Learn more about what it means to be a Christian

by Jim Wallis

2005: HarperSanFrancisco, 384 pages

Reviewed by: John Thielepape

Since Jim Wallis takes on the two topics, religion and politics, that one should never discuss in polite company, God’s Politics should come with a warning label that the contents will prove hazardous to the self-righteous motives of any reader. The subtitle to Wallis’ book accurately reveals his criticism of both political extremes, the divide that exists between them and their relationship with people of religious faith. Wallis calls for people of faith to reclaim a prophetic role in the public debate, free from ties to either political party that speaks to issues from a consistently applied Christian ethic.

Wallis criticizes the political Left for its refusal to take seriously the viewpoints of religious people. Calling them "secular fundamentalists…who seem to have an allergy to spirituality and a disdain for anything religious," Wallis believes that the Left needs to hear from the values and beliefs of religious people. Those who presume a liberal bias from Wallis may be surprised by his conservative challenges to the Democratic Party on abortion and to Americans United for Separation of Church and State on religious liberty. Wallis also believes that values should be at the center of the political debate as long as those values extend to an entire range of issues addressed by the expectations of the gospel.

For the political right, which for Wallis has become synonymous with the Religious Right, he engages prevailing government policies and actions on a broad range of issues that include pre-emptive war and an empire-building philosophy, poverty, government spending, corporate scandals, capital punishment, and race relations. He is careful to define areas of agreement, such as the necessity of removing Saddam Hussein from power, while expressing disagreement on the necessity of invasion to accomplish that task. Wallis believes that the Religious Right restricts the gospel to individual moral choices and sexual ethics and has become exploited by those who would use the gospel for their own empowerment.

In Wallis’ view, another option exists which reclaims a prophetic role for people of faith. This option takes a conservative stance on values, sexual ethics and personal responsibility while acting progressively on poverty, racial and gender equality, the environment, and peacemaking. Wallace seeks a common ground on issues where believers disagree, and a productive dialogue about issues where people listen to one another rather than simply trying to convince one another.

The shortcoming of God’s Politics is Wallis’ extensive use of his own experiences and writings as support material. While some of them add meaning, most of them could have been placed in appendices or linked to his website. They often make the book wander and place the focus too much on Wallis himself. In this writer’s opinion, he would have been better-served by expanding his use of the words of Christ and of the Old Testament prophets to support his views.

God’s Politics will be valuable reading to any person who has grown tired of the divisive nature of American politics and hopes for a more complete expression of the gospel in public discussion. While one may not agree with all of Wallis’ conclusions, serious readers will benefit from interacting with the questions that he raises. God’s Politics will challenge readers to apply a consistent faith to a broad range of public issues.