We will either prevail before this City Council to maintain the cross in its current location, or we will prevail in the 2006 and 2008 elections," Hartline says.
But San Diego voters may not get the opportunity to voice their displeasure toward two of the Council members who voted for the cross's removal. Members Michael Zucchet and Ralph Inzunza are under a federal indictment from law enforcement officials regarding alleged influence peddling charge(s) with a strip club operator. Court cases against the two are expected to start later this year.
James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to AgapePress, is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House), which can be purchased through the American Family Association. He is a licensed real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website (www.jamesllambert.com ).
© 2005, Agape Press. Used with permission
