A Christmas Day Editorial from the Kalamazoo Gazette

(Christmas Day), we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ — poster child for at-risk children everywhere.

Jesus was conceived out of wedlock and born to a teen mom who was homeless at the time of his birth. He was raised in poverty and belonged to a minority group marginalized by those in power.

Two thousand years later, that is a familiar scenario for many children. And as horrified as we are by the treatment of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, there isn’t much compassion today toward children in similar circumstances.

Almost one of four Michigan children under the age of 5 lives in poverty, according to census numbers released last week. The state’s youngest and most vulnerable residents have the highest poverty rate in the state — almost three times the rate, in fact, of Michigan residents over the age of 65.

www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/12/column_if_jesus_was_born_today.html

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

- Dr. Seuss