God's Politics- #2

so far, i am really enjoying the book. i am reading slowly because there is so much to think about- so much to "get." i just finished chapter 1 where he talks about "taking back" our faith. jim wallis says that he is actually politically conservative on issues of personal responsibility (which surprised me a bit) but adds, "the popular presentations of religion in our time (especially in the media) almost completely ignore the biblical vision of social justice and, even worse, dismiss such concerns as merely 'left wing.'" as he told the election around the time of the 2004 election: "God is not a republican. or a democrat."

so we need to take back the faith. mostly, take it back from so many people who have tried to use the image of Christ and the authority of scripture for their own selfish gain. i think we can all agree that that has happened and that something needs to be done about it.

"Take back our faith from whom? To be honest, the confusion comes from many sources. From RELIGIOUS RIGHT-WINGERS who claim to know God's political views on every issue, then ignore the subjects that God seems to care the most about. FROM PEDOPHILE PRIESTS and cover-up bishops who destroy lives and shame the church. FROM TELEVISION PREACHERS whose extravagant lifestyles and crass fund-raising tactics embarrass more Christians than they know. FROM LIBERAL SECULARISTS who want to banish faith from public life and deny spiritual values to the soul of politics. And even FROM LIBERAL THEOLOGIANS whose cultural conformity and creedal modernity serve to erode the foundations of historic biblical faith. FROM NEW AGE PHILOSOPHERS who want to make Jesus into a non-threatening spiritual guru. And FROM POLITICIANS who love to say how religious they are but utterly fail to apply the values of faith to their public leadership and political politics." (Jim Wallis, pg. 4 Capitals mine).