Reply #2: Outrage overshadows real issues

[ivolsky]

We hear these "conservative outrages" every holiday season: the ACLU sucking God, Christmas, and Christianity out of America; purging it of any religion, morality, or spirituality. And while some claims may hold merit (for people to be as outraged as they are, these charges have to have some credibility), all too often, they overshadow real social and political concerns.

Political cable talk shows take "the purging" on as a theme, covering it all year around, exploiting the issue and manufacturing it into a grand point of debate and discussion. Meanwhile reports of an increasing number of Iraqi veterans coming home from the war and showing up at homeless shelters, statistics confirming that this year, 1.3 million more Americans fell below the poverty line, (brining the total number of Americans living in poverty to 36 million) and how even though heating costs will increase by 24% from this time last year, both Congress and the President have underfunded the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, are all under reported.

But these stories, told during the holiday season, embody all that is good in Christianity and should spur greater charity and compassion. These are the stories that should serve as a religious rallying point and bring more people into the church. Christian charities do such work all year long (many churches help the poor may their heating bills for example) but their charity is not covered in mainstream media. And if it is, it's always second to "the moral outrage over the ACLU."

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