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God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (Plus)
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Average Rating:  out of 219 Reviews
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Price: $14.95
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Sale: $6.92
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Manufacturer: HarperOne
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780060834470
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Jim Wallis
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Publisher: HarperOne
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Dewey Decimal Number: 261.70973
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Publication Date: 2006-09-01
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Reading Level: 432
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Description: Secular liberals and religious conservatives will find things to both comfort and alarm them in Jim Wallis's God's Politics. That combination is actually reason enough to recommend the book in a time when the national political and theological discourse is dominated by blanket descriptions and shortsightedness. But Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine, offers more than just a book that's hard to categorize. What Wallis sees as the true mission of Christianity--righting social ills, working for peace--is in tune with the values of liberals who so often run screaming from the idea of religion. Meanwhile, in his estimation, religious vocabulary is co-opted by conservatives who use it to polarize. Wallis proposes a new sort of politics, the name of which serves as the title of the book, wherein these disparities are reconciled and progressive causes are paired with spiritual guidance for the betterment of society. Wallis is at his most compelling when he puts this theory into action himself, letting his own beliefs guide him through stinging criticisms of the war in Iraq. In his view, George W. Bush's flaw lies in the assumption that the United States was an unprecedented force of goodness in a fight against enemies characterized as "evil." Indeed, although both the right and left are criticized here, the idea is that the liberals, if they would get religion, are the more redeemable lot. Wallis's line between religion and public policy may be drawn a little differently than most liberals might feel comfortable with, and while he pays some lip service to other faiths most of his prescription for America seems to come from the Bible. Still, for a party having just lost a presidential election where "moral issues" are said to have factored heavily, God's Politics is a sermon worth listening to. --John Moe
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Speedy delivery; great product |
Date: 2008-09-02 |
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Details: It's everything I was looking for in the purchase of a book on-online: I sought out the title, purchased it with ease and it was delivered within a matter of days in perfect condition. Short of including a cup of coffee, it was all I could hope for with none of the hassle. |
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Review Summary: weak and inconsistent |
Date: 2008-08-19 |
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Details: This book is poorly written or poorly edited. It rambles along like a casual conversation, rather than a concise and principled exhortation. It is as if Wallis just talked into his tape recorder and no one ever took the time to edit or organize his stream of consciousness. He constantly digresses into subjects irrelevant to his then current topic.
Second, he is inconsistent, with no attempt to ever justify or explain. It is hard to believe that neither he nor his editors recognize these inconsistencies. He advocates for a strong government when it comes to the moral issues of poverty, etc, but a weak government on the moral issues of sex,abortion, and war........without ever explaining: a) why biblical principles somehow dictate a different role for government on these different subjects or b) why, as a practical matter, those issues must or should be attacked differently.
Likewise, he never explains why he loves to cite the Old Testament on the issues where he wants more government, but he ignores the Old Testament when arguing against all of the right wing's "moral" issues.
He strongly condemns President Bush, perhaps rightly, for overly confident, self-righteous language and a lack of self-reflection about his/the nation's own sin. But Wallis himself never once expresses the Lincoln-esque humility, self-doubt, self-examination that he so demandingly expects from Bush. Rather, Wallis not too subtlely sees himself as the modern day prophet of God. |
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Review Summary: God's Politics |
Date: 2008-04-12 |
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Details: This is a well-written book by a respected theologian. I suppose that is why so many conservatives give this book poor reviews. Jim Wallis has forgotten more about religion and Christianity than most so-called religious conservatives ever knew about those subjects. Wallis is critical of war, and critical of how certain elements of our society have hijacked religion and politics for their own gain, or at least to promote their own agenda.
The Bible can confuse and bewilder. Those who stand by it as their lifeblood often spew certain verses or Biblical references such as an eye for an eye when considering the current war in Iraq or the post 9/11 world in general. They conveniently forget Jesus' message of peace and forgiveness because it doesn't fit into their imperialistic world view.
Wallis shows how conservatives have played into the hands of those in Washington whose only goal is power. Christianity is being held hostage by the war machine. George Bush can say you are either with us or against us as if the world is so simple. Bush and his neo-conservative minions (actually one should say Dick Cheyney and his neo-conservative minions led by puppet Bush) forget the world is complex. For their part the Democrats are not really seen as the counterbalance to this mess, as they are really seeking a way to tap into the national sentiment of security and antiterrorism to get their own slice of the imperial pie. But one can love America and think this war is not worth either the cost in human lives or the billions of taxpayer's dollars being spent on it. Would George Washington support this war? One can only speculate, but our first president did advise against entangling alliances. What have us taxpayers got for our money? Not much.
Wallis illustrates how America has adopted the mantra of empire as a result of electing a president who convinced himself he's been put in power by God when the country needs such a person in power. Wow, the arrogance of it all. Wallis challenges Christians to stand up and take back their country in the face of hypocrisy and blatant blasphemy from the suits in power (I say suits because this mess is not just the making of Republicans and neo-conservatives, there are plenty of Democrats who buy into this imperialistic theory and want their piece of the action as well).
Wallis believes in Christianity's message of hope and love as opposed to embracing the shackles of oppression. He challenges Christians to ignore the seductive tendencies of empire and strive for a life of true Christian virtue. Who knows, maybe some day it will happen. |
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Review Summary: A much needed antidote to the Religious Right |
Date: 2008-02-28 |
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Details: I have had this book since 2005 and find it to be even more appropriate today as we near the 2008 Presidential election. Wallis does an excellent job of making his case for why Christians have an obligation to be involved in the political process. However, he also lays out the rationale why Christians must be concerned with more than just the hot-button issues of abortion and gay marriage. Wallis shows why Christians have an obligation to care about poverty, environmental issues and equal rights among other issues. He also shows why it is wrong for religious and para-religious organizations to be used by outside interests and political parties and he makes a good case that candidates should be supported for their values and ideas, not simply because of party affiliation. |
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Review Summary: A Missed Opportunity |
Date: 2008-02-21 |
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Details: I should have liked this book. I am what might be called a hesitantly blue evangelical (I'm not a very good democrat but was a worse republican) and mostly agree with him point by point. So when Wallis talked in his introduction about what I would call a 4th quadrant option (my terminology) that is not liberal, conservative or libertarian but passionate about life, justice and peace, I was pretty hopeful. But I did not enjoy this book and upon reflection came up with 3 reasons that, while the target audience, the book missed its mark with me:
1. It is really dry. Maybe it is because I had my MP3 player switching between chapters of Klosterman, Gladwell and Wallis, so the latter withered in comparison, but this book could have easily been a pamphlet. There are not many anecdotes (aside from occasional name dropping) or historical allusions to make the text move. Just repetitive exposition on a range of positions. `Budgets are moral documents' is a true and borderline insightful statement the first or even the second time for emphasis, but not the fifth.
2. It is not that insightful. Here is my problem. I could have written this book. There is little analysis, be it economic or exegetical, just repeated sweeping claims. Wallis does not reside enough in either the world of complex economic/political theory or in the world of the Biblical text to bring either insightfully to bear on the complex issue of a Christian's role in a democratic super power. Dubious economic and political theories were stated boldly without empirical support and the scriptures were used for selective proof texting (despite his decrial of the practice).
3. It is not what it claims to be. In his introduction Wallis bemoans the fact that since he isn't in the religious right he is automatically dubbed the religious left because the media lacks other categories. I agree that most lack the necessary categories to describe the needed fourth quadrant position that he describes. I just don't think that he holds it. I think Wallis is firmly in the religious left. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but please don't patronize us with the illusion or claim of a new way so desperately needed. You simply can not write a book that hopes to unite people of faith in a tent big enough for evangelicals by devoting just a couple pages to abortion and concluding that Clinton had it right all along (while, in fairness, suggesting `the left is far more dogmatic on this issue than the right'). Now abortion is a complex issue loaded with conflicting goods and evils that gets to the core of very important issues like personhood, personal autonomy, gender interests, economic justice, protection of innocents and many others. I get that it is not easy and probably should not be the centerpiece of a religious political theory. But that is why it deserved an entire chapter. The quest to restore a love of peace, justice and the poor in red evangelicals is road blocked by the religious left's indifference on this issue. Whether that makes sense to Wallis and those like him or not, it is the reality. If you are not going to talk about the things that make conservatives conservative than you are just preaching to the proverbial choir, congratulating yourself on your righteous stances and selling books.
So I guess I was mostly disappointed that this text was a missed opportunity on a very important thesis. I love Wallis' idea that the Church should refuse to be co-opted by any political artifice and should speak prophetically to all parties. I just don't think he represents this idea.
Post Script: Several of my conservative friends have accused me of leaning left because of a simple desire to be liked. Holding liberal positions is a low cost way to acceptance by a large number of people and avoiding the scorn generally heaped upon those who genuinely believe that the hope for the poor is in markets, industries and innovations. This critique has given me pause more than once and after watching Wallis' interviews with Jon Stewart (who I really enjoy), I fear might benefit him as well. A prophet does not try that hard to be liked.
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