Slate has a review of Jim Wallis’ new book, God’s Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It. Jim Wallis is a founder of Sojourners Magazine, and a progressive Christian leader. The review is written by Elizabeth Castelli, a professor of Religion at Barnard College and an author. She gives an intriguing overview of the book:
Wallis also passionately reminds his readers that not only is “Christian” not coterminous with “right-wing Christian fundamentalist,” but more important, the Bible’s overarching justice claims demand that social and economic life be organized around the needs of the community’s weakest members. (His own lifelong commitment to living in service to and solidarity with the poor and powerless gives Wallis enormous moral authority on this topic.) Wallis challenges American Christians to examine how it is that they have managed to overlook the clear directives on poverty of their Scriptures and to embrace instead a “prosperity gospel.”
This sounds like a great book. Castelli offers some criticisms however; the one that struck me was that “[h]e calls nonreligious people ’secular fundamentalists’ with ‘absolutist’ views on the separation of church and state…” I am a fan of the Establishment Clause not only because it is good for government, but because it is good for religion. I’m interested in exploring his views on this topic further.
I have ordered the book and am waiting eagerly for it to arrive. I’m sure I’ll have something to post about it when I’m finished.
Wallis is a great person. Hopefully, he can help remind the Christian community of the call to advocate justice and community.