"Pretty nasty for a clergyman"

Should people living in tax-exempt glass houses throw stones at taxpayers?  

They can.

Some do.

But, be advised the taxpaying "carpetbaggers" you whack with stones may throw them back.

GA is referring to unfortunate language in a Jersey Journal Op-Ed sent to me by a reader.  He wrote: "Pretty nasty for a clergyman."

The Op-Ed, called "2 mayors with bikes on their brains need to smell the traffic"  is written by a long time commentator on City Hall politics  and Hoboken clergyman.

Of course, religious leaders use their bully pulpit to advocate for/against issues of public interest and public concern, especially related to ethics and morality (such as civil rights).  Martin Luther King is a famous example.   We presume that priests, rabbis, imans have divinely-inspired wisdom the rest of us don't.   We look up to them.  We listen to them. We learn from them.

Should we be insulted by them?

Here is what the clergyman wrote:

"How did we get two carpetbagger - oops, out-of-towner - mayors with granola head mentalities who cater to the minority residents jeopardizing the economic health of their communities and spreading to all of Hudson County?"  

 "carpetbagger" = "out-of-towner"  

WTF?

Who are the "minority residents?"

Wrapped inside of the clergyman's insults somewhere is a viable opinion on a matter of public interest and public concern.  One can agree or disagree on its merits.

Couldn't he post the opinion without insulting the flock?  Without calling persons who were not born and raised in their respective cities, "carpetbaggers?"   By his definition, the majority of  Hoboken residents are "carpetbaggers"-  including some members of his congregation.    

Why would a clergyman disparage residents who moved to Hoboken and Jersey City as adults?

Would he call Saint Patrick of Ireland, born in Britain, a "carpetbagger, too?

What divisive foolishness from a person whose words are invested with the authority of his tax-exempt pulpit (subsidized, in part, by "carpetbaggers").

By the way, "carpetbagger" is a not a term of endearment:

In general, the term “carpetbagger” refers to a traveler who arrives in a new region with only a satchel (or carpetbag) of possessions, and who attempts to profit from or gain control over his new surroundings, often against the will or consent of the original inhabitants. After 1865, a number of northerners moved to the South to purchase land, lease plantations or partner with down-and-out planters in the hopes of making money from cotton. At first they were welcomed, as southerners saw the need for northern capital and investment to get the devastated region back on its feet. They later became an object of much scorn, as many southerners saw them as low-class and opportunistic newcomers seeking to get rich on their misfortune.

Really?

Actually, this Hoboken carpetbagger would love tax-relief from Hudson County.

How about it, Stick?

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matthew 5:43–45, King James