The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America, by Jim Wallis, is the type of book one writes prior to running for political office. Full of political ideology, competantly written, mentions the need for bipartisanship, and mostly preaches to the choir.

Wallis is not, in fact, running for office, but in this book he does make a passionate call for change among Christian voters. Released just 10 months prior to the 2008 election, Wallis's intention here seems to be to sway young Christians away from the clutches of the Religious Right.

Wallis writes primarily through the lens of his personal experiences, which at times renders the book vague and distant, and may give the impression to some that Wallis is self-absorbed. That was not the case for myself, but there were times in which I wished he stepped out of his experience and gave bigger-picture illustrations of his points.

As far as the content of the book, it is quite clear where Wallis falls in the political spectrum - and you can tell from the title. In the book he released prior to this one, God's Politics, he jabs both the Right and the Left, but in this book his statement of "post-Religious Right America" clearly gives away his left-leaning politics. Granted, throughout the book he does his best to sneak in criticism of Democrats, but throughout the book his blows almost always (except with abortion) land heavier on the Right than the Left.


Not that I have a problem with this - and I'm much in agreement with him - but it seems to take away from his "non-partisan" claims. Granted, it's not as egregious an offense as Fox News calling themselves "fair and balanced," but it still doesn't quite ring true.


Wallis's main argument is for the emergence of a new type of Christian: the social justice Christian. The social justice Christian is concerned about the poor and how to help them, racial justice, family and community, the dignity of human life (in and out of the womb), and love of one's enemies. After all, Jesus Himself concerned himself much of these things. Even at a political level we should have an interest in how the government addresses these areas.


But at a most basic level, he really wants to see an end to Christians being brainwashed into being members of the Religious Right. Christians certainly can be conservative and Republican, but not without losing sight of their true Biblical values (and not the somewhat arbitrary "values" prescribed by the Religious Right).

I agree with most of what Wallis writes and much of his writing is poignant. However, I think he's preaching to the choir. Few conservatives will pick up the book because they'll be turned off by the title. Really, though, they should, because Wallis is a passionate writer who, unlike many Christian writers, toils away to transform the world through words, humble service, and zealous action.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

9 books, 43 days...at this rate I'll read 77 books