CT Blue

Samuel Johnson said that “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”, but surely he was wrong. It may be next but one, but surely, as Chuck Colson, John Rowland, and many others have proven, the very last refuge is religion. I submit that skipping patriotism, or at least skipping the money making side of it-politics, and going straight to religion, is a wise career move. Generally speaking, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Christine O’Donnell and Sarah Palin being glaring exceptions, you can’t make patriotism pay unless you are able to fool most of the people most of the time, while religion pays if you merely fool some of the people all of the time. Moreover, while there’s only room for a few scammers of the Beck variety, there’s room for millions of low level religious con men, and, unless you get too blatant about it, everything you do is constitutionally protected.

Consider the case of Michael Calo. The Day has documented Mr. Calo’s checkered career as a relatively small time scam artist (only the small timers get arrested, remember. The truly great scam artists get bailouts) fleecing people during the dot.com era and thereafter. Calo has now found religion and the Shoreline Church, Inc., where he has put his talents to work serving God and man:

[George] Hamberg and a couple who also complained to police about Calo dispute the notion that he found redemption when he formed Shoreline Church.

“To me, it’s like it’s a money-making thing,” said Hamberg, who filed a complaint with the Old Saybrook Police Department in 2008, concerned that his then-wife, Della, was donating money she couldn’t afford to the church.
The Hambergs were going through a divorce that involved the imminent loss of their home and business in Old Saybrook, Hamberg said, when he learned Della had donated more than $8,000 to the church. Hamberg said he was able to trace $8,000 in donations through checks but said Della gave more in cash.

“George said that Della has told family members she will no longer listen to their legal or financial advice but will only listen to Pastors Mike and Meredith Calo of the Shoreline Church,” according to a Jan. 9, 2008, police report obtained through a Connecticut Freedom of Information Act request.
Another couple told police their daughter gave nearly half of her family’s $30,000 annual income to the church.

Barry and Natalie Rand of Old Lyme said during an interview at their home last month that the more their daughter, Kelly Mastello, became involved with the church, the more she changed and the more her finances deteriorated.

The married mother of three lost her car, sold her house after pre-foreclosure proceedings had begun and moved into an apartment owned by the pastor’s in-laws, paying $1,000 in monthly rent, according to Rand’s statement in a police report and records at East Haddam Town Hall.

By all means read the full article. It’s chock-a-block with details of this guy’s colorful career. The guy is a prize, and his little wife too. I’d say he gives religion a bad name, but in this day and age, that’s pretty hard to do.

By the way, kudos to The Day for committing real journalism in this piece.