What is Truth?

August 2008  Vol. II Number 8

Social Justice Movement Marches On

By Arthur R Thompson
 February 14, 2008

I have often wished that I had the time and money folks like Jim Wallace have at their disposal. I know where he gets the time; he doesn’t work, in the normal sense of the word. But where does the money come from? Well yeah, he wrote a “bestselling book”, ‘Gods Politics’ and he has another fresh off the press, ‘The Great Awakening’ catchy title that. But where did he and his handful of Leftists college roommates get the seed money to start Sojourners Magazine? Where does the money come from that supported that rag lo these many years while the Religious Right was in “power?” I don’t know but I suspect it doesn’t come in the form of widows’ mites and since his congregation consists of the poverty stricken of the world tithes do not seem to be an option.

In order to keep an eye on these folks I subscribe to their newsletter and email digest. I also do the same at moveon.org. Now it really is amazing how similar the sentiments expressed by these two sites are. Even more amazing because Sojourners claims to be Christian and the folks at moveon.org are avowed atheists. The answer of course is they are both “Progressive” organizations.

Now “Progressives” are, by word and deed Socialists, there is no denying that. So how can Sojourners lay claim to being Christian when they interpret the Bible from the a priory of Karl Marx? The answer is postmodernism where all truth is relative and the Law of Non-Contradiction does not operate. But I digress.

My main reason for writing today is to flesh out some thoughts I had as I read Wallis’ email. The email begins with an 800 plus word pitch by Wallis for his new book. This guy is as unctuous as a used car salesman on steroids. He has fashioned his book tour as a series of “revivals” to usher in the new Great Awakening that his book prophesies. The problem with this prophesy is that it is nothing more than Socialism sugar coated with the words of Christ twisted to make it seem as if Jesus was a Socialists.  Although it is backed by words from the Bible it is definitely not Biblical. Words have meaning but they can only be understood in relation to your presupposition.

In his first paragraph Wallis tells of speaking to a crowd of some 600 20-something evangelicals who want to be a generation of new abolitionists - focusing on the most vulnerable in our world, those suffering people whom they think Jesus would care about. (Emphasis mine) Now I am not saying that Jesus would not be empathic to the poverty stricken of the world. However, there was much greater poverty, relative today, in His time not to mention the tyranny of Kings and Pharaohs. What was His response when Judas Iscariot took the woman to task for anointing him with expensive oils and spices?

Matthew 26:10-11 (KJV)
10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

And after that:

Mark 14:10 (KJV)
10 And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.

Wallis is fond of saying that there are over 300 Bible verses that speak about poverty, and he is right there are. What he doesn’t tell you is that the majority of them speak to a poverty of spirit, of faith and the few that do relate to financial poverty, such as the one above, do not back his brand of Social Justice Christianity. He is indeed betraying Christ.

A little further on in the email there is a blurb by Adam Taylor

"...And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 (NRSV)

And what does the Lord require of you? What is your response to one in eight children in the U.S. growing up in poverty and 1 billion people around the world living on less than $1 a day?

And a bit further on is this from by Kim Bobo ‘In These Times’ (circulation: 20,000) 2-12-2008 reviewing Wallis’ book:

The strength of [Jim] Wallis’ book lies in its stories. They include impressions on the diversity of the religious community and on encouraging cases of evangelicals who are engaging in social justice. (Emphasis mine) Few writers have talked with evangelical leaders and spoken at religious events more than Wallis. The Great Awakening reflects upon evangelicals’ concerns with poverty, and observes that the Right has lost its stranglehold on many white members.

In the same article reviewing another book Bobo says the following:

In another chapter, Dionne writes that the "central divide among religious Americans" is "over government’s role in alleviating poverty."

If we are ever to engage larger numbers of people of faith in addressing the barriers to ending poverty, we must talk about the importance of private and public responses. We can affirm the private responses that congregations and individuals undertake, while at the same time acknowledge the limitations of such efforts to address society-wide problems.

The three-decade attack on the role of the government has undermined people’s belief that it can be useful. But public programs have done great things and could do more. Secular progressives must reach out to their more religious brethren to build widespread political support for them. (Emphasis again, mine)

For those of us who are active in religious communities—and even more so for those of us who actively organize people of faith in justice matters—these books offer great hope. They document what we know from our own work: The right wing is losing its tight grip over evangelical communities. Similarly, within the Catholic community, many progressives are developing new ways of engaging congregations.

"There is very good reason to believe," Dionne concludes "that in the coming years, Americans’ religious communities will no longer be seen as the natural allies of political conservatism."

That would be a great awakening indeed.

These people are serious folks. They have an agenda and they have financing. Liberalism is infesting the culture, multiculturalism is running rampant. Europe has for all intents and purposes fallen. Western civilization is under attack from Islam and atheists. We are living in dangerous times Brothers and Sisters. Very dangerous times.

Matthew 7:15 (KJV)
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Matthew 24:11-13 (KJV)
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

 


All Content Copyright © 2008 Truth Magazine US
Basic Layout © Copyright 2007 Abstract Studio