Customer Reviews

The Soul of Politics: Beyond "Religious Right" and "Secular Left"

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Have you ever bought an interesting-looking book, tucked it away on a shelf, finally gotten around to reading it a couple of years later, and then kicked yourself for waiting so long? That's how I felt when I at last read Jim Wallis' *Soul of Politics*. If it doesn't reinspire you to work for a better society, nothing will.

Wallis calls for what he calls a "prophetic politics of personal and social transformation," one that's built on the Judaeo-Christian insight that righteousness requires both individual and social responsibility. A contemporary re-application of this insight can help the secular left and the religious right learn from and complement one another and break free of the dysfunctional impasse they've reached. The left tends to overemphasize structural evil at the expense of individual responsibility; the right tends to overemphasize individual virtue while ignoring structural evil. But the prophetic politics--the politics with soul--Wallis advocates takes both into consideration. Individual responsibility to other individuals, to the community, to the environment, a call to action that "challenges the old while announcing the new" (p. 53), a spirit-filled replacement of unjust institutions that prevent humans from attaining maximal being: this is the heart of Wallis' message.

It's easy to become cynical and opt out of the political arena to cultivate one's own garden. But if Wallis is correct, such a withdrawal--if I may use an old-fashioned word that we perhaps ought to take seriously again--is a sin. To remain silent in the face of injustice is to acquiesce to it. Wallis' book gives us a good idea of how to go about healing the fragmentation of our society. The last third of the book deals with strategic details.

Read this book. Politics is too important to be left to the professional politicians.

Please ignore the media's obsession with portraying all people of faith as right wing Republicans.

Wallis understands that being a Christian is not about intolerance to minorities, or unbridled capitalism. Wallis understands Jesus' ministry to the poor and warnings to those in power and with great wealth of the responsibilities they have to "the least among us."

While the mass media continues to consult the likes of Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc for the "Christian" view, pastors like Wallis are reminding us the faith in God is not about power grabs and ostracizing others.

Wallis may be the most balanced voice in our culture today. In The Soul of Politics, he first tears away at silly conservative notions of "me first" and "us against them". He especially dresses down the radical religious right for misappropriating the sacred name of Jesus for the sake of obtaining raw political power. But just as you begin to think Wallis is a left-wing liberal, he rips into "feelgood" liberal approaches to society that have been proven failures. Instead, Wallis suggests a new polemic, really rooted in the prophets of old, that teaches both personal, moral responsibility and genuine, Christian compassion. He rejects false choices of left versus right and invites all people of faith, especially Christians, to create a new politics of community, compassion and civility. Wallis is a noted Evangelical. He's currently a fellow at Harvard but also heads the Christ-centered "Sojourners" magazine and urban ministry in the nation's capitol. Please...read The Soul of Politics. You will be challenged and encouraged!

This book was truly an eye-opener for me. From Wallis's evaluation of what the Old-Testament prophets REALLY spent most of their time addressing, to suggestions as to how we can help solve the challenging societal problems that we face... I just found this book amazing. The first book in years that I've wanted to buy by the caseload and distribute randomly to anybody who'll take a copy. Highly recommended.

Please ignore the media's obsession with portraying all people of faith as right wing Republicans.

Wallis understands that being a Christian is not about intolerance to minorities, or unbridled capitalism. Wallis understands Jesus' ministry to the poor and warnings to those in power and with great wealth of the responsibilities they have to "the least among us."

While the mass media continues to consult the likes of Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc for the "Christian" view, pastors like Wallis are reminding us the faith in God is not about power grabs and ostracizing others.

Jim Wallis delivers and excellent work I was alerted to a few years ago. This book forces Christians, from both sides of the political spectrum to examine what they believe, and why they believe it. Especially pointed are the criticisms of how both sides have plans to deal with the poor, but both are off base in the extremes of what they are trying to accomplish. Jim Wallis lives to serve the less-fortunate, and it shows in his servant attitude as he wrote this book. I give Jim Wallis high marks for this book that challenges the status-quo.

Jim Wallis gives an insight into the realities of everyday life for poor and marginalized citizens of the world that is largely overlooked or just plain ignored by many prominent religious and political leaders. This book gave me a new understanding of what it means to be a Christian, and how to lead a godly life. One wonders if Americans have the wherewithall to follow the example Wallis sets when it comes to helping the poor. I doubt it. A book that is very readable and very much worth reading, too!

i am not a christian, nor do i relate to the christian lifestyle yet i had no difficulty in recognizing the relevance and meaning in wallis's writing. the spirituality and morals he speaks of to salvage our collapsing society should be found in all humans, regardless of religious affiliation. he does a good job of including all walks of people. his focus on strictly black and white racism, however, seemed narrow-minded to me because it neglected the various other races and conflicts. he did get his point across, though.

As someone that journeyed into the political life of this nation as a young man, I came to have a jaded and pessimistic view of the entire body politic. Watching the workings of committees and the deal making process that is the creation of legislation, I became convencied that entering public life would mean a compromise of my faith, values, and sense of social justice. I left political life disgusted with both sides. However, after reading the Soul of Politics, I have become excited and refreshed to know that on the rise, a movement is working to bringing true faith in God and eachother into serious political discourse. I believe that now, more than ever, people are sick of the abuse and perversion of the faith that the "religious right" trumphets as the "will of God," and the ignorance of the "secular left" in completly disregarding the faith as irrevelant in solving social and political problems. This is not simply an ideological portrait of how things could be, but, a plan that is working in areas across this country. I reccomend this book to anyone that believes we need a new direction and center in the public life of our nation. Out of the numerous books on public policy and political science that I have read in university and these last six years after graduation, The Soul of Politics was the most important. I only wish that I had found Sojourners before leaving D.C.

In some ways I wish I hadn't read this book, because now I have to do something. While I'm not sure what exactly that will be - something will change in my life.

Jim Wallis is a modern day prophet. There haven't been many in a long time. I am excited about what he and his organization are doing. I am excited about what I can do. I am excited about what each of us can do to make this a better world, one person at the time.

This is a must read no matter how hard it is to hear what he has to say.