June 24, 2005
Who Speaks for God?
Book Review
Jim Wallis, Who Speaks for God? (New York: Delacorte Press), approx. 230 pages.
The next few postings on this blog will be reviews of two books, this one and Rod Parsley’s new book, Silent No More. I also plan to give the Evangelicals a break when Bishop Spong’s new book becomes available.
If you want a clear, articulate presentation of the Middle Way (other than mine, of course :-) ), read this book. Rev. Wallis is a Protestant minister who has long been involved in inner-city ministries in Washington, D.C. He is living the Christian mission to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19).
Concerned that the Religious Right, which he would view as an umbrella over such organizations as Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition, has dominated the discussion of faith and values in the mainstream media; the entire book emphasizes that many religious or spiritual Christians do not feel represented by such organizations and need to be brought back in to the public discussion. On the other hand, he notes that such Christians are likewise repelled by the “mostly liberal secularists who want to keep any religious or spiritual concerns out of politics altogether.
Rev. Wallis agrees with the Right that we have a crisis of values, citing as symptoms the growth of crime, the poor quality of public education, children who are not loved or protected, bad television, broken political promises, and the widening economic gap between the rich and the rest of us; but he stresses that “a crisis of spiritual values cannot be solved by resorting to partisan political warfare.” So what is the Religious Right preaching in its political gospel? To Rev. Wallis, they are preaching fear not hope, holding down the poor (through repressive welfare policies) not lifting them up, tax cuts for the rich (often at the expense of the rest of us), and the increase in U.S. military firepower. Such hypocrisy reminds us of Jesus’ warning “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible.” (Matthew 24:24).
Who speaks for God, then? Rev. Wallis gives us a clear guideline: When the voice of God is invoked on behalf of those who have no voice, it is time to listen (for example, in the witness of Rev. Martin Luther King or Bishop Desmond Tutu). But when the name of God is used to benefit the interests of those who are speaking, it is time to be very careful.
The Religious Right’s platform exposes some serious flaws, when viewed from a spiritual Christian perspective:
• It’s position on the value of life is inconsistent, on the one hand protecting the life of the child from conception to birth; on the other, promoting war, the death penalty, and not helping the poor.
• They use race as a “wedge issue” in the affirmative action debate, but do not speak for Christ in seeing continued racism as an offense demanding repentance and reparation.
• Contrary to their ranting, the separation of church and state does not prohibit a positive influence of religious values on the nation’s political climate; and the Religious Right does not have a monopoly on concern for values, as evidenced by the work of the Roman Catholic Church in family life, and values held in common by all Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even many atheists.
So how should Christians participate in the political process? Rev. Wallis suggests three tests, which he calls compassion, community, and civility.
Compassion. How do we as a society treat “the least of these”? Do we “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a flowing stream” (Amos 5:24)? He notes that compassion does not replace the need for individual responsibility – the welfare system must still offer incentives to work and to hold the two-parent family together, a failing of liberal Democrats whose constituencies are supported by irresponsible policies.
A social vision requires participation from all sectors of society. Government cannot do it alone, as the liberals argue; nor can it be excluded, as the Religious Right would desire. The problem is, the very people who are doing what all Christians say needs to be done are fighting to find the resources to continue their work. To simply add Federal unfounded mandates on local governments and organizations is simply cynical and cruel.
Community. “Like the spirit of compassion,” Rev. Wallis writes, “the bonds of community nurture and protect us all.” Community provides a sense of belonging that all people need, it supplies the emotional and physicial necessities of life, and provides the context for economic livelihood and stability.
In particular, we need to restore a sense of the common good (sometimes called the public interest). Both the Evangelicals and the Liberals have aggravated the polarization that the nation experiences today, at a time when we need to deal with racial division, culture wars, and the economic gaps between rich and poor citizens. To speak of the economic gap is not Marxist “class warfare,” because the free market is a good thing, but needs some regulation for the benefit of all. (One period in American history in which the Federal Government most energetically pursued regulatory reform was during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt – a Republican!).
As to “family values,” we certainly need to rebuild strong and healthy two-parent families with strong and positive masculine and feminine role models, but we also must protect and support those who do not fit the traditional family pattern. This means specifically that we must as Christians protect the civil rights of homosexuals part of building a healthy and just society.
Civility. Our society desperately needs moral leadership. We do not have anyone like Mohandas Gandhi, who once called off India’s independence movement for several years because he found his people unprepared socially, economically, or spiritually ready for the next step. Civility is about fostering this moral leadership. It is also about raising the quality and integrity of our political discussions and the depth of our participation in the political process. All of these things are deeply connected.
To engage in endless blaming and scapegoating results, as we all know, in citizen cynicism and withdrawal. The excessive influence of money is also a civility issue because it blocks access and influence for ordinary people in decisions that affect their lives. To rebuild citizen confidence in the system will require that the people again believe in the integrity of the system, or at least that it can be made fairer.
“There is an alarming depth of cynicism in every region toward politics as usual,” Rev. Wallis writes. “People are literally sick of politics defined by style, hype, spin, power, and most of all, attack. But there is a palpable hunger for a politics of vision, values, integrity, and credible leadership; and a longing to recover the moral heart of our public debate and the ‘soul of politics’.” In other words, people need answers, not ideology. The first task for Christians, then, if religious values are to enter the public square, is to improve the quality and integrity of our political discussion.
Rev. Wallis’ book also includes a manifesto, called a “Cry for Renewal,” to call moderate Christians back to political participation. He was a cofounder of an organization called the Sojourners, to work toward the goals he cited in his book. Their website is http://www.sojourners.com .
One final comment. It is customary when making a bibliographic reference to include the year a book has been published, a fact I intentionally omitted from the citation at the beginning of this post. Sadly, the situation that Rev. Wallis urgently wanted to correct has become much worse in the nine years since the book was published in 1996. It should be very clear that the national elections of 2000 and 2004 have further damaged the hopes and confidence of the American people. We have a lot of work to do, and it’s past time that we got started!
Copyright © 2005, Harold D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use the material in this blog provided both conditions are met: (1) Credit is given to the author, and (2) the use is not for profit.
Jim Wallis, Who Speaks for God? (New York: Delacorte Press), approx. 230 pages.
The next few postings on this blog will be reviews of two books, this one and Rod Parsley’s new book, Silent No More. I also plan to give the Evangelicals a break when Bishop Spong’s new book becomes available.
If you want a clear, articulate presentation of the Middle Way (other than mine, of course :-) ), read this book. Rev. Wallis is a Protestant minister who has long been involved in inner-city ministries in Washington, D.C. He is living the Christian mission to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19).
Concerned that the Religious Right, which he would view as an umbrella over such organizations as Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority and Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition, has dominated the discussion of faith and values in the mainstream media; the entire book emphasizes that many religious or spiritual Christians do not feel represented by such organizations and need to be brought back in to the public discussion. On the other hand, he notes that such Christians are likewise repelled by the “mostly liberal secularists who want to keep any religious or spiritual concerns out of politics altogether.
Rev. Wallis agrees with the Right that we have a crisis of values, citing as symptoms the growth of crime, the poor quality of public education, children who are not loved or protected, bad television, broken political promises, and the widening economic gap between the rich and the rest of us; but he stresses that “a crisis of spiritual values cannot be solved by resorting to partisan political warfare.” So what is the Religious Right preaching in its political gospel? To Rev. Wallis, they are preaching fear not hope, holding down the poor (through repressive welfare policies) not lifting them up, tax cuts for the rich (often at the expense of the rest of us), and the increase in U.S. military firepower. Such hypocrisy reminds us of Jesus’ warning “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible.” (Matthew 24:24).
Who speaks for God, then? Rev. Wallis gives us a clear guideline: When the voice of God is invoked on behalf of those who have no voice, it is time to listen (for example, in the witness of Rev. Martin Luther King or Bishop Desmond Tutu). But when the name of God is used to benefit the interests of those who are speaking, it is time to be very careful.
The Religious Right’s platform exposes some serious flaws, when viewed from a spiritual Christian perspective:
• It’s position on the value of life is inconsistent, on the one hand protecting the life of the child from conception to birth; on the other, promoting war, the death penalty, and not helping the poor.
• They use race as a “wedge issue” in the affirmative action debate, but do not speak for Christ in seeing continued racism as an offense demanding repentance and reparation.
• Contrary to their ranting, the separation of church and state does not prohibit a positive influence of religious values on the nation’s political climate; and the Religious Right does not have a monopoly on concern for values, as evidenced by the work of the Roman Catholic Church in family life, and values held in common by all Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even many atheists.
So how should Christians participate in the political process? Rev. Wallis suggests three tests, which he calls compassion, community, and civility.
Compassion. How do we as a society treat “the least of these”? Do we “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a flowing stream” (Amos 5:24)? He notes that compassion does not replace the need for individual responsibility – the welfare system must still offer incentives to work and to hold the two-parent family together, a failing of liberal Democrats whose constituencies are supported by irresponsible policies.
A social vision requires participation from all sectors of society. Government cannot do it alone, as the liberals argue; nor can it be excluded, as the Religious Right would desire. The problem is, the very people who are doing what all Christians say needs to be done are fighting to find the resources to continue their work. To simply add Federal unfounded mandates on local governments and organizations is simply cynical and cruel.
Community. “Like the spirit of compassion,” Rev. Wallis writes, “the bonds of community nurture and protect us all.” Community provides a sense of belonging that all people need, it supplies the emotional and physicial necessities of life, and provides the context for economic livelihood and stability.
In particular, we need to restore a sense of the common good (sometimes called the public interest). Both the Evangelicals and the Liberals have aggravated the polarization that the nation experiences today, at a time when we need to deal with racial division, culture wars, and the economic gaps between rich and poor citizens. To speak of the economic gap is not Marxist “class warfare,” because the free market is a good thing, but needs some regulation for the benefit of all. (One period in American history in which the Federal Government most energetically pursued regulatory reform was during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt – a Republican!).
As to “family values,” we certainly need to rebuild strong and healthy two-parent families with strong and positive masculine and feminine role models, but we also must protect and support those who do not fit the traditional family pattern. This means specifically that we must as Christians protect the civil rights of homosexuals part of building a healthy and just society.
Civility. Our society desperately needs moral leadership. We do not have anyone like Mohandas Gandhi, who once called off India’s independence movement for several years because he found his people unprepared socially, economically, or spiritually ready for the next step. Civility is about fostering this moral leadership. It is also about raising the quality and integrity of our political discussions and the depth of our participation in the political process. All of these things are deeply connected.
To engage in endless blaming and scapegoating results, as we all know, in citizen cynicism and withdrawal. The excessive influence of money is also a civility issue because it blocks access and influence for ordinary people in decisions that affect their lives. To rebuild citizen confidence in the system will require that the people again believe in the integrity of the system, or at least that it can be made fairer.
“There is an alarming depth of cynicism in every region toward politics as usual,” Rev. Wallis writes. “People are literally sick of politics defined by style, hype, spin, power, and most of all, attack. But there is a palpable hunger for a politics of vision, values, integrity, and credible leadership; and a longing to recover the moral heart of our public debate and the ‘soul of politics’.” In other words, people need answers, not ideology. The first task for Christians, then, if religious values are to enter the public square, is to improve the quality and integrity of our political discussion.
Rev. Wallis’ book also includes a manifesto, called a “Cry for Renewal,” to call moderate Christians back to political participation. He was a cofounder of an organization called the Sojourners, to work toward the goals he cited in his book. Their website is http://www.sojourners.com .
One final comment. It is customary when making a bibliographic reference to include the year a book has been published, a fact I intentionally omitted from the citation at the beginning of this post. Sadly, the situation that Rev. Wallis urgently wanted to correct has become much worse in the nine years since the book was published in 1996. It should be very clear that the national elections of 2000 and 2004 have further damaged the hopes and confidence of the American people. We have a lot of work to do, and it’s past time that we got started!
Copyright © 2005, Harold D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use the material in this blog provided both conditions are met: (1) Credit is given to the author, and (2) the use is not for profit.
Copyright © 2005-2006, Harold D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use the material in this blog provided this copyright notice is shown and the use is not for profit.
The Middle Way posted by Harold Thomas @ 11:06 PM 
