Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor Blogfinger.net. In 2021 we first entered the fray regarding crosses on beach badges. Now it is 2023, and the same issue remains prominent.
2021: Blogfinger re-post:
As you can see, the 2021 Camp Meeting Association season badges display a large cross. We have no information about other designs for this coming season.
The OGCMA promotes the Christian religion, but they manage the beach with the consent of the State of New Jersey. When they argued to FEMA that the boardwalk was essentially a public thoroughfare and that the CMA should be given public money to fix it, it indicates that they wear several hats in town, and they wore their non-sectarian hats when going to FEMA.
Asking everyone who buys a season pass to wear a cross would appear to defy the spirit of our beachfront as a public place, and therefore the idea of separation of church and state should prevail. Why should non-Christians have to wear a cross?
Once again the Camp Meeting Association blurs the boundaries between the secular Ocean Grove and the religious group that no longer has power over the people who live and visit the Grove. This badge design confirms a confusion over the CMA’s roll in our diverse town and also indicates a tone-deaf insensitivity regarding the badge issue.
Jews were forced to wear yellow stars of David at various times during their long history, so there is that terrible association with persecution that immediately comes to mind when considering the coerced wearing of a religious symbol in our town.
And, of course there are Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and other non Christians who will also have to wear the cross when going to the beach.
This design is in poor taste and should not have been chosen.
We suggest that this design be cancelled and replaced, including for those who already have bought them.