Quote:
FEMA officials said religious organizations would be eligible for payments only if they operated emergency shelters, food distribution centers or medical facilities at the request of state or local governments in the three states that have declared emergencies -- Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
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I guess one solution is for the government to provide these things and leave the churches out of it. However if we ask them to provide something that we cannot or because it is cost effective because they have the buildings and people close by then we shouild be willing to compensate them.
I don't see why our government requesting a non-profit religious organization to provide a service faster and less expensive than we can otherwise should be considered a violation of the separation of church and state policy. It's just good resource and money management.
If the churches were making a profit on the emergency aid, then I would begin to question the legality of this.