In the Name of Who?

I'm listening to an NPR interview with Louisiana State medical examiner Louis Cataldie, who is responsible for identifying the remains of Katrina victims in the city. He talks about a few chaplains he dealt with who appeared to be there for themselves rather than for the victims and family members.

I met a minister like that on our first day gutting houses. A shiny king cab pickup drove up the street we were working on, pulling a large trailer. A tall guy got out and asked if we needed anything. I thought it was a strange question, but I laughed and said "a cold beer!" The guy then introduced himself as a minister.

A few minutes later I realized the church folks were passing out gloves, and that many of our volunteers did not have any. I walked back down the street and asked if I could get some gloves for our volunteers. The minister said I could have one pair "as long as I accepted them in the name of Christ."

Now don't get me wrong--faith based groups are doing the city of New Orleans a huge service. We saw hundreds of Catholic and Protestant church and school groups at Camp Algiers, and I'm sure they were gutting houses like we were. Our own Clayton Taucher said he'd volunteered for religious reasons. But disasters draw all kinds, and some of them may not be there to help their fellow man without strings attached.