Fw: Maverick Evangelist Needles Both Democrats & Republicans

 

----- Original Message -----

From: John Steiner

To: John Steiner

Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2005 8:31 AM

Subject: Maverick Evangelist Needles Both Democrats & Republicans

We heard Jim speak in Boulder. He’s off the charts!

Blessings,
  John
 
Thanks to: <Ddrasin@aol.com>


It's always seemed extremely odd to me that those who call
themselves "pro-life" tend also to be pro-war. Evangelist Jim Wallis
seems to have awakened to this paradox and has a few choice things
to say about "Christian" hypocrisy. He also reminds us that the
religious Left is alive and well, and that secularists can be as self-
righteously absolutist in their worldview as religious zealots can be in
theirs.

In the end, all rigid formulations of reality are artificial constructs of
the human mind, and bear only a partial resemblance to reality itself.
I think if there were more Jim Wallises in both the religious and
secular-humanist communities, this fact would be more widely
understood, and much more humility and cooperation would
manifest in this world.

=d=

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http://usliberals.about.com/od/faithinpubliclife/a/JimWallis1.htm

Jim Wallis, Evangelical Christian Who Needles Both Democrats &
Republicans

Feb 28 2005

Jim Wallis is an evangelical Christian who confuses the religious
right, who often stereotype Christians as staunch Republicans.

And despite being described by Republican pundits as leader of the
faith-based left, Wallis irritates some Democratic Party loyalists.

To make matters more perplexing for those who prefer neat political
categories, Wallis asserts “Religion does not have a monopoly on
morality.”

Jim Wallis matters, though. He matters greatly to both political
parties. His book, “God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and
the Left Doesn’t Get It” sits at #5 on the New York Times nonfiction
bestseller list and is #17 at Amazon.

After the divisive campaign of 2004, after the angst of divided
loyalties and reluctant voters, Wallis’ message resonates with the
American public on both sides of the aisle.

Jim Wallis is barnstorming the country, preaching his message of
connecting public policies with biblical teachings. It has transformed
into a movement tour, not book tour, says Wallis.

Crowds are turning out in record numbers to hear him speak at
churches and cathedrals, top seminaries, leading hospitals and
Christian colleges.

Among his tour stops are Johns Hopkins Institute for Spirituality
and Medicine, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Fort Street
Presbyterian Church in Detroit, and a Minneapolis law school. He’s
been on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, MSNBC, CNN and NPR.

He spoke at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, considered
one of the finest evangelical seminaries. This week, I saw him speak
at Fuller Theological Seminary, the fastest-growing evangelical
seminary. ABC was also there, filming for Peter Jennings’ World
News Tonight.

He’s a captivating speaker who loves the stage and feeds off
congregant enthusiasm. He has an infectious smile, loads of energy
and plenty of polish. At Fuller, he spoke while pacing, laughing,
walking, gesturing, even jumping. Preacher’s sweat sparkled on his
face as he then took questions for an hour, answering pastors,
agnostics, seminary students, disillusioned Christians, libertarians,
everyone who walked up to the mike.

To Republicans he asks “When did God become pro-war, pro-rich
and only pro-American?”

To Democrats he needles “ And the Democrats…they say ‘I have
faith, but don’t worry…it won’t affect anything.’ “

He recently told Christianity Today, “ The right is very comfortable
with the language of faith and values…In fact, they think they own it
sometimes….And then they narrow everything to one or two hot-
button social issues, as if abortion and gay marriage are the only two
moral values questions….

But did anybody really...imagine that there are the only two moral
values issues? ….I find 3,000 verses in the Bible on the poor, so
fighting poverty is a moral value too. Protecting the environment—
protecting God’s creation is a moral value. The ethics of war…are
fundamental moral and religious questions.”

For the record, this 30-year preacher and activist has grave
reservations about abortion. “It’s important for Democrats…to talk
first about how they are going to be committed to really dramatically
reducing unwanted pregnancies, not just retaining the legal option of
abortion.” And while compassion compels Wallis to champion basic
rights for gay couples, he does not voice support for gay marriage.

A few leading political figures in both political parties are chafed by
Jim Wallis. Jerry Falwell recently behaved badly toward Wallis on a
Fox News program.

Former Nixon cohort, now Christian leader Chuck Colson
mischaracterized him when he wrote that Wallis thinks “the
religious left is more in tune with the Bible than are conservatives.”
Not so, replied Wallis in an open letter this week to Colson “I
challenge Democrats on abortion, and I challenge Republicans on war
and poverty.”

Wallis has labeled Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National
Committee, as leader of the “secular fundamentalist wing of the
Democratic Party.” Referring to the disastrous statement by Howard
Dean that Job was his favorite New Testament book, Wallis exhorted
“…the worst thing anyone can be is inauthentic when they talk about
religion or faith.”

Jim Wallis threatens political party entrenchment by challenging
Americans to rethink the connection between morality, biblical
teachings and government policies.

As he said in his reply to Chuck Colson, “My message to both liberals
and conservatives is that protecting life is indeed a seamless garment.
Protecting unborn life is important. Opposing unjust wars that take
human life is important. And supporting anti-poverty programs…is
important.

Neither party gets it right; each has perhaps half of the answer. My
message and my challenge are to bring them together.”

The challenge ahead for liberals is to get secular Democrats to
understand the importance of Jim Wallis’ words. And to get far right
voters to accept that God is not just a Republican.

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