Church and State
The pier is a public accommodation for people of all faiths and secularists.
The objection is to a cross-shape pier on New Jersey State land and water. It is unconstitutional for New Jersey State to allow and display a cross on public State property. Allowing it implies the State’s endorsement of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Associations’s (OGCMA) religion above other religions, and above no religion.
New Jersey State and Neptune Township need to advocate for this objection to the pier design on the grounds of separation of church and state. This issue needs the standing, stature, and imprimatur of the State and Township, as Ocean Grove’s representatives, to provide greater oversight and to resolve this issue.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), a 75 year organization, regularly addresses cases where municipalities and states have allowed religious symbols on government land and waters. AU states on its website:
“The United States is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world because our government cannot tell us whether or how to worship. Yet when the government displays religious creeds and symbols, it sends a message that it prefers one religious perspective and those in the community who do not share that perspective are outsiders.”
“Government should treat all of its citizens equally. No American should be made to feel like a second-class citizen because of what he or she believes (or does not believe) about God or religion.”
“When government sponsors prayer, displays religious symbols or includes worship in official activities, it sends a message that some faiths are preferred over other faiths or non-faith. Government should be neutral on theological questions and should never send a message like this.”
New Jersey State would be providing special treatment if it allows the OGCMA to build a religious symbol on State land and water.
