BOOK BITES
GOD’S POLITICS: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It., by Jim Wallis. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. 384 pp. (BR526.W265).
This NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller is about “a new vision for faith and politics in America.” The author is well known as an evangelical with a faith rejected by some on the left, and a compassion for marginalized people that is rejected by others on the right.
Columns by Wallis appear in THE NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, LOS ANGELES TIMES, and BOSTON GLOBE. He has been an Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and has taught at Harvard Divinity School.
From a solid biblical base the author challenges America’s politicians, some for hijacking the language of faith to prop up a political agenda. Wallis says: “What’s clear is that there are Republicans who really do care about the poor, democrats who really don’t and of course vice versa.” (P. 230).
You may, or may not, agree with Jim Wallis on Iraq. He asks, “When Did Jesus Become Pro-War? (Subtitle for Part III).
The chapter titles are catchy. Chapter 1, “Take Back the Faith: Co-opted by the Right, Dismissed by the Left.” Chapter 2 is “A Lack of Vision: Too Narrow or None at All.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu says: “Jim Wallis is compelling, provocative, and inspirational, with the kind of faith that can move mountains and can certainly move people and communities. God be praised for Jim Wallis.” (Back cover).
…The Library Committee