The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America

345 Pages·2008·2.09 MB·English

by  Jim Wallis

*
THE
GREAT
AWAKENING
Reviving Faith & Politics in
a Post-Religious RightAmerica
JIM WALLIS
HarperOne
Anlmp,im<>fHarp<1rCollin,Publishers
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THE GREAT AWAKENING: RevivingFaithandPoliticsinaPost-Religious
RightAmerica. Copyright©2008byJimWallis.Allrightsreserved. Printed
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FIRST EDITION
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Wallis,Jim.
Thegreatawakening: revivingfaith andpolitiesinaposl-religious
rightAmericaIJimWallis.- 1sted.
p. em.
ISBN: 978-0---06-055829-1
I. Revivals. 2. Christianityandpolitics-UnitedStates. I.Title.
BV3793W35 2008
269.0973----dc22 2007---043398
08 09 10 II 12 RRD(H) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
This hook is dedicated toJames Wallis Sr.)
myfather, whosefaith was thefoundation for mine.
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CONTENTS
Foreword byJimmy Carter ix
Introduction: Something Is Happening
I Revival Time: When Faith Changes Politics II
:1 Changes in theAir: The NewAgenda 3'
3 How to Change the World, and Why: Rules of Engagement 53
4 The Moral Center: Politics for the Common Good 79
; Inclusion and Opportunity: The WelcomeTable 103
6 Stewardship and Renewal: The Earth Is the Lord's '35
7 Equality and Diversity: The Race to Unity '57
8 Life and Dignity: Critical Choices 189
9 Family and Community: The False Choice 217
10 Nonviolent Realism: Resolving Our Conflicts 235
II Integrity andAccountability; Doingthe RightThing
and the QuestionofLeadership 267
I2 What'sAcceptable, What's Possible: Notes
to the Next Generation 283
Epilogue: Red Letter Christians and
Justice Revivals: Coming to aCity NearYou 299
Appendix: Jim Wallis Sr.: Man ofFaith 3"
Acknowledgments 317
Notes 321
Index 331
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I
FOREWORD
I n one of my most recent books, titled OurEndangered Values, I at
tempted to describe the existingrelationships among religion, poli
tics, and some of our nation's historical values. Mine was a fairly
narrow focus, based primarily on my personal experiences as a Chris
tian and as a former participant in national and international affairs.
Jim Wallis came to my home in Plains and provided me with some ex
tremelyvaluable advice on the emphases in my text.
It was obvious to me {and perhaps to Jim} that a much broader pre
sentation was needed, with a special explanation of how our religious
faith affects the totality of our nation's basic values, politics, and po
litical leadership. It was also obvious that an added question needed
to be answered in order to place these complex relationships into bet
terperspective for readers; down through generations ofAmericans and
ourpolitical leaders, what has been the history ofthe effect ofreligious
faith on the shapingofpolitical decisions?
To answer this question clearlyand definitivelywould be possible for
onlyafew people. Iam grateful thatJim Wallis has decided towrite this
book, andhaschosenthismomenttodoso.Therehasneverbeenamore
propitious time for the citizens ofour country to comprehend this sub
ject more clearly. It is important notonlyasan exercise in politicsduring
election time (it is always election time in a democracy like ours); the
crucialnatureofthedissertationisthatthereisanalmostunprecedented
i'
x FOREWORD
serious and persistent division among us-with faith and politics inter
twined as never before in creatingdisharmony.
Public opinion polls show that, uniquely among citizens of West
ern democracies, we Americans exemplify a strong and undeviating
commitment to our multiple religious faiths. At the same time, there
has been a fairly recent violation of the time-honored premise that, as
Thomas Jefferson proclaimed, a wall should be maintained between
church and state. Jim Wallis is able to give vital advice to those who
would like to resolve this apparent quandary, and to do so in a way that
will ease rather than exacerbate existing tensions and misunderstand
ings in the political and religious arenas.
What we need is a way to tap the power of the revival of faith in
order to inspire and encourage the secular social reforms that are es
poused in all the great religions. This is the pathway described to us in
this book.
-Jimmy Carter
INTRODUCTION
SOMETHING IS HAPPENING
A
dmittedly, religion can be a confusing subject. My then-seven
year-old son Luke came to my wife and me one day looking
veryconcerned, "Mom, Dad, I'm worried about Max andJonah
[two ofhis second-grade pals on the Little League baseball team that I
coach]. I don't think they believe in God orJesus. They're vegetarians!"
SoJoy and Idecided to take Luke to one ofmy book tourevents in Or
egon, where he would meet some godlyvegetarians.
But the confusion is more serious than the misunderstandings of
a little boy. After I appeared one night on Jon Stewart's Daily Show,
1received thousands of e-mails that said things like, "I lost my faith
because of television preachers, bad religious fund-raising, pedophile
priests, cover-up bishops, and White House theology." Or, amazing to
me, they would say, "I didn't know that Christians could care about
poverty, the environment, or the war in Iraq." But when they hear that
people offaith do care, and have fought for socialjustice, this new gen
eration getsveryexcited. 1meet those youngpeople on the road all over
the country, and many say to me, "I came to faith because ofyourbook;
what's next?"What's next is what this book is about.
Something is happening. Faith is being applied to social justice in
ways that we might have never imagined just a few short years ago.
Spiritual power is being harnessed to address the greatest social chal
lenges that we face today.