"What nerve has it touched in people that it would generate 6 million hits in two days and countless responses?" I'm in agreement with what you all have said so far I think - especially the "idolatry of doctrine" aspect. In addition, It seems to me the nerve here is in part the same nerve that kicked off the Reformation and that still defines so much of American evangelicalism in a one-sided way - namely, "salvation by grace through faith alone." And when you add the alleged bipartisanship (i.e., Christianity ~= GOP) while also getting tough on sexual sin, this strikes a chord with the same millions of people that podcast Mark Driscoll's sermons (and in turn don't mind the gender-exclusive language). And still further, most 20's and 30's will strongly identify with the expressed disapproval of highly adorned church buildings and a lack of social justice initiative among many religious folks. The biggest shortcoming of this brand of Christianity in mind, however, is that it's still individualistic to the core. It's a "personal relationship with Jesus," as Cody indicated, so much so that even concern for the poor and the common good is necessarily relegated to the periphery - despite being mentioned as a kind of important accessory. It's "It is finished" theology, in other words, with "why have you forsaken me" left conspicuously absent.

This is the comment I would expect someone to bring. Thanks, Roger. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you here. The point I'm trying to make is not that atonement is unaccessible, historically speaking. In faith as Christians we believe it is. What I'm concerned about is the extent to which, especially during Christmas and Easter, we rush to it and miss out on important dimensions other than the one you're speaking of. Do we give due considering to the suffering that we cause others? Do we recognize the power in Christ's experience of suffering with the subjugated peoples of the world? Do we have a social sense of salvation, a historical sense, rather than merely an eschatological, personal sense? In other words, I'm saying we can't only speak of atonement as something in the past. It must be relived, renewed, and re-waited-for in order for us not to get complacent and downplay the prophetic. We must preserve the "not yet" as much as the "already." This aspect of advent functions as a kind of theodicy even - maybe not for everyone, but for those whose lives have been robbed from them or overwhelmed by injustice, I think it definitely does.

Kinda cool that this got posted on the same day: http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2011/12/15/real-war-christmas-fox-news

This is great, Travis - "we wait for the day when Jesus comes to bring light into the darkness." Having this alongside of "we don’t have to wait around in order to have peace; we can work for peace right now." The already-not yet is hard to live in, and yet we must live in it.

I find this to be true as well, Tom. There are also people who have never really been exposed to or pastored through it. And then there are those like myself who believe they need the contemplative but struggle to practice it consistently.