Many years ago, someone at my church spoke during the service to recruit volunteers for a life chain.  I’ve never been too passionate about the pro-life movement:  my mother had a neighbor who died in an illegal back alley abortion back in the 1930s or ’40s.  I don’t see the value in killing two people to save one, so I didn’t take part.  

My husband and I were curious, though, so we made a point of driving through Fort Collins that Sunday afternoon to see how well attended the event was and how many people we recognized.  That first year, the human chain of participants carrying pro-life signs stretched at least a mile without gaps.  

The event wasn’t promoted in church as much the following year.  My husband and I accidently stumbled on the life chain when we were out shopping.  There were more gaps in the chain that year, but still a fair amount of enthusiasm.  

Sometime after that first event, we switched to a non-political mega-church.  We haven’t attended church at all for the past couple years.  I can’t remember the last time I recall seeing or hearing anything about a life chain, though a Google search confirms it’s still an annual event (but no longer held in Fort Collins).

I suspect the same will happen with the tea parties.  This year, the event was promoted in a letter to the editor in my newspaper as non-partisan.  The newspaper has a section for anonymous commentary made by telephone.  Callers pointed out the event was promoted by Fox News.  One caller said they’d take part, but carry a pro-Obama sign.  Another protested that doing so would make it political.

Um, yeah.

I wasn’t able to attend my town’s tea party.  Locals claimed there were 1,500 participants at the Loveland tea party.  The photographs I saw didn’t look like nearly that many.  But even if it was, contrast that to over 30,000 at last fall’s Obama rally in neighboring Fort Collins.

I figure the tea parties were a good way for people to blow off steam over the last election.  Perhaps it was the prophetic tea leaves, perhaps not, but as the event was going on, I poured myself a glass of home brewed iced tea from the pitcher in the refrigerator.  The string at the bottom showed the tea had “steeped” a little too long, and congealed into syrup.  I dumped it down the drain.

As I recall, the first War on Christmas controversy was promoted on Fox News by Bill O’Reilly, a man who once said on NPR that he’d prayed a Christian prayer of salvation just in case there was a God.  Christians used to have a name for people like this:  “Fire Insurance Christians.”  

There wasn't too much fire in last year's War on Christmas from what I could see, except on the Focus on the Family Web site, in liberal rants about said site, and in the anonymous column in my newspaper, where people occasionally gripe about a salesperson wishing them a Happy Holiday.  

I guess we all have a need to kvetch from time to time.  Yes, the conservatives are still out there.  We haven’t forgotten.  Still, most revolutions fizzle over time, unless they’re kindled by a cause bigger than ourselves.