The next four week’s clips will highlight the topic of politics and Christianity. As the November elections quickly approach here in the US, I thought we’d join Jon Stewart and attempt to restore some sanity to this heated topic. I shot the footage for this week’s video a while back for Off The Map, but its content is still applicable.
In terms of politics, what values are important to you?
How do you decide how to vote based on those values?
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE: Jim Wallis is the founder and editor of Sojourners and has written a variety of books including God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.
OTHER CLIPS BY: JIM WALLIS
OTHER CLIPS ABOUT: Politics
PURCHASE THIS CLIP: Individual clip
You’re right: I’d have thought this was a “no-brainer.”
I read in the Bible and was taught Christians are to work and look for for a city beyond this world. Not that we’re absolved of the rights and responsibilities of earthly citizenship, but our primary allegiance is to Jesus and the kingdom of God.
Christianity is a spiritual position, an eternal one; not a political one. Thanks for the video.
I get confused about what the issues are… my thinking brain says one thing and my heart is swayed quite another… Nobody seems to talk about all the issues that rreally matter…
As a generation X-er, I’m “supposed” to be befuddled I guess, but I choose not to stay that way!! This little vid clears some things up right away that are not opinion-based, but simple statements that wipe slates clean and get the given, known facts together in one place in my head… Now I know I’m not crazy! Thank you– That was gold!
Wallis has a great message here. I’d like to hear him expand on it further, but the central point is so true: we should not filter the morals of God through a political ideology, but rather we should filter the morals of politics through a Godly ideology.
(Side note: that background music was rather annoying. Sorry.)
Bravo Jim! It’s a truly wonderful thing to hear such a sensible and reasonable response to the relationship between moral values and politics. Other than this website, where are the sensible and reasonable discussions happening? Sadly, I’m guessing it’s not at church. Can we only hear the call to sanity from Comedy Central? I always enjoy Jon and Stephen but it’s a bit depressing to me that I can’t find the questions/answers/conversation any where else.
Craig–in answer to your questions–interestingly lately a value that’s become increasingly important to me is civil rights–it seems to me that the U.S. used to be a world leader in this area, but that in a sense, if one looks at direction rather than position, we are in the process of becoming a nation closer to the bottom of the list of nations in terms of respect for civil rights.
For me deciding how to vote honestly tends to not be super difficult.
These about politics are great for my kiddos to stimulate their own thoughts and opinions when discussions come up in class at school… been great for the dinner table too! Bravo!
hmm, i love jim wallis- i am big fan. i feel bad, but it feels that if you want to fight in the political arena the current reality is you must pick a side. my conflict is there is no issue that is not moral. you may feel that to help the poor, we must tax the rich. not a bad thought or objective, but history shows if you do that then eventually the rich quit making new jobs and you have way more poor people.
abortion is the most difficult for me personally. i want to advocate for both parties, one unborn the other a human i believe has rights and choices, and can make those even if i disagree. ugh, no way to win is how i see it.
@Kar … no, historically, taxing the rich does not lead them to quit making new jobs. Certainly tax breaks have not inspired the rich to create new jobs over the last ten years — employment has dropped continuously throughout the tax breaks (and precipitously in the last couple of years).
In any case, I think there are usually more than two sides to every solution. Abortion, for example: I think everyone on both sides agrees that we should reduce unwanted pregnancies. If you could do that, you would reduce abortions. With your rich-people-tax question, how about tax breaks structured in such a way that they can only be claimed if there were clear connections to job creation? E.g. tax breaks for businesses rather than individuals? Or other incentives.
I think the problem is that, too often, we think we have to choose one of the existing sides… when there are usually other options, if we stop to think about it.
i like that idea, of tax incentives for job creation! brilliant. what i meant by two sides, is we seem to have a pretty entrenched two party system. i see some cracks in it, but for now that seems to be the way it is. i personally tend towards a simplistic, libertarian model.
thanks for the thoughts,