(identity 'myron)

Wed, 05 Jan 2005

The Jesus Factor [/World]

Just wanted to point out a really good documentary about Dubya, his faith and the role it plays in his political career. I only caught the last quarter of it, but luckily, PBS has posted the entire documentary online along with some great reading material from various sources (yay PBS!). Not to be missed is the full interview with Jim Wallis, whose views on the issue coincide with mine, even though I'm not a Christian. As always, some quotes:

But when one believes that you've been appointed by God for a particular mission in history, you have to be very careful about that, how you speak about that. Where is the self-reflection in that? Where is the humility in that? Are we asking whether we are being accountable to God's intentions and purposes? Or are we asking for God's blessing on our activities? They're very different things.

I think when we are so sure that God is on our side, and that those who are not with us are against us, or even with the terrorists, that's taking another step. I believe God is in our world, in our history, in our lives, in our choices. To ask what God's calling is for me is a fair question, a necessary question, for any Christian. That's not a problem.

But when we place God on our side of things, that we are now ridding the world of evil—that's very dangerous, that one nation has this role to rid the world of [evil]. What about the evil we have committed, that we are complicit in? The richest nation in this global economic system, in which 2 billion of God's children are poor [and] live on less than $2 a day?

Well, there are things to look at ourselves here, if we're presiding over that global economy. Does this language allow us to look at ourselves, or does it give us a kind of certainty, and a sanction, and even a sense of divine righteousness for our political position? Are we blinded to things that we're otherwise not willing to look at?

And best of all, "You can't be evangelical and associate yourself with Jesus and what he says about the poor and just have no other domestic concerns than tax cuts for wealthy people." Amen.

A little digging turned up Jim Wallis' magazine, Sojourners and an interesting petition for Christians, God Is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat.

// posted at 17:59. permalink   comments