Christian evangelist Morris Cerullo planned to build a Christian retreat center on 18 acres in Mission Valley of San Diego but those plans were rejected by the city council after a great deal of pressure was applied by LGBT community activists. Here’s the story from the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Morris Cerullo to transform an aging Mission Valley hotel into a $160 million religious-themed retreat and conference center failed Monday to win support from the San Diego City Council after some members raised concerns about the potential for increased traffic congestion.
Although city planners pointed out that the 18-acre project would add little more traffic to the area than what exists today…
Members of San Diego’s LGBT community spoke out against the project at Monday’s hearing but focused exclusively on traffic issues…
Councilwoman Lorie Zapf questioned the traffic concerns raised by project critics, suggesting it was the religious nature of the development that was in fact fueling opposition. …
“The comments I heard were clearly religious-based, and that is not a reason in this country to not have a faith-based project,” Zapf said.
Response: The traffic issue was just an excuse and everyone knows it. Morris Cerullo and his Christian organization are known to be supporters of traditional marriage and traditional teaching of the Bible when it comes to homosexuality. The LGBT community in San Diego has a great deal of political power which was demonstrated by the votes of 5 council members all Democrats.
The Christian community in San Diego is probably larger and even more influential but rarely unified and sectarian divisions really do apply in this case. The Christian leaders really need to think about how they should respond to LGBT opposition in the future. This is a case of outright LGBT led discrimination against a Christian organization. The same thing could happen to any conservative church group that wants to build a new church or school or even expand on what they now have in the future.
This is happening in San Diego CA but look for similar LGBT opposition to rise up against conservative Christian projects all around America. Yes, we do still have the First Amendment that allows us to follow traditional Biblical teachings but LGBT and progressive politicians will look for ways to punish conservative Christian groups that do not cave on LGBT issues in the future. In this case traffic was the excuse but the real issue was Cerullo’s conservative Christian positions on same-sex marriage and LGBT issues. Your church or organization could be next. *Top
