Kerby Anderson

Last week, some Texas churches and a synagogue devastated by Hurricane Harvey floodwaters sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They did so because they believed they should have access to disaster relief funds.

Their argument is fairly simple. Other non-profit organizations are eligible for these federal funds, but are denied to religious groups. They believe they should have equal access to these disaster relief grants.

This lawsuit follows the 7-2 ruling by the Supreme Court in the Trinity Lutheran case that was decided this year. You might remember this case since I did two commentaries on it earlier this year.

Trinity Lutheran Church in Missouri applied to a state grant program to resurface its playground with recycled rubber. Although the application ranked high in the list of applicants, the state turned them down merely because the applicant was religious. The Supreme Court rightly ruled that once a state created a neutral program for public benefit, it could not exclude a church from the program.

The lawsuit by these Texas religious groups is different but could be decided by the courts using a similar argument. Hurricanes and tornadoes destroy both secular and religious non-profit organizations, but only secular ones can apply for FEMA grants that help make structural repairs. As one lawyer put it, “Hurricane Harvey didn’t cherry-pick its victims; FEMA shouldn’t cherry-pick who it helps.”

The government often uses churches and other houses of worship to provide shelter, to distribute meals, and to provide medical care. However, those same churches and other houses of worship aren’t eligible to receive FEMA grants because they are religious. They provide comfort and relief for victims, so the federal government should not deny the same relief to them in terms of funding merely because they are religious groups.