Interfaith Delegation Unites to Help Katrina Evacuees in Baton Rouge

WASHINGTON -- On Oct. 21, The Interfaith Alliance led a diverse group of religious leaders representing America's wide spectrum of faiths on an investigative tour of the Katrina relief efforts in Baton Rouge, La.

Following the tour, members of the delegation -- Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist and other religious and community leaders -- bore witness, calling on policymakers to respond more effectively and committing their own organizations and denominations to provide additional resources to directly help the evacuees, both now and in the months and years ahead.

The delegation also focued its attention on attacks to religious liberties that have occurred -- and on the ongoing threats to American's religious liberties posed by various policies implemented and being considered -- in the wake of the hurricanes.

"The Interfaith Alliance and members of the Interfaith Delegation applaud the vital, compassionate job that religious and secular social service programs are doing to help the evacuees," said the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance. "We also want to alert Americans to the dangers inherent in the Bush administration's manipulation of the Katrina aftermath as it seeks to circumvent the U. S. Constitution with government funding of religion, including reimbursing houses of worship for disaster relief and using public funds to rebuild parochial schools and other religious institutions as announced by the White House yesterday.

"We have an abiding interest in assuring that help is being offered and money is being spent in a manner that does not violate people's basic civil rights and fundamental religious freedom," Gaddy added.

The delegation will also provide immediate resources, including guides produced by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to help those in need to know their rights. Baton Rouge Mayor Melvin "Kip" Holden and many local religious leaders participated and facilitated the tour.

The Interfaith Delegation visited a disaster-recovery center, a shelter, and a trailer park housing evacuees. After these stops, the delegation went to Nazarene Baptist Church in Baton Rouge to hold a public forum to find out more from the community.

In addition to Dr. Gaddy, members of the delegation are: Dr. Amos Brown of the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco; Dr. Iva Carruthers of the Samuel DeWitt Procter Conference; Maia Duerr of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship; Rabbi David Gelfand of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons; Dr. Derrick Harkins of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church; Dr. Fredderick Haynes of Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas; John Hill of The United Methodist Church; Jon Hooks and Daria Neal with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; the Rev. Leonard Jackson of Holy Trinity AME; Amrit Kaur of Sikh Council on Religious Education; Gara LaMarche with the Open Society Institute; the Rev. Timothy McDonald of the First Iconium Baptist Church; Bishop Vashti McKenzie of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; the Rev. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki of the New York Buddhist Church; Rene Redwood with Redwood Enterprises, LLC; Yonce Shelton of Call to Renewal; Amolak Singh of The World Sikh Council; the Rev. Susan Smith of the Advent United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio; Rabbi Susan Talve with Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis; Adam Taylor of Sojourners; the Rev. Leslie Tune of the National Council of Churches; and the Rev. Brent Walker of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to promoting the positive and healing role of religion in the life of the nation and challenging those who manipulate religion to promote a narrow, divisive agenda. With more than 150,000 members drawn from more than 75 faith traditions, and 47 local alliances, TIA promotes compassion, civility and mutual respect for human dignity in our increasingly diverse society. For details, log on to www.interfaithalliance.org.