Linda Chavez
They opened their hearts and doors — but should be penalized because they're religious?
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com |
Extremists at the grandiosely named Americans United for
Separation of Church and State are at it again. The group, best known for
its efforts to drive religion from the public square, now wants to make sure
no faith-based organizations can be reimbursed for rescuing and caring for
thousands of victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Federal Emergency
Management Agency has announced plans to allow some faith-based groups to
recoup some of the money they've spent feeding, clothing, housing and
counseling more than half a million people stranded in the worst national
disaster this country has ever faced.
FEMA officials have said religious organizations can only be
reimbursed if they operated shelters or undertook other emergency activities
at the request of state and local officials in the affected states, but
that's not enough to satisfy the rigid secularists. "What really frosts me
about all this," the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans
United for Separation of Church and State, complained to The Washington
Post, "is, here is an administration that didn't do its job and now is
trying to dig itself out by making right-wing groups happy." He might have
been more honest had he admitted that what really angers the anti-religion
Left is how much more effective private and religious groups are in getting
things done than Big Government ever can be.
While Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco was trying to figure out
how and when to exercise her authority to call in the National Guard and New
Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was cussing out the feds on a local radio station,
the Red Cross and Salvation Army were already moving food and medical
supplies to the region. While FEMA was busy giving anti-sexual harassment
training to prospective volunteers before they could report for duty in the
affected areas, churches and missions were setting up cots and cooking meals
for their desperate neighbors.
Joe Becker, senior vice president for preparedness and response
at the Red Cross, says that he believes "it's appropriate for the federal
government to assist the faith community because of the scope of the effort
and how long it's lasting." According to Becker, churches normally only
provide shelter and other services for the first few days after a disaster
before the Red Cross steps in to take over. But these storms have been so
devastating that church facilities are being used indefinitely to care for
the evacuees. But Lynn told the Post that asking for reimbursement was "a
strange definition of charity," and that he didn't think it was appropriate
for the government to "pay for their good works."
In fact, the government has a long history of working with
sectarian organizations to care for the needy. In 1980, Congress passed
legislation that allowed groups such as Catholic Charities, Hebrew Immigrant
Aid Society, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and World Vision to
assist refugees to the United States, providing direct financial aid through
these groups, as well as training and other services. President Bush's
faith-based initiative modestly expanded the ability of religious groups to
deliver social services. All religious groups that receive government money,
however, must strictly ensure that it not be used to fund inherently
religious activities, must separate out funds that are used for religious
purposes and demonstrate that they have done so to the government's
satisfaction. These groups can't discriminate in providing services to those
who don't share their religious views or belong to different religions,
although they may restrict their hiring to co-religionists.
Faith-based groups are often a more effective provider of
services to the needy than large, impersonal government bureaucracies. If
there was any lesson learned from Katrina and Rita it ought to be that
government frequently doesn't perform up to expectations. It makes no sense
to penalize the very groups that readily took up the slack when government
and even large private groups like the Red Cross were overwhelmed at the
crisis that engulfed this country. In fact, the government ought to look to
expand the reach of these groups to serve the victims in rebuilding their
lives.
JWR contributor Linda Chavez is President of the Center for Equal Opportunity. Her latest book is "Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.)
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