[Apologetics] Government Refuses to Help Synagogues and Churches after Superstorm Sandy

[DianneD]

Sent: 2/13/2013 12:02:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
>>Subj: Government Refuses to Help Synagogues and Churches after Superstorm Sandy
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>>  
>>Visit Our Website February 13, 2013  
>>Dear Friends,
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>>More than 200 synagogues, churches, and other houses of worship were damaged or even destroyed when Superstorm Sandy hit the Northeast last October.   And, when the snow and ice fell on them this weekend, they were still in a state of disrepair.
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>>It is truly heartbreaking to see.  Just to give you an idea:
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>>	* Agudath Israel of Bayswater in the Rockaways had just finished a complete rebuilding before the storm.  Now it is totally destroyed. 
>>	* Temple Israel of Long Beach lost all 90 years’ worth of their historical records and has rolls of Torahs laid out over chairs to dry.  According to NPR, “All that is left of the religious school and recreation rooms are concrete floors and wooden beams.” 
>>	* Our Lady of Solace Catholic Church in Coney Island was completely devastated, according to a piece in The Wall Street Journal. 
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>>Even though Congress has made billions of tax dollars available to the communities that are trying to rebuild after that devastating storm, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) refuses to help.
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>>FEMA will help zoos and museums and other non-profits rebuild but the very same churches and synagogues that serve those in need can’t be repaired.
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>>Why?
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>>FEMA seems to think that giving these neighborhood institutions neutral and equal access to the funds would violate the Constitution.
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>>But FEMA is just plain wrong.  
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>>As Nathan Diament, a good friend to the Becket Fund and executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs, told NPR, 
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>>“Perhaps that’s the way Americans United [for Separation of Church and State] or the ACLU would wish the First Amendment be interpreted, but that’s not just the way it’s interpreted right now.”
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>>There’s more than enough precedent for letting these houses of worship use these funds just like everyone else can.
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>>In fact, the leading court opinion on this topic, American Atheists v. City of Detroit Downtown Development Authority rejected the arguments that FEMA seems to have bought into.  As the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals stated in its opinion:
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>>“If a city may save the exterior of a church from a fire, it is hard to understand why it cannot help that same church with peeling paint or tuckpointing – at least where it provides the same benefit to all downtown buildings on the same terms.”
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>>That seems pretty clear to me.
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>>But, it gets even clearer!
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>>The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has issued official memos that directly address this issue and concluded that the Constitution’s Establishment Clause doesn’t bar access to funds for disaster relief or historic preservation. In fact, in 2002, the OLC wrote a lengthy memo supporting access to FEMA disaster relief for the Seattle Hebrew Academy, which was damaged in a 2001 earthquake.  
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>>And, a year later, the OLC wrote another very thorough official opinion supporting access to historic preservation funds for the Old North Church in Boston, which is not just the site of Paul Revere’s famed lanterns but home to an active Episcopal congregation.
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>>Former Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) had an amendment ready for the Sandy relief bill that would have set FEMA straight; but in all the partisan wrangling over the package, it got left out.  We’ve been in contact with members of Congress just this past week looking for help developing a bill to pick up where Senator Lieberman left off.
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>>But, the fact is that there’s more than enough precedent already available for the federal government to remove the roadblock to recovery it has mistakenly created.  
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>>This is why the Becket Fund’s work with legal academics and policymakers is so important.  There is a whole cadre of organizations out there spreading misinformation about what the Constitution means.  
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>>Thanks to your generous support, the Becket Fund helps to set the record straight.  We’ll be continuing to monitor this situation and continuing to offer our assistance to the members of Congress that are working to get these synagogues and churches restored, too.  We’re grateful to have you in this fight with us.
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>>Sincerely,
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>>Kristina Arriaga
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>>Executive Director
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>>P.S.  You know, later this week, two of the Becket Fund’s senior counsel, Hannah Smith and Eric Baxter, will be speaking at the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Conference.  About 800 lawyers, jurists, legal academics, and more are expected to attend this annual event.  Again, having our attorneys out talking about the facts of religious liberty is an important part of cementing real religious freedom in this country not only for today but for years and years to come.  Thanks again for supporting the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
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