I also think an analogy is appropriate here, to different ways of presenting the Gospel: The Good News vs. the Bad News.

The Bad News version says: You who struggle to do good and be happy — guess what? You’re actually more screwed than you ever imagined because there is an angry God who will judge your sins mercilessly when you die — sins you aren’t even aware you committed. Unless, of course, you accept Jesus and… “ Well, you know the rest.

The Good News is different. It says: Don’t put your hope in money, success, sex, and power — all to obtain self-acceptance and love. It won’t work. There is a God who offers His unconditional, fatherly love, and by living in communion with His family, you’ll be freed from useless striving, to live for “more than bread alone,” which is the key to happiness and peace in this life and in eternity.

Too often the Christian message is twisted into the Bad News, and it’s easy to do the same with CC.

What Rod proposes in Crunchy Cons is a way for Christians and all people of good will to more authentically live the Call to Holiness — a more genuinely human life — by integrating their faith and/or values into their lives, both personally, and as citizens. I think this is what everyone on this blog believes, whether it’s been communicated properly or not.

The implicit criticism, which can’t be avoided, is that moral conservatives have been focusing on just a few issues, while neglecting the many other ways that life in our liberal, capitalist society denies our transcendent values, and this will ultimately undermine our good intentions and goals.

But as Frederica said, what we need to focus on is a dialogue about the WHY behind the CC approach, rather than assigning blame. For those us who are Christians, we can’t take any credit for stumbling into any of this. All is grace, and charity must be our watchword. It’s just one beggar showing another beggar where they found the food.