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Reading the Bible with a pair of scissors

By John McKinnon - posted Friday, 6 May 2005


Once in a while a book comes along that restores one’s faith and that causes one to say with the psalmist “Our God is in Heaven.” For those of us fed on the mainstream media’s reporting of US politics and evangelical Christianity in general, Jim Wallis’ book, God’s Politics, is such a book.

Let’s be clear up front. Jim Wallis is an evangelical Christian. He does believe the Bible; he does adhere to all the fundamental tenets of historical Christianity; he is morally conservative. What sets him apart from other US evangelicals we observe in the media is that he also socially progressive. Jim Wallis is doggedly anti-war, anti-capital punishment, passionate about fighting poverty and supports gay rights. Furthermore, he does not drape his faith in the US flag and is prepared to highlight hypocrisy in the US church and dangerous imperialism in its government. This unusual but extremely welcome combination makes this book a must-read for anyone interested in global politics per se and a Christian response to politics in particular.

Wallis writes from a US perspective in which the Right (and the religious Right in particular) trumpets moral values but in reality champions only two, namely abortion and homosexuality (strongly against both, of course). The Left, on the other hand, avoids any connection with religion while trying to push its progressive agenda. Hence the books sub-title - Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.

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The religious Right, according to Wallis, misses the real essence of Jesus’ moral teaching, and in blindly pursuing its two key issues, actually ends up opposing much of what Jesus said. Hence, they get it wrong. The Left, with equal obsession, refuses to see that Christianity has a lot to say about its key issues of war and poverty. They just don’t get it.

For us in Australia, we might not have this clear delineation between right and left, although some see the Christian Democrat Party (CDP) in New South Wales, and the rise of Family First Party (FFP) as representing the political power of the religious Right. Many commentators saw the Liberal Party embrace this “religious Right” in the 2004 election, particularly in the NSW seat of Greenway. The Greens probably come closest to what Wallis calls the Left.

What Wallis calls for, in place of this current state of play, is “prophetic politics”. He calls on Christians to rise above political allegiances and put their commitment to God first. This would result in Christians lining up with the Left to fight poverty and war but perhaps with the Right on other issues. Rather than the Right using Christianity to push a right-wing agenda, Christians should be non-partisan, judging each issue by biblical standards and prophetically calling the nation to follow God’s standards of justice. He takes as his models the Jewish prophets, who continually spoke the unpopular truth about what they saw and called for higher standards of justice in their societies.

According to Wallis, it is not only possible to be morally conservative and socially progressive, but such a candidate would make a frightening opponent for the US major parties. Can we imagine a candidate in Australia who was pro-family without blaming gays and single mothers for society’s evils; pro-life (meaning a real desire to lower the abortion rate); anti-war; strong on personal responsibility and moral values; but also an environmentalist; supportive of the poor and refugees; tough on corporate and government corruption; and a dedicated multi-lateralist in foreign policy? Would such a candidate be successful here? According to Wallis, US Republicans would panic at the sight of such an opponent. How would Australian Liberals react?

Two issues in particular highlight for Wallis just how much the Right is wrong. The first is the Iraq war. Wallis points out that, whether one is a pacifist or an adherent to the Just War doctrine, the Iraq war was just plain wrong. The world Christian community was unanimous in opposing the war (apart from the US religious Right, of course). So why did the religious Right support the war? Wallis proposes a couple of theories. One is bad theology; a theology of US empire or pax Americana. The second is the religious Right’s belief that their moral agenda would be best served by unswerving allegiance to the Bush Administration. If this were the case, it is both delusional (the abortion rate under Bush is higher than under Clinton) and immoral expediency (the end justifying the means).

How should Christians respond to the “war on terror” and the events on September 11 2001? Wallis sides with other progressive commentators in promoting multi-lateralism, international co-operation, criminal proceedings (rather than military attacks) and addressing the underlying causes, such as poverty and injustice.

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This brings Wallis to the issue of Israel and the Palestinians. Perhaps more than any other issue, this one has the potential to divide Christians and define their political stance. Wallis doesn’t enter the theological debate on the role of Israel in God’s continuing program, but simply calls a spade a spade. Terrorism is terrorism whether perpetrated by Palestinians or the Israeli Army. Even if Israel does have a special place in God’s future program, this does not excuse it from the type of justice championed by the Jewish prophets of old.

Wallis claims that the US leadership’s current accepted wisdom is that peace comes through domination; US domination, of course. Drawing heavily on the prophet Micah, Wallis gives the alternative view that peace follows justice. The US, of course, has the resources to pursue either. The recent nomination of Paul Wolfowitz, former deputy US Defence Secretary, as the new head of the World Bank only confirms the Wallis claim that the US still prefers the former approach.

The second key issue for Wallis is that of poverty. He quotes numerous shocking statistics highlighting the plight of the poor, both globally and, perhaps surprisingly given it is the world’s richest nation, in the US. According to Wallis, US evangelical Christians have done exactly what they accuse liberals of doing. That is, reading their Bibles with a pair of scissors. Wallis brings the issue of the poor back into the biblical centre, arguably where Jesus placed it. Rather than being a political football, poverty is a deep spiritual and moral issue. Rather than separating moral and economic issues, Wallis is adamant that budgets are moral documents.

In the US, Wallis points to President Bush’s tax cuts for the rich and welfare cuts for the poor. While we can take comfort that Australia does not experience either the poverty as seen in the US, or the blatant government action exacerbating it, there are plenty of questions to be asked of the Howard Government in terms of its tax and welfare reforms - not to mention its treatment of asylum seekers (surely Jesus had them in mind when he quoted Isaiah in Luke 4:18).

Wallis briefly touches on the underlying greed and individualism that form the foundation for our capitalist society. He exposes the myth of modern advertising which claims that more goods will make us happy. While Wallis merely scratches the surface on this issue, it is certainly a fertile area for Christians to contribute positively yet radically to the social policy debate.

Also barely mentioned, but surely worthy of greater discussion in such a book, are the issues surrounding the operation of government itself and the role of political donations and effective vote-buying. (According to Douglas Massey, Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University, it “borders on legalised bribery”.) Whether it is the power of the US arms manufacturers, big tobacco companies or big developers in Australia, democracy is clearly threatened, if not destroyed, by this practice. It is government by the rich; it is legal corruption; and it is clearly a gross injustice that Christians need to work against. Similarly, the whole issue of honesty in government does not receive the coverage it could have.

Wallis is also silent on the US Patriot Act, the anti-terrorist law (surely named by Orwell himself) enacted after September 11. This gross violation of civil liberties was introduced by the conservative Christian Attorney-General John Ashcroft. Based as it is on fear and suspicion, it gives unprecedented powers to the FBI to spy on US citizens and surely contravenes biblical standards of justice.

Perhaps one other area that Wallis could have devoted more space to is the environment. Evangelical Christians have ceded their natural leadership over this area to secular or pagan environmentalists. Not only should Christians be taking up environmental leadership,  they should also find the common ground with these other green groups - rather than avoid environmental issues because of the religious differences.

Race relations do attract Wallis’s attention. In a very relevant chapter, he calls for an apology to blacks and Native Americans for past wrongs. It seems that this issue has progressed even less in the US than it has here in Australia. In another eerily familiar analysis, Wallis highlights how Republicans have subtly introduced a fear campaign based on race into election campaigns.

Wallis does eventually address the two flagship “moral” issues that characterise the US religious Right. He is anti-abortion. However, he calls for a consistent ethic of life. If we oppose abortion and euthanasia on the basis that every human life is valuable before God, then we must also oppose war and capital punishment. However, Wallis highlights the real hypocrisy when he states that abortion is merely a symbolic issue in the US.

Regardless of who has had political power, no one has actually taken positive action to reduce the abortion rate. Despite all the noise, it is actually higher under George W. Bush than under Bill Clinton. Wallis calls for both sides to find common ground. Surely no one considers abortion a good thing. Surely both sides can work together to reduce the rate by reducing poverty, supporting single mothers and other actions that all can agree on. This argument must apply equally well in our Australian context.

On the second flagship “moral” issue, Wallis takes a broader approach than the simplistic ant-gay approach of the religious Right. He is pro-family. He advocates strongly for more support for parenting, and cultural and economic changes to make parenting easier. For example, our materialistic culture is behind much of the pressure felt by families. However, on the basic issue of homosexuality, Wallis is clear. Basic justice demands that homosexuals be treated with dignity, respect and equality. He admits the issue of marriage is thorny but recommends a suggestion by writer and speaker Tony Campolo as one possibility.

Campolo has proposed that the civil and religious aspects of marriage be separated. The civil union, conferring certain legal rights, can be all-inclusive. Churches would then be free to provide a religious blessing to those unions fitting within their own definitions of marriage. This is perhaps a radical step for those who maintain that the US (or Australia) is a Christian country and that certain Christian standards must be legislatively maintained; but for those who admit and concede the US (or Australia) is a secular nation in which Christians live as aliens and strangers in the world (1 Peter 2:11) it seems a practical solution that provides basic justice while avoiding doctrinal compromise.

This does, of course, raise the thorny question of the separation of church and state: an issue that lies beneath the surface of this book but rarely quite creeps out into the open. While Wallis does believe in a real separation (and is not in favour of state-sanctioned prayers, the Ten Commandments adorning court rooms and the attempted monopolisation of the Christian vote by the Republicans), he does not, at least in this book, give a detailed discussion of the issue.

This book is not a policy statement for a political party, nor is it a comprehensive analysis of current US policies (Wallis is no Chomsky or Galbraith). On the other hand it is not a biblical commentary or deep theological work. It is not intended to be a scholarly work but contains plenty of referenced facts alongside numerous personal anecdotes and opinions. God’s Politics, rather, is an appeal by a passionate believer in Jesus Christ for the church to return to its prophetic roots; and for it to both proclaim and live out the full gospel in the world in which we live. It is a call to action, and ends on the hopeful note that individuals who take their Christian responsibilities seriously can make a difference.

It is unrealistic to expect Wallis to address every aspect of government policy but in general he succeeds in applying a biblical morality to the issues confronting the US political scene. For those of us in Australia, some of these issues are more relevant than others. However, by applying the same principles, we can find plenty here to assist in our engagement with the Australian body politic.

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Article edited by Judy Cannon.
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About the Author

John McKinnon is the NSW State Co-ordinator for Tear Australia, a Christian aid and development organisation. Until mid 2005, John worked as a senior executive in the finance industry. He lives in Sydney with his wife and four children. John has a BSc (Hons) in mathematics and an MA in Biblical Studies (New Testament).

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