Saturday, September 1st, 2007
Who would have thought that Dina Matos McGreevey would speak such wisdom?
In order to be a leader, whether it’s a leader of a state, a nation or a church, you need to have some sort of moral compass
Her estranged husband, former New Jersey governor, Jim “I’m a Gay American” McGreevey, has enrolled in an Epsicopal seminary. A priest is a spiritual leader, one who guides parishioners. That relationship is predicated on the priest having guidance to offer.
In McGreevey’s case, that guidance includes corruption from the governor’s mansion, tried to appoint his boyfriend as head of homeland security, is on a federal wiretap using a codeword to announce a deal was agreed to, hired young men for his staff at extraordinary salaries and told them to write their own job descriptions, cruised for sex with men in public bathrooms, finagles his way back on the public payroll and pension roll by teaching an ethics class, hangs a 50″×40″ photograph a naked man above his bed and then has his daughter view it, wrote a book that documents how he lied to his wives and to the entire state of New Jersey and how his lies influenced policy, and is amid a bitter divorce suit with his estranged wife.
What guidance do suspect he will impart upon parishioners? Would you trust counsel from Father Jim?
Posted in New Jersey, Politics, Religion | No Comments »
Friday, May 4th, 2007
When Gert and I were married the ceremony was in the Episcopal church. I was reared Episcopalian and that was the church we had attended when we dated. The Episcopal faith was always explained to me as being a slightly more liberal Catholicism. The most notable difference was that Episcopalians permitted divorce.
Then in my youth, the Episcopal faith permitted female priests. Again, that is something most folks can accept and it never seemed a huge issue to me.
Of course, I knew the Catholic faith was steadfast in its faith. When I attended a Catholic school, I was told directly I was not welcomed at the alter. And that began a struggle that I now understand, but fought to understand for a long time. Catholics do not permit any non-Catholic to receive communion in their church. Episcopalians are much more welcoming in this manner. My friend Oli had no issue receiving communion at the Episcopal school we attended, but I was not welcomed to do so at his wedding. It seemed, well, a hardcore policy.
After Gert and I were married we continued to attend the Episcopal church. About a year later, we began discussing our family plans. That discussion brought us to religion. Gert is a Roman Catholic and she expressed her desire to return to her church. That then had an impact on our family discussion. How were we going to raise our children?
For a while, we went with the idea that Mommy would attend one church and Daddy would attend another and that the children would split their time between the two. We were naive in that thinking.
Gert began attending some Catholic churches in the area to see where she was comfortable. She struggled finding such a church. She was going to just go to the church she grew up in, but admittedly that was now a bit far given where we purchased our home. Eventually she tried the “big” Catholic church in town and liked something about it. She liked it enough to invite me.
The Episcopal church we attended was in dire straits. It was a small congregation (albeit larger than the 15-person congregation of another church I attended when I first came to town) and it was not able to pay its way. That meant the diocese subsidized the church. Fortunately, the church had a retired priest as an interim. He joked when he hit the decade mark about what interim meant. Father Vanaman was a good man who provided lots of counsel to me. He, like almost everyone else in the church, was elderly. As Gert and I contemplated our family plans, we did recognize that our children would not have a wonderful children’s program available.
So I visited the Catholic church with Gert and was very much impressed. Those who know me know I like my church service “churchy” and Father Carmel is the epitome of that. Incense, a thick Italian accent, pomp and circumstance. The church had it all. Furthermore, there is a Catholic school associated with this parish.
I had been investigating my faith at this time. What did I believe in? What was important?
It just so happens that the Episcopal church was amid a significant change in what it believes at this time. The church was set to confirm Gene Washington as the bishop of New Hampshire. Bishop Washington was openly gay.
I do believe in tolerance and forgiveness. I do not, however, believe that a church should uphold this behavior as exemplary. A bishop is the definition of a role model. Washington did not meet that criteria for me.
Father Vanaman and the rest of our congregation were adamantly opposed to the church’s action here. As a matter of fact, many Epsicopalians throughout the United States were. It was not long before a fractured church was seen. The larger Anglican church was equally dismayed with this decision too and pressure was applied. To no end, it turns out as Robinson was confirmed and the Episcopal church adopted language that made it very clear it had broken with the Anglican church.
As for me, I sought the counsel of Father Vanaman and Father Carmel. After much research, discussion, and prayer, I decided to convert to the Catholic faith. I enrolled in RCIA and further investigated my faith. Due to another issue beyond my control that I will not detail here, it was a long process. But eventually I made it! 
What has happened to the Episcopal church? Apparently, it is now the sanctuary for gay community. Former New Jersey Governor McGreevey announced that he converted to the Episcopal faith from Catholicism last Sunday. Furthermore, McGreevey is entering the a seminary to become an Episcopal priest.
This is wrong on so many levels. McGreevey is the poster boy for political corruption. He was driven out of office because of his lies. He announced he was “a Gay American” and left his wife to shack up with a man. They hang a 50×40 photograph a naked man above their bed for his daughter to view. McGreevey then airs all his corruption for all to see, continues to battle his estranged wife, and somehow gets a gig to teach an ethics class at a state university to pad his pension. Now he wants to be a counselor to others, the religious leader of people’s faith. And the Episcopal church seems willing to let him have a go at it.
The Episcopal church has changed and for me I found a home where I am comfortable. There is no way I could rectify my faith with this week’s announcement from McGreevey.
I pray for the man, but I do not respect his decision.
Posted in New Jersey, Religion | No Comments »
Friday, April 20th, 2007
How ethical is it to show your daughter a“life-size photograph of a nude male model”? How ethical is it to have your daughter sleep in your bed with your gay lover?
Former Governor James McGreevey is alleged to have done these his estranged wife claimed in papers filed for their divorce.
Larry King: You pick up some men at a truck stop or they pick you up?
McGreevey: Yes.
Larry King: And you didn’t even know their name maybe?
McGreevey: No. You don’t know anything about them.
This is the man who is bumping his retirement by teaching an ethics class at a state university. Actually, the class is named, Ethics, Law, and Leadership. Your tax dollars, dear reader, is funding this. McGreevey is a sorry authority to teach this class.
According to Kean University president, Dawood Farahi:
For a university like us to have the ability of a former governor — for what we pay him — it’s an opportunity for our students we shouldn’t miss.
Farahi lacks judgment and needs to be called on it immediately. There is no reason for McGreevey to ever receive another dollar from the taxpayers of New Jersey. He broke our trust and deserves no opportunity to right himself on the backs of the taxpayers.
And listening to Dina Matos McGreevey, it sounds like his judgment is just as flawed today as it was when he was office.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Thursday, April 19th, 2007
Disgraced former governor James McGreevey is back on the New Jersey payroll. McGreevey is teaching an ethics class at Kean University.
This is the governor that lied to two wives about his sexual orientation, lied to the people of New Jersey, had arguably the most corrupt administration ever, and ended up leaving office when he was called on all this. He wanted his gay-lover to be head of homeland security in New Jersey! That he didn’t leave until too late for the people of the state to elect someone to take his place shows that contrition is still a long way away.
And yes, with McGreevey being back on the public payroll, he is building up his publicly-funded pension.
What qualifications does McGreevey have to teach an ethics class? Mr. Christie, here’s something else for you to investigate.
Posted in Education, New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 27th, 2007
Today I read that Governor Corzine gave New Jersey Democrats $869,000 last year.
Doesn’t it seem odd that a sitting governor would contribute money to the political machine in which he benefits? I suppose it isn’t illegal, but it is unusual.
Then I began to wonder why we do not usually hear about our leaders giving this kind of scratch. Don’t most elected leaders place their holdings in a blind trust?
In 2000, Corzine stated he placed his massive wealth in a blind trust. Since then, he has purchased a union boss lots of money, invested cash in an Atlantic City casino, and now we learn, he has spread cash around the state to help his administration. It sounds like his money is quite available to him.
Bob Ingle reported in August 2005:
When Corzine was running for the Senate, he promised to put his assets in a blind trust to avoid conflicts. A review shows not all of his assets went into a trust. And not only is the trust not blind, it’s not even visually impaired.
Asbury Park Press reporters Jason Method and James W. Prado Roberts found as little as one-third of Corzine’s assets are in a “blind” trust. And that trust’s assets, income and transactions are on the senator’s financial disclosure form - so he knows what’s going on.
The company that gave the $470,000 to Katz, the Corzine Blind Trust and an investment company called Wiley’s Corp., all share the same post office box as Corzine’s Senate campaign committee in Newark.
The box is paid for by the Corzine campaign.
The Untouchables have a scathing report about Corzine’s lack of honesty with the blind trust (read the whole thing):
Indeed, Corzine’s Goldman holdings are in what he calls a “blind trust” but the trust does not appear to be blind at all. It is managed by two former Goldman Sachs partners and by holding Goldman stock – and soon Gtech stock – Corzine is caught in exactly the conflicts many predicted.
Not only did Corzine not place his assets in a blind trust, he did not have the trust approved by the Senate Ethics Committee. “[A] review of his financial disclosure forms shows that Corzine, a Democrat seeking to become governor, has not put all of his assets in a blind trust. Moreover, the U.S. Senate ethics committee has not approved the trust that he has set up.” ( “Not All Of Corzine’s Assets Are In Blind Trust As Promised,” The Asbury Park Press, August 5, 2005)
Obviously, most of us do not have the kind of money Corzine does. Normally, I am not in favor of limiting how one decides to spend his money. But there does seem to be something wrong with the governor of a state to spread money to the influential constituents as he has. That he does this by claiming his money is in a blind trust is disingenuous.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
