Rebuilding New Orleans

Even as we wait to see what further havoc Rita might wreak on New Orleans, all sorts of people are rushing in to see what kind of things they can do to help rebuild. Some of these efforts are both noble and laudable, others are ridiculous, or even really questionable. But I think Body&Soul’s got it right, when she points out that some of these ideas have been tried already and don’t work. What we need to do is put the common good at the heart of our efforts, and focus on helping the poor. In other words, we need to live out of our core Christian convictions — not the profit-oriented machinations of greedy developers.