Reading the Bible with a pair of scissors

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.