The Wall of Separation?

If you are one of the lucky few who have not been booted off Governor Christie's email list, or if you scour NJ.com as I do, you should know by now that the Governor is holding one of his "Town Hall" meetings at St Jude's Catholic Church in Hopatcong, NJ.

As a lapsed Catholic, it had only occurred to me yesterday that today is Ash Wednesday, a Catholic holiday (disclosure: my brother is a priest with the Diocese of Paterson).

How appropriate is it for the Governor to conduct State business on Catholic property, on a Catholic holiday? Will there be a photo-op of him receiving his ashes at St Jude's church before entering the parish hall to shill for vouchers, that will subsidize Catholic schools, like the ones his kids attend?

At worst, this is a blatant First Amendment violation, at best it is plain bad optics. I wonder if he plans future Town Hall meetings at other places of worship like a synagogue or a mosque.

If this troubles you, write to the Governor's office to object. Do not bother with the "Contact us" page on the Governor's website; you will not get a response.Go directly to Constituent Relations:

Constituent.Relations@gov.state.nj.us

If you're lucky, he just may answer you.

Or, maybe you do not see a problem with this. What do you think?