JIM WALLIS
Recovering a hijacked
faith
By Jim Wallis | July
13, 2004
MANY OF US feel that our faith has been
stolen, and it's time to take it back. A misrepresentation of
Christianity has taken place. Many people around the world now think
Christian faith stands for political commitments that are almost the
opposite of its true meaning. How did the faith of Jesus come to be
known as pro-rich, pro-war, and pro-American? What has happened? How
do we get back to a historic, biblical, and genuinely evangelical
faith rescued from its contemporary distortions?
That rescue operation is crucial today
in the face of a social crisis that cries out for prophetic religion.
The problem is clear in the political arena, where strident voices
claim to represent Christians when they clearly don't speak for most
of us. We hear politicians who love to say how religious they are but
fail to apply the values of faith to their leadership and policies.
When we take back our faith, we will
discover that faith challenges the powers that be to do justice for
the poor instead of preaching a "prosperity gospel" and supporting
politicians who further enrich the wealthy. We will remember that
faith hates violence and tries to reduce it and exerts a fundamental
presumption against war instead of justifying it in God's name. We
will see that faith creates community from racial, class, and gender
divisions, prefers international community over nationalist religion
and that "God bless
America" is found nowhere in the Bible.
And we will be reminded that faith regards matters such as the
sacredness of life and family bonds as so important that they should
never be used as ideological symbols or mere political pawns in
partisan warfare.
The media like to say, "Oh, then you
must be the religious left." No, and the very question is the problem.
Just because a religious right has fashioned itself for political
power in one predictable ideological guise does not mean those who
question this political seduction must be their opposite political
counterpart.
The best public contribution of religion
is precisely not to be ideologically predictable or a loyal partisan.
To always raise the moral issues of human rights, for example, will
challenge both left- and right-wing governments who put power above
principles. Religious action is rooted in a much deeper place than
"rights"-- that being the image of God in every human being.
Similarly, when the poor are defended on
moral or religious grounds, it is not "class warfare," as the rich
will always charge, but rather a direct response to the overwhelming
focus in the Scriptures, which claims they are regularly neglected,
exploited, and oppressed by wealthy elites, political rulers, and
indifferent affluent populations. Those Scriptures don't simply
endorse the social programs of liberals or conservatives but make
clear that poverty is indeed a religious issue, and the failure of
political leaders to help uplift those in poverty will be judged a
moral failing.
It is because religion takes the problem
of evil so seriously that it must always be suspicious of too much
concentrated power -- politically and economically -- either in
totalitarian regimes or in huge multinational corporations that now
have more wealth and power than many governments. It is indeed our
theology of evil that makes us strong proponents of both political and
economic democracy -- not because people are so good but because they
often are not and need clear safeguards and strong systems of checks
and balances to avoid the dangerous accumulations of power and wealth.
It's why we doubt the goodness of all
superpowers and the righteousness of empires in any era, especially
when their claims of inspiration and success invoke theology and the
name of God. Given human tendencies for self-delusion and deception,
is it any wonder that hardly a religious body in the world regards the
ethics of unilateral and preemptive war as "just"? Religious wisdom
suggests that the more overwhelming the military might, the more
dangerous its capacity for self and public deception. Powerful nations
dangerously claim to "rid the world of evil" but often do enormous
harm in their self-appointed vocation to do so.
The loss of religion's prophetic
vocation is dangerous for any society. Who will uphold the dignity of
economic and political outcasts? Who will question the
self-righteousness of nations and their leaders? Who will question the
recourse to violence and rush to wars, long before any last resort has
been unequivocally proven? Who will not allow God's name to be used to
simply justify ourselves, instead of calling us to accountability?
In an election year, the particular
religiosity of a candidate, or even how devout he might be, is less
important than how his religious and/or moral commitments and values
shape political vision and policy commitments. Understanding the moral
compass a candidate brings to his public life and how his convictions
shape his political priorities is the true litmus test.
Jim Wallis is convener of Call to
Renewal and executive director of Sojourners. 
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/07/13/recovering_a_hijacked_faith
