- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Mariner Books (Sep 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0156003287
- ISBN-13: 978-0156003285
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.2 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,221,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
This work responds specifically to the signs of cultural breakdown and political impasse in Western societies: the absence of community, the widespread poverty, the violence, racism and sexism. Wallis shows why both right and left wing visions are inadequate to the challenge of these problems. One preaches social justice, the other personal responsibility. The new political morality has to combine both, with a strong measure of spirituality too. The book is a balance of sophisticated analysis and stories, as Wallis tours the world looking for "signs of transformation". From the gangs of Los Angeles to the peasants of the Philippines, and in the revolution that transformed South Africa, something dramatic is underway.
--This text refers to an alternate
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From the Back Cover
With his first book in several years, Jim Wallis reinforces his reputation as one of the most powerful Christian voices of the modern era, a voice raised once more against the oppression of the weak by the powerful.
'The Soul of Politics' responds specifically to the signs of cultural breakdown and political impasse in Western societies: the absence of community, the widespread poverty, the violence, racism and sexism.
Wallis shows why both left and right wing visions are inadequate to the challenge of these problems. One preaches social justice, the other personal responsibility. The new political morality has to combine both, with a strong measure of spirituality too.
The book is a marvellous balance of sophisticated analysis and fascinating stories, as Wallis tours the world looking for 'signs of transformation'. From the gangs of Los Angeles to the peasants of the Philippines, and in the revolution that transformed South Africa, something dramatic is underway.
As the acquisitive eighties are left behind and we bask in the idea of the more 'caring' nineties, Jim Wallis' book is both a sharp reminder of cold reality and an encouraging manifesto for change.
"What a thrilling, exhilarating experience reading 'The Soul of Politics.' It is riveting stuff, just what the doctor ordered for a hardened, cynical and disheartened and disillusioned world… This book shows how it is possible for all of us to become more human, living in an environment that is hospitable to people, where they matter, where justice and compassion and caring are at a premium. A tremendous and timely book."
ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU
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18 reviews
63 of 64 people found the following review helpful
Disgusted with politics? Give this book a try!
4 Mar 2002
Format:Paperback
Have you ever bought an interesting-looking book, tucked it away on a shelf, finally gotten around to reading it a couple of years later, and then kicked yourself for waiting so long? That's how I felt when I at last read Jim Wallis' *Soul of Politics*. If it doesn't reinspire you to work for a better society, nothing will.
Wallis calls for what he calls a "prophetic politics of personal and social transformation," one that's built on the Judaeo-Christian insight that righteousness requires both individual and social responsibility. A contemporary re-application of this insight can help the secular left and the religious right learn from and complement one another and break free of the dysfunctional impasse they've reached. The left tends to overemphasize structural evil at the expense of individual responsibility; the right tends to overemphasize individual virtue while ignoring structural evil. But the prophetic politics--the politics with soul--Wallis advocates takes both into consideration. Individual responsibility to other individuals, to the community, to the environment, a call to action that "challenges the old while announcing the new" (p. 53), a spirit-filled replacement of unjust institutions that prevent humans from attaining maximal being: this is the heart of Wallis' message.
It's easy to become cynical and opt out of the political arena to cultivate one's own garden. But if Wallis is correct, such a withdrawal--if I may use an old-fashioned word that we perhaps ought to take seriously again--is a sin. To remain silent in the face of injustice is to acquiesce to it. Wallis' book gives us a good idea of how to go about healing the fragmentation of our society. The last third of the book deals with strategic details.
Read this book. Politics is too important to be left to the professional politicians.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A needed alternative to the "religious right"
22 April 1999
Format:Hardcover
Please ignore the media's obsession with portraying all people of faith as right wing Republicans.
Wallis understands that being a Christian is not about intolerance to minorities, or unbridled capitalism. Wallis understands Jesus' ministry to the poor and warnings to those in power and with great wealth of the responsibilities they have to "the least among us."
While the mass media continues to consult the likes of Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, etc for the "Christian" view, pastors like Wallis are reminding us the faith in God is not about power grabs and ostracizing others.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
A MUST READ for all Christians!
24 Nov 1998
Format:Hardcover
Wallis may be the most balanced voice in our culture today. In The Soul of Politics, he first tears away at silly conservative notions of "me first" and "us against them". He especially dresses down the radical religious right for misappropriating the sacred name of Jesus for the sake of obtaining raw political power. But just as you begin to think Wallis is a left-wing liberal, he rips into "feelgood" liberal approaches to society that have been proven failures. Instead, Wallis suggests a new polemic, really rooted in the prophets of old, that teaches both personal, moral responsibility and genuine, Christian compassion. He rejects false choices of left versus right and invites all people of faith, especially Christians, to create a new politics of community, compassion and civility. Wallis is a noted Evangelical. He's currently a fellow at Harvard but also heads the Christ-centered "Sojourners" magazine and urban ministry in the nation's capitol. Please...read The Soul of Politics. You will be challenged and encouraged!
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