Does FEMA Require Blessing Of Recovered Bodies?

An article in the Sept. 26 issue of Newsweek says that in the Hurricane Katrina clean-up, FEMA requires that contractors engaged in recovery work of must make certain that chaplains bless bodies that are retrieved. Yesterday, Rabbi David Saperstein, head of Reform Judaism's Religious Action Center, wrote FEMA seeking clarification. His letter said: "Americans affected by Katrina practiced and continue to practice a diverse array of faiths or choose no faith at all. Just as government may not establish religion among its citizenry, it may not impose prayer upon individuals after their passing." The Newsweek article, Cash and 'Cat 5' Chaos, reports that when a FEMA spokewoman was asked if that was mixing church and state, she responded: "A prayer is not necessarily religious. Everybody prays."