The fearmongers, or their plausably deniable hatchet 'think-tank public policy' groups are at it again in response to the government's latest decision regarding hurricane assistance. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that FEMA has decided to ...

After weeks of prodding by Republican lawmakers and the American Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Ma

Furthermore, churches that so acted may reasonably be expected to have served hugely greater numbers of people because the govts. were sending them people. So my guess is that each church almost certainly did far more than it would have done on its own.

And last, even so, no church has to accept the money if it doesn't want to. This is a tempest in teapot.

[exaggerated French accent]
Not any more.
[/exaggerated French accent]

I did notice that Dr. Reccord from the SBC made it clear that our disaster relief organization will not be requesting funding from the US taxpayer.

A friend of ours works for the SBC disaster relief organization, and was down fixing meals for Katrina victims and relief workers. He is back in NH now though.

Another issue I've only seen limited discussion on is the potential long-term damage this precedent could do to religious and charitable donations in general... If the tab is going to be picked up by the fed (via tax dollars) anyway, why donate to anything?

And is it just me, or is this a completely _astounding_ discussion to be having about a _republican_ administration?

Uh, for example, who? Which athiest group opened their "anti-church" property to shelter the storm victims? There may have been a couple somewhere, but not in the hundreds like the faith-based groups did.

Thank you, churches! None of them did it for re-imbursement; few of them tried to count the cost before saying yes.

By the way, do you think the "Reverand" Lynn ever considers "What Would Jesus Do"?

Nah...I didn't think so.

Notice what the reimbursement applies to: shelters, medical facilities.

Being provided in some cases by churches that may well be bankrupted already.

Read about the Lutheran church described, and tell me they're not entitled to the money if FEMA's handing it out. (Disclosure: I attend a Lutheran church in Jackson, MS, which has been relaying & sending supplies to Christus Victor & other churches, shelters, etc., & have spent a little time out there helping unload/load trucks. No check in the mail for me, I'm sure.)

It makes no sense.

Any church that applies for this is defeating the basic principle of charity.

I hope all the greedy reverends and the people that follow them get thier due!

I wonder if all the atheist organizations that helped are going to be reimbursed with out taxpayer money too?

Snark aside, so long as they're really compensating just for shelter-related expenses, etc., just as they would with comparable private entities, then I think this is perfectly reasonable.