A Spiritual Awakening?

Fire of Liberty

Check out this review of Jim Wallis's "God's Politics: A New Vision of Faith and Politics in America," by Doug Bandow in the American Spectator. While I agree with Bandow's assessment that Wallis approach falls between Pat Robertson and Jerry Fallwell in their inability to separate "personal moral imperatives from prudential political concerns," I'd still say that you've got to hand it to Willis for approaching the subject of religion within national politics in a very academic and thoughtful manner (He's had experience with this for some 34 years at the helm of Sojourners) thus emerging as the Left's version of Father Richard John Newhaus of (First Things), Michael Novak (AEI and National Review) or Marvin Olasky (Univ. TX and World mag.) of the Left by providing the Democrats a field manual on how to embrace people of religious faith (or as the politicos deem "values voters" ) and pull them into their political fold. Though Willis deserves apropos for his academic and rational approach towards such important subjects like religious faith and values within the body politic of this nation, Bandow also notes that Willis has failed to create any traction with his so called "fourth way" that continues to prescribe the same failed policies and ideas that have been chiseled in the stone of the DNC's plank since the days of LBJ. Bandow clearly demonstrates that the emperor of the "fourth way" truly has no clothes. Just see for yourself:

Similarly flawed is Wallis's discussion of poverty, both domestic and international. No faithful Christian can ignore the enormity of the problem of poverty. But a requirement that one help the poor does not authorize one to force others to help the poor. You will search Scripture long and hard to find such an authorization.

That doesn't prevent government from creating some form of welfare. But experience has demonstrated that good intentions are not enough. The perverse incentives of government programs did much to destroy families and ultimately communities. Rules such as the minimum wage and licensing destroyed jobs. Indeed, so many of the problems that Wallis seeks to address ultimately grow out of misguided government policies. Wallis worries, for good reason, about inadequate affordable housing. But state and local regulations, through zoning and building codes, have done more than anything else to raise housing costs. He recognizes that "perhaps the greatest scandal of all is the absolutely inferior education that poor children in America are subject to." Sadly true. Yet there is no mystery on what is necessary to help poor children of color learn -- that's why so many black Baptists end up in inner-city parochial schools. The evidence is overwhelming that the fundamental problem of education is a lack of competition and local accountability, not money.

He pushes hard for foreign aid, debt relief, and "fair" trade. Yet over the last five decades foreign aid has devastated poor nations, strengthening recipient governments that themselves posed the primary barrier to economic growth. There is a logic to debt relief, but only if the beneficiaries adopt necessary reforms and borrow no more money. Moreover, applying first world environmental and labor standards to Third World nations actually protects industries in the former, ensuring that the latter will never grow and ultimately prosper to where they can adopt such standards voluntarily.

Though Conservatives and a lot of "values voters" within this nation might not agree with a lot what Wallis advises, we still applaud him for bringing a thought provoking book into the party that has been waiting for such thought provoking ideas. Unfortunately, Wallis's sage advice will take much longer to attract the American voters to the Democratic fold in forthcoming elections. They know when folks are being serious about the religious faith and are put off when it becomes a ploy. One can look back at 2004 and remember John Kerry, Howard Dean and countless other Democrats shameless embracing religion in the Heartland and on the cable stations in the 2004 election cycle.