Synopses & Reviews
God Is Not a Republican ... Or a Democrat
Since when did believing in God and having moral values make you pro-war, pro-rich, and solely pro-Republican? And since when did promoting and pursuing a progressive social agenda with a concern for economic security, health care, and educational opportunity mean you had to put your faith in God aside? Jim Wallis argues that America's separation of church and state does not require banishing moral and religious values from the public square. In fact, the very survival of America's social fabric depends on such values and vision to shape our politics -- a dependence the nation's founders recognized. God's Politics inspires us to hold our political leaders and policies accountable by integrating our deepest moral convictions into our nation's public life.
Review
“Wallis provides a refreshing alternative voice to the polarizing rhetoric currently popular.” Library Journal
Review
Jim Wallis is an inspiration to me for his witness of faith and his engagement with politics. Bill Moyers
Review
Jim Wallis is compelling, provocative, and inspirational, with faith that can move mountains and can certainly move people and communities. Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Review
Wallis at his usual passionate and brilliant self: he will move you to examine your conscience and search your soul. E.J. Dionne, author of Stand Up Fight Back and Why Americans Hate Politics
Review
Jim Wallis is the major prophetic evangelical Christian voice in the country. Cornel West, author of Race Matters and Democracy Matters
Review
How far should we go to understand each others points of view? Maybe the distance grace covered on the cross. Bono, lead singer of U2
Synopsis
Since when did believing in God and having moral values make you pro-war, pro-wealth, and pro-Republican? And since when did promoting and pursuing a progressive social agenda with a concern for economic security, health care, and educational opportunity mean you had to put aside faith in God?
While the Right in America has hijacked the language of faith to prop up its political agenda, the Left hasn't done much better, largely ignoring faith and continually separating moral discourse and personal ethics from public policy. The consequence is a false choice between ideological religion and soulless politics.
In the New York Times bestseller God's Politics, Jim Wallis argues that separation of church and state does not require banishing moral and religious values from public discourse. In fact, the United States depends on such values and vision to shape our politics - something that was recognized by the nation's founders.
Jim Wallis is the founder and editor of Sojourner magazine, and the president and convener of "Call to Renewal," a national federation of churches and faith-based organizations who work with the government to overcome poverty and revitalize American politics. Time magazine named Wallis one of the "50 Faces for America's Future," and he has been a Visiting Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. His books include Faith Works, The Soul of Politics and Call to Conversion.
"It is a reminder that Martin Luther King may have had a bible in one hand, but he had the Constitution in the other."
- New York Times Book Review
--Library Journal
Synopsis
New York Times bestseller God's Politics struck a chord with Americans disenchanted with how the Right had co-opted all talk about integrating religious values into our politics, and with the Left, who were mute on the subject. Jim Wallis argues that America's separation of church and state does not require banishing moral and religious values from the public square. God's Politics offers a vision for how to convert spiritual values into real social change and has started a grassroots movement to hold our political leaders accountable by incorporating our deepest convictions about war, poverty, racism, abortion, capital punishment, and other moral issues into our nation's public life. Who can change the political wind? Only we can.
About the Author
Jim Wallis is the author of the New York Times bestseller God's Politics, which electrified Americans disenchanted with how the Right had co-opted all talk about integrating religious values into our politics by offering an alternative voice. Wallis is a leading figure at the crossroads of religion and politics in America today, the author of eight books, and the founder of Sojourners, a global faith and justice network. He is a public theologian, an internationally renowned speaker and preacher, a faith-based activist, husband, and father to two young boys, and a Little League baseball coach.