In The Soul of Politics, author and preacher-activist, Jim Wallis argues that there needs to be a new vision for a society which has lost its moral center. Wallis writes The Soul of Politics from the perspective of his life experience, but more importantly, from the divide of poverty and wealth that has become familiar ground in the work that the Sojourners do for the underclass in Washington, D.C. (xxiii) From a non-Ivory Tower approach, he takes on the elite political structure which is refreshing because the political commentary has become superficial from the political elites, political pundits, and religious ideologues, whom have failed to discuss the problems of the poor or disenfranchised in a substantive manner. Wallis, publisher and founder of the Sojourners magazine, provides an inclusive Christian view of American society by going beyond news stories and research data by expounding on his experiences as a preacher, but not ignoring past or present historical events in America or in the international arena. Wallis received a divinity degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, also, had a Christian sense centered around the Bible that led him to organize protests and prayer vigils for peace where he became involved in the Civil Rights movement and the protests of the Viet Nam War during the 1960s. (ix) (1) This is a thought-provoking book which should make anyone question their own moral conscience by realizing the impact of inequality and poverty regardless of economic status. In debating America’s welfare State, Wallis used political ideology as one of his central arguments but was able to apply specific problems which are constantly debated into the mix. Wallis emphasizes the core issues of poverty, race, and gender inequality, which have all impacted the emotional arguments of conservatives and liberals alike, in calls for reform or renewal within this present welfare state, whether its affirmative action, or maintaining the status quo. Wallis comes with a balanced view while provoking independent thought away from the status quo which addresses real world issues of poverty, racism, and sexism. These issues are still unresolved conflicts within the ideological framework presented By Wallis. Wallis says that the best avenue towards change is found in social movements rather than bureaucracies or political parties.

Wallis says that American society has no type of “coherent or compelling social vision,” evident from the lack of new values, patterns or institutions. There is a contradiction in society in which people are more conscious of individualism than interested with a sense of community. (6) The times of the crisis makes it necessary for a new “conversion,” that will transform society when people regain core values for long-term change in communities by restoring old values. Children who kill other children and sexual exploitive advertisements on television points to this crisis. For this new conversion to be complete, Wallis says no such blueprints exists for a new political vision, but there are spiritual guides and road maps, which can bring forward a process of change, which connects a renewal of the spirit to moral values. Both the left and the right have maintained a status quo which has led to the signs of the ongoing crisis of injustice which has been social oppression that speaks to structural injustice, and cultural breakdown which speaks to the loss of values. His thesis criticizes both Liberals and Conservatives who have failed to meet the problems of the greater overall society in a meaningful manner, in which they have become totally dysfunctional. Wallis’ thesis directly stated that:

Wallis said that liberals who speak to the whims of the ACLU need to move beyond talking about human rights and social compassion alone, and should no longer ignore talking about moral values, nor be just concerned with the oppressed, nor blame society for the disenfranchised. Rather, liberals must accept blame for allowing the creation of distant institutions and impersonal bureaucracies, which has proved to be more about control than caring, and causing dependency, rather than empowering the poor, to self-sufficiency. (26) Wallis criticized the Right, saying that:

Wallis thinks the two main ideologies has only led to the intense polarization for any substantial discussion on moral values in society. His major criticisms with conservatives linked to the moral majority are their emphasis on individualism and moral responsibility, while maintaining the status quo, institutions of power and wealth, but not as much concern for the dispossessed or poor. (26) Wallis makes a salient point that the issues of race and poverty have not been adequately addressed by neither the conservatives nor the liberals as politicians from both ideological camps are more loyal to the power structures that have elected them to office, than interested in making a “diagnosis” clear with the current social ills in society. (25) I agree with Wallis that a new dialogue has to be injected into the political discourse. He did not intend to give specific counsel for direct change in not pushing a detailed public policy program, but through practical solutions, maintained change would be achieved within the spirit by a sojourn which could not be met in a policy meeting, ideological manifestos, or policy papers. (xxii) Wallis shows in the conclusion, that the practical solutions to life are found in the Biblical tradition while the best example of historical transformation within society occurred when Nelson Mandela was released from being imprisoned after twenty-seven years in captivity. He looks at the social structure from the bottom-up perspective rather than from the top-down. Wallis believes that the only way to find answers in policy matters is to address ethical issues but he did not advocate sectarian religion nor a theocracy. (xiv) Wallis is not writing for the sole purpose of reaching liberals or conservatives, but for anyone who believes that a new political conversation is needed. He argues that politics at its worse can reflect selfishness, greed, divisiveness, fear, and power but can also transcend one's best values of compassion, community, diversity, hope, or service. (18)

Overall, I agree with Wallis, that America’s political debate has been dormant with ideological rhetoric, in addition, to its lacking quality citizen participation, adding to the ill-health of the democratic process. He said a spiritual center is missing in politics and people need to be brought together in the form of renewed citizen participation at the base of prophetic politics. There is now little direct dialogue between candidates and the voters as indirect political discussions is what the electorate settles for, from their representatives who appear on CNN or FOX news. This lack of a genuine moral discourse is a result of the coverage of the media who have fed potential voters with the “ritual of public polling” with quick sound bites and negative attacks by candidates during election time. (12) According to Wallis, America has lost its soul as the political debate has been overtaken by the corporate media with its top-down approach that has led to a polarizing effect as the real issues lack insight from media pundits who do not discuss the structure of politics with in-depth analyses, while politicians are committed to factional interests and constituency-based politics. (12) He believes that the lack of citizen participation at the grass-roots level is essential to end a stagnant political dialogue at the national and state level. (16) Signs of transformational change will be seen when old political ideologies and structures find a new spiritual base free from constituency-based politics along with citizens transcending into proactive political participants showing higher voter turnout on election day.

Wallis says that an alternative is needed in the present debate that will bring a new tone which can transform the old partisan attacks which have become common in the political mainstream leading to this “paralyzed” political system. (18) Society is not working because of polarization and contradictions which will be shown in the examples that follow. Wallis believes that the only way to find answers in policy matters is to address ethical issues because there has been an illness of the spirit permeating the American society which has spread and thus, needs to be healed. To establish these sound moral foundations there has to be repentance on the social sins of racism and sexism with multicultural understanding. (xxii) Wallis says that bonafide political leaders do not polarize society, but, rather, champion the call for diversity by unifying communities looking to find common ground. He points to Martin Luther King, Jr., an un-elected official who was able to unify others with the “I have a dream” speech, in comparison, to elected President George Bush who polarized the nation with the Willie Horton ad in the 1988 Presidential campaign, which had racial overtones. To Wallis, the true tests of real political leadership leads others to a new direction by not exploiting issues for political gain, as Bush did, but, bringing the society towards a new direction, as King did. (xviii) This polarization by the words of Bush during his 1988 campaign set the tone in how race relations would be defined and the lack of hope of both blacks and whites alike into the early 1990’s with gang violence, increasing teen pregnancy, and increased school drop-out rates in the inner city. The police brutality by four white police officers of Rodney King, and their subsequent acquittals by a predominant white jury, led to the LA riots in 1992. This was an extension of the unresolved racial tensions that have never left American, as Bush proved with his campaign rhetoric, and, despite the feel-good Civil Rights legislation.

Wallis, also, talked about the two-tiered economy in both the first and third worlds, where disparities of wealth and poverty have a polarizing effect, while being in close geographic proximity. In an insightful chapter entitled, "A Tale of Two Cities." Wallis describes the polarizing effects of Washington, D.C. which at the lower tier of the street, an impoverished people exist with problems ranging from violence, poverty, and despair, to the upper tier of the street, where the elites live with power, wealth and prestige. The poor and the powerless do not have access to power, money and authority, that the powerful do with their built-in access of power and control. He mentions that in South Africa there was Capetown of the whites and Free Ground of oppressed blacks. The poor in the squatter camps in Free Ground paid rent to the apartheid government in Pretoria in return for a pile of sand and shacks. (61) The visible signs of inequality with the urban poor throughout the 1990s, culminated with the recession in 1992 which saw thirty-five million people living in poverty as infant mortality reached third world levels. (60) In response to poverty, Wallis argues that liberal ideas of only giving more individual rights and entitlements have not been effective as cultural or financial resistance to their plight. He criticizes the radical left’s games of class warfare which further polarizes society, but does not provide a new vision. However, Wallis does not think the committed and disciplined ideas of conservatives closes the gap between the wealthy and poor because their calls to individual action, defending the status quo, unrestricted free enterprise for business, and trickle-down economics often do not completely work either. (84)

Despite the Civil Rights Movement’s success there has not been an overhaul in the racist structure in America as few blacks have moved into the upper-tier of American society, despite the advancement to the middle-class by some, not all, blacks. (102) To Wallis, politicians continued to have “played the race card” causing more racial polarity by appealing to long-held stereotypes, which has only stirred more racial hatred and backlash. This occurred in 1992 at the Republican National Convention, when Pat Buchanan said it was time to take the cities back in America, which made Wallis say, that how can blacks take back a society that they did not create? (106-7)Wallis believes that people must regain their souls by listening to the poor when “the ugly barriers of race are finally torn down to reveal the possibilities of a different American future,” that will give hope for new “social and spiritual communities.” (110) He did have a remedy for the plight of the poor when he said that it was incumbent that social investment be provided in poor areas with new cooperative housing corporations allowing affordable housing to be made available which would lead to a healthier inner-city. This would be a big step in reducing some social ills. also, giving a sense of hope to the urban youth, who have been planning their funerals, instead of their futures. Major cuts in social services and the rollback in Civil Rights legislation during the Reagan and Bush presidencies which were “callous” cuts to Wallis, led to more increases of despair, crime and drugs, with an unemployment rate at fifty percent among black youth. Wallis says that in the spiritual sense, racism is a perverse sin which does not reflect the works of Jesus who had a ministry that reached out to the poor and people considered to be unequal in society. Wallis said the Bible was a great way to effect change from its teaching of repentance through reconciliation, followed thereafter by acts of conversion, changed behavior, and reparations, but it was most important to embrace diversity to close racial divide away from racial backlash. (110)

Wallis believes that the traditions of the Bible with its prophetic messages are the best alternative to the “limits of secular humanism” or the “oppression of religious fundamentalism.” His political consciousness was shaped by the religious traditions of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ. According to Wallis, Jesus was not a blue-eyed right-winger, a guilt-ridden liberal nor a compromising centrist, but rather, embraced an entirely new way of thinking and living which included the social outcasts and those whom were dispossessed in society. Thus, the work of Jesus was a transformation of consciousness which transcended society and moral values, by not abandoning nor controlling the poor, as the religious right have done. He thinks there needs to be a new tone of morality beyond the religious right’s narrow interpretations which has professed a cultural and political bias on moral issues, thereby, ignoring social justice. He also criticizes liberal religion rooted in social activism with its “political correctness” dogma of the liberal elites bringing a superficial symbolism, making others adhere to an ideological bias, which compromises “prophetic integrity,” while leaving little room open for social transformation.

I view the religious right as religious bigots and think Wallis criticized them in an effective manner by pointing out their narrow moral agenda which spews political rhetoric within the confines of the Republican party, leading to division in the culture. (44) Wallis believed with good reason that religious perspectives should not become stated predictions on political issues because of ideological bias. Thus, he cautioned against combining religious ideology and political ideology because they were not good partners. (p. 40) Wallis portrays God in a more humane way then the religious right Christian Coalition preachers, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, by not accepting their campaigns which targets specific groups showing intolerance, which has been centered around the backlash of the women’s movement, to reclaim the patriarchal structures of the past. In 1992 they made their political views known with their rhetoric of hate when Robertson sent an inciting letter to followers in in Iowa regarding an equal rights amendment, claiming feminism was "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians, " which has been their backlash tactic of bringing back so-called 'family values' while in reality its more about the retention of  patriarchy in the social structure. Wallis points out their contradictions regarding the family values agenda by not supporting economic policies that favors family leave, flex-time, or accessible day care and that their agenda was a partisan one favoring the republicans, more than the family values campaign. Other contradictions is that Wallis criticized the radical conservatives and the religious right for their concern with material culture and a gospel of prosperity which defends the powerful in society, in spite of the fact that there is an unequal distribution of resources which produces even more poverty. (43) The reactionary attacks against the small victories feminists achieved by the religious right has created this climate of hate and fear at outrageous levels, as witnessed by their fundraising efforts of thirteen million dollars in 1992 against the pro-choice agenda. (126) He also criticizes the Religious Right's cop-out excise that the decline of the American family is a result of homosexuals. The Christian Coalition have raised the majority of their money in response to its antigay agenda, rooted in homophobia, even though institutional discrimination violates theological integrity. With the emergence of the radical right’s dominant presence in the political mainstream in the last twenty years there has been a mean-spirited tone in the political debate as right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh has shown. Limbaugh often refers to feminists as feminazis, equating them to fascists, which has generalized those women who fought for equal rights, as well as his constant bashing of President Clinton, which was accompanied by an angry, partisan, and distant political dialogue.

Although Wallis' critics may accuse him of fusing religion with politics like the rightw-wing Evangelical preachers do, the reality says this is simply not the case. Wallis' main objective is that religious influence should never be used as a power or control grab by religious people to build church-state relations, but for moral involvement in the overall society with systematic participation. To Wallis, people like Falwell and Robertson pursued only political platforms using religion second with an objective to be near power while invoking language of separatism. Wallis argues that religion is not wrong within the political realm, but that message becomes jaded when the Christian message is one of intolerance rather than tolerance and when war instead of peace is expressed which will do more to lessen security than to ensure it.

Wallis says that religious communities must take the initiative in creating this new vision by working to eliminate the barriers of race and oppression demonstrating faith which embraces diversity and unity for moral justice, based on multiculturalism and pluralism. The vision of renewal will overtake the vision of reaction to determine the emergence of spiritual transformation, which are rooted in God to counter-act the worst social and cultural conditions. Wallis said the practical teachings of the Bible included the poor in both the political and religious dialogue, in which “the God of the Bible is the deliverer of the poor. If that isn't clear from the Bible, then nothing is. It is evident from start to finish." (180) Wallis believed God would deliver justice to the poor and dispossessed. Hope for peace has been key around the world in bringing about transformational change. Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr. proved this fact with their non-violent peace movements that brought attention to a world that was denying them freedom and equality, but forced these political systems to change its oppressive structure. By restoring biblical integrity and placing the poor at the center of attention Wallis thinks a conversion will be made, but only when the gospel becomes integrated into personal lives, congregations, communities, and the world. The elites were called on their moral failures within those powerful institutions and its behavior in relation to ethical poverty would be the fall of the apartheid government in South Africa which changed history. Wallis pointed out that transformation occurred in South Africa when the system of oppression was confronted in 1988 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who expressed moral teachings of the Bible to fight apartheid against evil, injustice, and exploitation, by reminding people that God was in charge, not the white rulers who were only mortals.

The sign of hope with the people in South Africa was their defiance of the apartheid government’s rule. When Nelson Mandela was released after twenty-seven years of imprisonment, by a white racist government, he became the person who offered the best hope to reconcile the differences among blacks and whites, in a new South Africa. Wallis attributed this to “salvation events” found in the Bible, which include, freedom, justice, liberation, peace, and reconciliation, as the freeing of Mandela turned the tables of history that transcend predictability or control, of those who rule. Wallis says that hope is the most feared reality of any oppressive system as the energy of transformation from one reality to another may emerge with oppression to freedom. The focus on moral virtues was during the Civil Rights Movement was evident with the role played by the Black Church which served as the centerpiece in the struggles of unity and inclusion, which proved to Wallis, that an individual lacking electorate support was able to inject the language of morality and into the public domain. The call of moral virtues was evident by the role of the Black Church showed Wallis There is a physical risk in the fight for freedom and equality by those who stand at the door of the impossible awakening, but who are willing and ready, to die as martyrs for their freedom, as in the case of Martin Luther King, Jr. Once the door of hope is opened others will often follow. This historical transformation occurred with the freeing of Mandela. To Wallis, hope is believing in spite of the evidence before you, which is the first step towards a new conversion, and at that point, hope becomes the truest sign of transformation. If the liberal-Democrats want to use the words “morality” or “spirituality” as part of their future plans and not acquiesce the debate of morality to the Republican-conservatives, then the “soul of politics,” might be the new ideas needed to inject a new social vision for the Democratic National Committee. (2)

1. Steve Cotton , “Confessions, Review, and Commentary” February 26, 1996 http://www.christ-community.net/html/stephen Grand Haven, Michigan, USA. I referred to this book review in addition to The Soul of Politics, which led me to some ideas and insights that I focused on even more so.

2. Steve Cotton , “Confessions, Review, and Commentary” February 26, 1996 http://www.christ-community.net/html/stephen Grand Haven, Michigan, USA.