Accusation: San Diego Clergy Silent 'Cowards' on Mt. Soledad Cross Issue
by James L. Lambert
November 12, 2004
(AgapePress) - A syndicated radio talk-show host in San Diego is condemning area clergy for their conspicuous absence in the debate over a recent ballot issue involving an historic cross atop Mount Soledad.By a slim 5-4 majority, the San Diego City Council voted last summer to allow the public to decide the ultimate fate of the historic 43-foot cross that has been atop Mt. Soledad since 1952. That vote -- and a subsequent related vote by the Council -- was attended by few area pastors. Area voters were presented with Proposition K on last week's election ballot. (See Related Article)
Proposition K would have allowed for an open bid on the city land where the historic cross is situated. Prior court decisions provided a prelude for the City Council's decision for their action. Further, the city legally could not stipulate that the winning bidder would have to keep the cross on their property. Under the stipulations of Prop. K, if the winning bidder chose to keep the cross, the historical monument would remain.
However, all of this became null and void when Proposition K was defeated.
San Diego County boasts a reported 1,800+ churches -- but only a handful of area pastors and priests actively and publicly supported the proposition to save the cross. Proponents for the proposition included Mission Valley Christian Fellowship senior pastor Leo Giovinetti, The Rock church's Miles McPherson, the senior pastor of the Faith Community Church Four Square Church, the priest of All-Hallows Catholic Church, and a handful of other local ministers.
According to some local Christian activists, the defeat of Prop. K meant that atheists like Philip Paulson and his attorney may have won in their 14-year quest to remove the historic landmark. Local Christian activist James Hartline says he was extremely disappointed that so few San Diego ministers supported efforts to save the cross.
Paul McGuire hosts a weekday syndicated radio talk show on KBRT (740AM), which reaches most of Southern California. McGuire says he is appalled by what happened in San Diego on November 2. While the conservative talk-show host is quick to congratulate church leaders like Giovinetti and McPhearson for their efforts, he is outraged by the apathy demonstrated by the vast majority of church leaders in San Diego.
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Paul McGuire |
In a statement issued Thursday, McGuire said: "To all the [San Diego] evangelical pastors, who know who they are, they owe our children and our grandchildren an explanation for failing to show up in one of the most important cultural battles in San Diego history."McGuire blasted the San Diego ministers who chose to be silent rather than take a stand for preserving the historical monument. The clergy's "disappearance to the lordship of Jesus Christ and their cowardice [on this matter] further takes away [and erodes] our religious freedoms," said the radio host. "Charles Spurgeon, Charles Finney, Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin -- if they were alive today -- would all condemn these men who are silent from their pulpits as cowards."
Several area clergy "chose not to participate" in the rally to save the cross. This included the campus ministry at University of San Diego, the Immaculati Church, the social ministry at the Catholic diocese, and Horizon Christian Fellowship (SD). The latter group at one time made a financial bid to save the cross, but chose not to participate this time.
Voter Confusion?
Adding further confusion to the Prop. K vote on Election Day were the recommendations by opponents of the initiative. According to attorney Charles LiMandri, "the opposition purposely set out to mislead people into believing that a 'no' vote on the proposition 'would save the Mt. Soledad cross.'"
The local newspaper also added to the confusion. In the October 28 edition of the San Diego Union Tribune, the editors at the paper said "the determined opponents of Proposition K have sought to confuse the electorate by urging a 'no' vote .... What the opponents of Proposition K actually mean by 'preserving' the cross is to remove it from Mount Soledad Natural Park altogether and stick it somewhere else."
Supporters of Prop. K are convinced that voters' confusion, when combined with the apparent lack of San Diego-area church leaders who were willing to get involved in promoting a "yes" vote for Prop. K -- as charged by Paul McGuire -- likely contributed to the ballot initiative's failure.
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.
