The Great Awakening

I've been reading Jim Wallis's newest book, The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America. As always, I love to hear what Wallis has to say. Every time I read something he has written or hear him speak, I connect with it. He has an uncanny way of expressing almost exactly what I think, feel, and believe in regards to politics. Although our religious backgrounds are not the same, our beliefs about how religion and politics are connected are similar. Because of this, I have decided to write my next few posts all about those thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in regards to politics.

Wallis has argued that as Christians our concerns should be "the slavery of poverty, the sexual trafficking of God's children, environmental 'creation care,' human rights and the image of God in genocidal places such as Darfur, and how the Prince of Peace might view or endless wars and conflicts" (page 25). I agree. Here is another excerpt from The Great Awakening (pages 26-27) that I agree and connected with:

The two greatest hungers of our time are the hunger for spirituality and the hunger for social justice - and the connection between the two has great power to motivate people to action. The world is especially waiting for a new social and political agenda drawn not from bickering partisan loyalties, blatant ideological bias, or corrupting special interests, but rather from our deepest moral values.

The issues that pose the most fundamental threats to our moral integrity and social survival [are] the world's dangerous levels of inequality, the perils of climate change and environmental degradation, the worst assaults against human life and dignity, the forces that undermine family and community, and the escalation of violent global conflicts of culture, religion, and power.

I strongly believe that faith matters and that it can make a difference, not only in our personal lives but also in our world.