One would think that the Bush Administration would get back to basics and start focusing on the lives of Katrina victims, lives that have been made so much worse by their incompetent response to natural disaster.
Of course, one wouldn't think that if one has paid attention to more than 5 years of the Bush administration's bumbling in most regards OTHER than satisfying their extreme right wing base.
And so we learn that the Bush Administration is seeking to provide greater funds to the likes of Pat Robertson and others who provide aid encumbered by proselytizing.
Consider
The Bush administration's desire to turn more and more government responsibility over to houses of worship -- along with lots of tax dollars -- appears to be insatiable.
Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that President George W. Bush ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create a "faith-based" office within its already gigantic department. The purpose of the new office is to ensure that religious groups get more federal funds to help the government deal with disasters, such as, but not limited to, those caused by last year's hurricanes. [. . .]
Moreover, The Post reported that local officials in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas said that although religious groups were indeed helpful, they also provided waste and duplication of efforts. Even more troubling, however, were reports last year from denominational news services and Religious Right publications about the numerous stories of religious groups proselytizing victims of the hurricanes.
Controversial evangelist Franklin Graham, for example, talked openly about his desire to see a "revival" of New Orleans. His charity, Samaritan's Purse, gave evacuee children gospel tracts and toy lambs that played "Jesus Loves Me."
MORE FROM AU:
But there is little proof that the nation's houses of worship are equipped to help the victims of natural or man-made disasters, such as terrorist attacks. And the situations in the Gulf Coast hardly prove the effectiveness of religious organizations to help out. The federal government, according to a recent congressional report titled "A Failure of Initiative," was so terribly inept at responding to the hurricanes and their aftermath that any secular or sectarian group might appear effective. The report, more than 600 pages, lambasted the federal government for failing to learn lessons from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and said Bush's top aides failed on numerous levels to get a handle on the disasters in the Gulf Coast regions. [. . .]
Perkins and other Religious Right pundits believe that taxpayers should support the works of religious organizations, even when they take advantage of disasters to proselytize. But no victim of a terrorist attack or a hurricane should have to hear a religious speech or profess a certain belief before receiving help that is backed up with tax dollars.
Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn told The Washington Times that, "Of all the bad places for a faith-based office, this is the most strange. These groups will be able to turn away volunteers if they find their religious views unacceptable. And [disaster victims] will be reluctant to seek aid because frequently this kind of assistance comes with evangelism."