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Poverty, global warming, environmental degradation and terrorism are some of the most pressing global issues of our time. While Washington offers us only the politics of blame and fear, Jim Wallis offers hope by helping to change the national conversation on faith and politics. By helping a nation hungry for hope and positive political solutions, Wallis shows us that a revival is happening, as people of faith and moral conviction seek common ground for change.
By reminding us that religious faith was a driving force behind our nation's greatest social reforms (the abolitionist and civil rights movement), Wallis shows how these "great awakenings" took place during crucial moments in our nation's history, ultimately propelling us toward the common good. The time is ripe for another movement that will transform this country. The Great Awakening, will help you to rediscover the moral center of our faith while providing the needed inspiration to help you find solutions to our nation's greatest political challenges.
What will it take to solve the biggest issues of our time: extreme and needless poverty, global warming and environmental degradation, terrorism and the endless cycle of violence, racism, human trafficking, health care and education, and other pressing problems? While Washington offers only the politics of blame and fear, Jim Wallis, the man who changed the conversation about faith and politics, has traveled the country and found a nation hungry for a politics of solutions and hope. He shows us that a revival is happening, as people of faith and moral conviction seek common ground for change. Wallis also reminds us that religious faith was a driving force behind our greatest national reforms, such as the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement. These "great awakenings" happened periodically at crucial times in our nation's history to propel us toward the common good. The time is ripe for another movement that will transform this country. With The Great Awakening, Wallis helps us rediscover our moral center and provides both the needed inspiration and a concrete plan to hold politics accountable and find solutions to our greatest challenges.
Jim Wallis is the author of the New York Times bestseller God's Politics, which electrified Americans disenchanted with how the Right had co-opted all talk about integrating religious values into our politics by offering an alternative voice. Wallis is a leading figure at the crossroads of religion and politics in America today, the author of eight books, and the founder of Sojourners, a global faith and justice network. He is a public theologian, an internationally renowned speaker and preacher, a faith-based activist, husband, and father to two young boys, and a Little League baseball coach.
First, the good news: according to Wallis, founder of Sojourners and author of the bestseller God's Politics, the era of the Religious Right is over, and a new crop of under-thirty progressives may well be taking American religion—and American politics—by storm. The bad news: People of faith need to get to work to further this grassroots support for social justice. Wallis draws on lively stories from his speaking engagements and world travels to discuss how the silent majority of religious Americans who don't feel represented by the Religious Right's agenda can first take comfort in their sheer numbers and then take action in their communities to fight poverty, clean up the environment and eradicate disease. The book is as passionate, engaging, and emotionally moving as readers have come to expect from Wallis, who comes across as a Rauschenbuschian teddy bear, alternately stumping for justice and proclaiming God's love. As a cohesive book, however, this has a rough and clunky sensibility, with considerable repetition of ideas, examples, and even phrasing. It has the feel of discrete essays and speeches that have been knocked together and too lightly edited. Still, fans of God's Politics who are eager to learn about the next step will find compelling ideas and stories here. (Jan. 22) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Average Rating: 5 out of 5 stars(5 out of 5 stars)
2 of 2 Reviews Showing: 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Kent (Malaysia), September 01, 2009 Another great book by Jim Wallis after his book – God’s Politics. Since I have become a Christian, I always thought that Christians shouldn’t in politics, but the book opened my mind.
Politics is not dirty but politicians are. The problem is not from politics but from politicians. If we have strong faith in Jesus Christ, we can change it. With single faith, we can transform a nation.
And, the book also tells me what is the relationship between Christianity and our environment, Christianity and poverty and Christianity and different race and culture.
The summary is, everything in the world is created by God. They are God’s. We are only stewards. We have to take care of everything in the world. 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Alun Williams (South Wales, U.K.), May 24, 2008 I urge you to read this book.
Jim Wallis makes a convincing case that something is happening which could lead to a further Great Awakening! When Christians become aware of the need to fight injustice and protect the weak and vulnerable they have often seen the world change!
Our belief may determine our destination but must also produce action not inaction in our lives as a result.
At the heart of it is his profound belief in a God of justice, and we are expected to be the agents of change. He gives a new relevance to the story in Genesis by relating it to stewardship and the fact that God has provided enough for ALL:’I don’t think God is going to ask us how he created the earth, but he will ask what we did with what he created.’
Wallis says that the ‘Common Good’ should be the basis of any public policy and the treatment of the weak and powerless, central.
You may or may not agree with all that Wallis says but this book required reading for those who say that religion and politics do not mix. He is clear that political we must be; party political we cannot be as a body.
For those who, like me, have viewed with concern the Religious Right in America he gives hope because he says that there is now developing a concern and consensus which transcends party or political stance or even religious background or tradition: resulting from a commitment to the vulnerable or poor or disadvantaged. 3 billion people live on less than one US dollar a day, millions are dying in the AIDS pandemic and millions in the richest country of the world do not have access to health care. Wallis says that it is when we cross the line and say that this is unacceptable and make the connection between spirituality and social justice our perception of what is then possible will inevitably change. This is an optimistic book.
His advice is to ‘take care of your faith, take care of each other, take care of your hope and stay with the vision’.
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