There was a time when OG was a theocracy, but no more. 1889 map. Blogfinger photo. The red arrow was our house . Firemen’s Park was Woodlawn Park then.
OG is no longer a town with a singular point of view. The CMA must accept that again. Paul Goldfinger photo on OG pier after Sandy in 2013 when the CMA had to plead for FEMA money.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net
In a press release to the Asbury Park Press, on May 20, the CMA says, “Our application for an emergent stay is pending but we have no indication when an order will be entered,” the statement continued.
“We are currently compelled to comply with the NJDEP order to open the beach but have not ceased nor abandoned our quest to protect our religious and property rights.”
So they will begin opening the beach for now starting on the Memorial Day weekend, Sunday May 26, 2024.
The CMA is also quoted as saying, “For 155 years, we have closed our beach on Sunday mornings to honor God — a core pillar of this community since the founding of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA). Now, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is ordering us to open our privately owned beach on Sunday mornings. We are challenging this order to preserve our property rights and religious freedom.”
I think this is the first time they have said publicly, in those words, that the beach closures were to “honor God.” Before this they would beat around the bush trying to explain their policy in a variety of ways which Blogfinger has covered, while avoiding the admission that this policy was totally on a religious basis.
So they have now “come clean” on that issue, but it suggests that many of their explanations of public policies are actually religious despite denials.
For example they explained the elimination of Saturday night “secular” events on a financial basis, but many thought that it was about their ambitions to turn the Grove into a year round “Christian Seaside Resort.”
About the Sunday beach opening, they also said, “We continue to do ministry by providing opportunities for spiritual birth, growth and renewal through worship, education and cultural programs. As always, we welcome all to join us in ‘God’s Square Mile”
This also suggests that the Sunday closures were totally religious based and not about giving the life guards a three hour rest. (See April NY Times article about this.)
In the lengthy complaint in the CMA’s press release to the APP, they still asserted that the Ocean Grove beach was “our privately owned beach .”
This claim is not accepted by all, notwithstanding some ancient State permits.
And so, as the CMA must begin to be more honest about its Christian religious basis for public policies, cynicism about them will get more intense and will raise even more questions about the future of Ocean Grove.
And they will have to allow their mission to include consideration of OG citizens who are “secular,” and specifically not Christian, and they are many and growing.
And Neptune Township must also reconsider its biased relationship to the CMA. (Witness the granted “Zone in Need of Redevelopment 0f 2008.) The Neptuners should find a way to cancel the NERP and start from scratch with a non-biased plan at the North End.
Denial is not a healthy mental situation for the CMA as they conjure up their future position in the Grove.
The APP has appointed a reporter to specialize in OG, and his article now attempts to cover all topics including OG history, Sunday morning closures, religious icons around town, and pier issues.
Given this ambitious coverage, which packs too much into one review, he has done a good job. But his research must go deeper, and to be fair he must divest his DEI mandate when he writes about OG, unless he can document such concepts in our town with facts.
Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com
“ONE.” Cast of a Chorus Line:
“One singular sensation, every little step she takesOne thrilling combination, every move that she makesOne smile and suddenly nobody else will doYou know you’ll never be lonely with you-know-who.”
I’m really getting fed up with people who have something to say but don’t have enough courage to tell us their name! It diminishes whatever satisfaction Neptune United might get from this comment.
And it will be diminished because some cynics will believe that NU themselves posted this. Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net
Special thanks to Neptune United for spearheading this.
It’s the devil’s work Paul. Whats next, topless beach?!