Religious leaders quit Katrina Fund panel

[IChing]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Nearly all the religious leaders serving on a committee created by the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund to disburse money to churches destroyed by Hurricane Katrina have quit their posts, claiming their advice was ignored.

Four out of nine board members confirmed their resignations on Thursday. Last week, two others - Bishop T.D. Jakes, the prominent Dallas megachurch pastor, and the Rev. William H. Gray III, former president of the United Negro College Fund - resigned as co-chairs.

And Gray and Jakes say they have received the resignation letter of a seventh board member, the Rev. William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention, USA. He did not immediately return a phone call Thursday night.

Departing members of the interfaith advisory committee say the fund's Washington staff disregarded their advice, cutting checks for Gulf Coast churches without properly investigating the institutions.



"I've learned in life that if people say they want your advice and then they change it, ignore it, or undermine it, then they really don't want it," said Gray, also a former congressman>>>>snip

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KATRINA_CHURCH_LEADERS_QUIT?SITE=FLSTU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[TomInTib]

1. Why no replies? This is large.

Jakes, Gray, and Shaw?

This should be shouted from the rooftops.

k&r

[Divine Discontent]

4. this reminds me of something from the Left Behind movie...

where all the church leaders are there at the rebuilding of the temple only to see they were led astray by the anti-Christ...


their blind allegience is sickening, as a whole. it's great to see some church leaders start rebuking the bush junta.

www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<--- check it out!

[IChing]

2. Bush and Clinton sorta rolls off the tongue you know

wonder why bill hasn't commented on this yet but we can see this operation is run like anything the Bushs put their hands on.

Jakes and Gray said the last straw was the fund's decision to cut checks to 38 houses of worship, each for $35,000 and without first conducting an audit to ensure the church exists.

Imam Abdelhafiz Bensrieti, another committee member who resigned, said the Washington staff wanted the religious leaders to "rubber stamp" their decisions. "They had their agenda and that's unacceptable," he said.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. Let me guess

All these unverified churches are big * supporters.

[noonwitch]

9. I think TD Jakes stays out of political activity, for good reasons

I don't always agree with his teachings, but he is one of the more entertaining tv preachers out there. He's got his own style of preaching that is pretty effective at getting across what he wants to express.

I don't think he's a Bush detractor, but I don't think he's necessarily a big supporter. Like any preacher, if any president asks to speak with you or for your assistance, you are probably going to respond, especially in light of a disaster like Katrina.

But he's probably got a good number of parishoners who are democrats, so it would be best for him to stay out of the political end of things.

[TrueFunkSoldier]

13. Don't believe the hype!

T.D. Jakes is a fraud, plain and simple. He swindles little, old black ladies out of their money and preaches his own brand of Christianity, "prosperity theology." Couple that with anti-gay hatred and pro-Bush whoremongering and you got plain ole heresy! It's heresy! It's a sham! And it's destroying the black community. I wish that my conservative black brothers and sisters stop believing this crap!

[noonwitch]

14. I don't necessarily believe the hype, but he is entertaining

I don't send money to any tv preachers, because I agree with you about how they rip off lonely old people and such. Hell, Serita had to pay for that plastic surgery somehow-she looks very different than she did a couple of years ago.

[Ken Burch]

5. The Fund was cutting checks to churches without having proof

that those churches EXISTED?

excuse me, but as even HE would say "WHAT THE F$%K"?

(Of course, He'd be saying it in Aramaic, but still...)

[Vidar]

6. Religion is used to proselytize, divide the voters; it's substantive input

is not desired.

[JohnnyLib2]

7. Sad story, sad times

and yet there is a glimmer of hope that these powerful leaders woke up and now say, "hey, I'm being used." This may be another snowball starting to roll.

[redqueen]

11. Hi JohnnyLib2!

Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Uncle Joe]

15. I agree JohnnyLib, this is the kind of incident

that could erode some of Bush's base.

Welcome to D.U.

:hi:

[Lasher]

8. So exactly what is the agenda of the charity's Washington staff?

...approximately $20 million was earmarked for rebuilding faith-based organizations along the Gulf Coast.

Initially, Gray said, the committee assumed it would make around 500 awards, each for $35,000. But as the applications began trickling in, staff members in New Orleans realized there were far fewer applicants than they had initially assumed. That meant they could increase the award amount, and the board agreed in consultation with the co-chairs of the fund that the grant ceiling would be increased to $100,000, Gray said. They also agreed each of the churches or religious institutions receiving the charity's money would first be inspected, he said.

Numerous disagreements ensued, but Jakes and Gray said the last straw was the fund's decision to cut checks to 38 houses of worship, each for $35,000 and without first conducting an audit to ensure the church exists.

Imam Abdelhafiz Bensrieti, another committee member who resigned, said the Washington staff wanted the religious leaders to "rubber stamp" their decisions. "They had their agenda and that's unacceptable," he said.

Who is this "Washington staff", and what is "their agenda" for which they wanted to use these religious leaders as cover? After all this time, why the apparent rush to cut 38 checks for a total of $1.3M when $20M had been earmarked? What is to happen to the remaining $18.7M?

Edit: According to the Fund's web site, applications will be accepted thru July 31, 2006, and they plan to have the $20M fully dispersed by the end of October this year.

3 Leaders Quit Effort To Aid Gulf Churches

By Darryl Fears
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 13, 2006; Page A06

Gray said board directors and staff members of the Katrina Fund -- established by former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton -- would agree with the committee's recommendations in meetings and then do the opposite. He said that he, Jakes and Shaw resigned when the staff sent $35,000 to a church without their knowledge, then refused to explain why. That particular church had not been inspected to determine its need, Gray said.

<snip>

The committee set a grant ceiling of $35,000, helped draw up applications and inspected the churches of ministers who said they were in need. Later, the committee agreed that a higher limit of $200,000 was needed.

<snip>

But the president of the fund's board, Mary Ann Wyrsch, disagreed with the new cap, Gray said. He said the board wanted to stay with the original maximum, regardless of the committee's decision. It was around that time that a minister called, thanking the committee for $35,000.

"That's how we found out," Gray said. "I have no idea how many checks were sent out. The information was refused to us and our staff. Why, I don't know."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/12/AR2006071202070.html

[onager]

10. The departing religious leaders probably didn't get...

...a big enough cut of the swag themselves.

BTW, the sainted "Rev." T.D. Jakes is a Bu$h butt-kisser and a notorious homophobe:

...that didn't stop Jakes from his own political involvement with the Republican Party and with President George Bush. In fact, when black America was outraged about the Administration's handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis, George Bush turned to one black man to bail him out and shore up his damaged reputation. That man was T.D. Jakes, who was all too willing to give the President the political cover he needed.

But Jakes is even more conservative than Bush...

Jakes has endorsed the so-called Truth for Youth campaign, which is distributing specially-made anti-gay Bibles to high school students all across the country.

http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2005/09/26/is_td_jakes_gay

[MGKrebs]

12. All they want to be able to say is "we spent X billions"

on Katrina relief. Doesn't matter if it is effective or not. In fact, if it is NOT effective, it supports the larger agenda that the government can't do anything right, and if they can shower some friendly faithful along the way, well that's just a bonus.

[rucky]

16. Is this a private fund or a federal program? n/t