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36th out of 180 books
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The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America
by
Jim Wallis
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 a
...moreHardcover, 336 pages
Published
February 1st 2008
by HarperOne
(first published January 22nd 2008)
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It would be a stretch for me to call myself a Christian, so I worried about whether I would connect with this book. I was very happily surprised.
Jim Wallis is a dynamic writer, passionate advocate for social justice, and devout evangelical Christian. He manages to make this book accessible to anyone who cares about issues of equity and justice on a national and global scale, no matter what your faith tradition (though certainly Christians will connect with his message in a unique way...more
Jim Wallis is a dynamic writer, passionate advocate for social justice, and devout evangelical Christian. He manages to make this book accessible to anyone who cares about issues of equity and justice on a national and global scale, no matter what your faith tradition (though certainly Christians will connect with his message in a unique way...more
When a book inspires you to change your life and your view on faith, makes you angry at the author and then at yourself, and blows away your worldview, only to help you realize you must to start to rebuild a more accurate one...it's a 'must read'. Anyone who thinks they're living The Christian Life must read this book...it will question your comfort and your assumptions.
Wow...this book really should be like 5 different books! Jim Wallis has so many great ideas...some are so exciting, but you wonder if what he suggests is possible. But that doesn't belittle that he HAS these ideas...and cuts to the heart of the matter with what God would have us do with the world.
This would be a great book to read with others and discuss. It's a bit overwhelming!
This would be a great book to read with others and discuss. It's a bit overwhelming!
Read this for a class at church. Was not expecting to like it because I am very liberal and generally disagree with evangelical Christians politically. I respect Wallis' work and appreciate his efforts to move "Christian" political focus toward poverty and racial reconciliation and away from anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion.
Dan
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
To everyone, especially Christians who are becoming disillusioned.
Jim Wallis brings a message that all should hear. He brings hope that Christianity is being reclaimed from those who have used it as a weapon to divide people. He also brings a challenge to us all to be part of that movement. He is not always the best writer, but his message makes this book worthwhile.
Boy, would we all like to see this happen. Caring for those who can't care for themselves instead of battling for political power. Somebody would be proud but who again? Oh yeah, that guy Jesus.
An amazing book about how faith can influence politics and create a true social movement to change the world. This books is much like Wallis's previous bestseller, "God's Politics," but his emphasis is not just on finding well-balanced and meaningful solutions to the current political problems of our time, but also on how men and women of a true faith in Christ should be moved to action when they hear about the injustices of the world. This is a book I highly recommend for anyone looki...more
I know a book is good when I dog-ear pages in my library copy and want to go out and buy the book so I can re-read it.
I've never been a fan of the Religious Right and according to Jim Wallis, other Christians are not fans of that segment of our faith either. Which is why the Religious Right has died. Yay! Christians today want to talk about more than just gays and abortion. We want to talk about global warming, extreme poverty, racism, sexism, and we want to have Christian leaders wh...more
I've never been a fan of the Religious Right and according to Jim Wallis, other Christians are not fans of that segment of our faith either. Which is why the Religious Right has died. Yay! Christians today want to talk about more than just gays and abortion. We want to talk about global warming, extreme poverty, racism, sexism, and we want to have Christian leaders wh...more
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Milan Homola
added it
A book that starts poorly and ends well. The first three chapters seem like repeated social justice rhetoric. But then Wallis addresses specific subjects that are relevant. By the end he hits all the right keys...good leadership requires spirituality...and the section on humility is spot on. He gets the balance right
Not as good as God's Politics, but still definitively worth reading. This book is a bit more prescriptive, and I think that there is some wishful thinking at times. Still, I'm a huge fan of Wallis' work at defending the poor, and this book is still a clear articulation of that viewpoint.
This book is one of the most uplifting I have read in a long time. The author, Jim Wallis, feels that the religious right is changing to more focus on poverty and less on gay bashing (among other things) which is critical to equal rights for the LGBTQ community.
I'm reading this out loud at night with my hubby slowly. So far, it's very good. I only thought there was one weak chapter so far-- the one on racism/diversity.
okay, we quit this one. :) The first 120 pages, honestly, are great. They're a history of reform and progressivism in the US with a Christian focus. The problem comes in after that. Wallis starts telling the reader what he believes about every issue, politically, I mean. And I really don't care. In fact, I disagree with him o...more
okay, we quit this one. :) The first 120 pages, honestly, are great. They're a history of reform and progressivism in the US with a Christian focus. The problem comes in after that. Wallis starts telling the reader what he believes about every issue, politically, I mean. And I really don't care. In fact, I disagree with him o...more
Jim Wallis is Obams's spiritual adivser. This book incorporates the Bible and the progressive movement. It basically takes Jesus' teachings that we should give to the poor etc and turns them into Marxism. Very deceptive, though.
So nice to read a Christian who not only reads the Gospels, but lives them, and traces how what Jesus actually said can, should, must be applied to political thought for Christians. Good stuff.
I don't agree with every idea Wallis presents, but this is an incredibly inspiring book. I really enjoyed it, even though it was *shudder* non-fiction.
I would recommend reading the introduction to this book, but I have to say that I was unimpressed with the rest of it. I think Wallis is definitely right in pointing out that change is happening, and the religious voice is going to becoming more multi-voiced, but I disagree with Wallis in laying the partisanship problems primarily at the feet of the religious right. I was disappointed in the book because it felt like a list of all the problems in the world, and it didn't offer any real solutions...more
Able to express the ideas of Christians who do not agree with all the ideas of the religious right.
Pretty close to a 5-star book for me. It's challenging to both the right and left, and even though I agree with the majority of Wallis's ideas, I don't feel comfortable with my relationship to them.
Important ideas on getting away from the polarization of the extreme right and left
I was surprised that I liked this, but I did. I wish the Sojourners luck!
Widsith
marked it as to-read
The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith and Politics in a Post-Religious Right America by Jim Wallis (2008)
Great ideas, hard to implement.
Wallis is a theological contortionist who bends into all kinds of grotesque, unnatural shapes, and then looks around wondering why we aren't all joining in. I'll also make the puckish comment that it was way too long. He could have pared the 320 words down to 100 without losing anything at all.
It is actually a very good book on the importance of the Social Gospel. I just wish:
I had not read God's Politics, as he says much the same thing here, however well; and,
2. He did not repeat himself so much.
I had not read God's Politics, as he says much the same thing here, however well; and,
2. He did not repeat himself so much.
Didn't finish it to be honest. It was kind of like listening to a broken record. I get it, the Religious Right has lost it's power and people are starting to care about social justice. I don't need 3 chapters to tell me that. I will say that it slightly altered my view on politics in that I'm sort of involved in them whether I want to be or not. I'm a part of a Christian community that lives in a manner they would hope the rest of the world to live. That's pretty political, I guess.
Everyone should read this book!
Got as far as chapter 8. It was feeling a bit like a chore to finish it for a couple reasons. A) I had heard Wallis do a 1-hour interview on MPR, so had heard several of his main topics discussed there. B) I liked what he had to say, but it was a bit like "Preaching to the choir," I agree with most of what I was reading. It was due at the library, so I just took it back.
Just as in "God's Politics", Wallis challenges Christians (and those of other faiths and traditions) to put faith into action by serving those most in need. His call to a consistent public moral conscience rather than divisive "left" and "right" in religion and politics gives hope for the future to those of us tired of unhelpful rhetoric and partisan bickering.
Got about 150 pages into this and ran out of steam. I'm a regular reader of Sojourners and sojo.net, heard Jim Wallis speak pre-release ... so maybe I just didn't have the opportunity to be surprised or challenged. Or better yet, perhaps the movement Wallis hopes for is already becoming reality in Obama's campaign. Hope to come back to this someday.
I liked the book a lot. Jim Wallis has many good things to say, that is for sure. My only frustration with the book is that I read God's Politics, which seems like an early draft of this book (my friend Bob first brought that to my attention). Personally, I'd recommend reading only one of them, and that the one be this one.
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“Some people believe the alternative to bad religion is secularism, but that's wrong . . . . The answer to bad religion is better religion--prophetic rather than partisan, broad and deep instead of narrow, and based on values as opposed to ideology.”
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