Despite reports of an improving economy, charities are experiencing an increase in the number of people asking for "help to pay the rent or feed their children." At the Sullivan Center, requests for aid have doubled. North Fulton Community Charities is reporting that requests for rent money or food from the pantry are up about 20%.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, poverty rates rose from 12.1% in 2002 to 12.5% in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million people." And U.S. Department of Agriculture has "found that more than 36 million people, including 13 million children, experienced hunger or worried about it last year. Two years ago, the figure was 35 million people."

The majority of aid applicants are single mothers who have lost their jobs or are working for lower wages and fewer benefits. But for the most part, the media has avoided covering the plight of the working poor. Sensationalized media segments about "the anti-Christmas jihad" serve as convenient distractions from more substantive reports on the work of benevolent Christian charities.

The greatest Christian moral outrage is the willingness of many to ignore the growing number of Americans who have been displaced out of the modern economy, not Macy's refusal to greet customers with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Perhaps someone should tell Billy O'Reilly.

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