Jim Wallis' "God's Politics"

Thanks to Carl for bringing this interesting review of Jim Wallis' God's Politics to my attention. The author is fairly complimentary toward the book, although she does offer some serious criticisms as well. For my part, I have not yet read the book, but I find Wallis' writings to be excellent and thought provoking - he does an excellent job of challenging both conservatives and liberals to think more deeply about their beliefs in light of the Bible's teachings.

I appreciated the review because it raises some interesting questions about the intersection of religion and politics. I offer the following quote as an example:

"Nevertheless, certainty grounded in unbending religious conviction can (and often does) produce a remarkable rigidity that brooks no compromise. Which is precisely the place where religion and politics may not blend very well: Whereas compromise is the coin of the realm at the political negotiating table, it is often a sign of moral failure in a religious frame."

While I absolutely believe that religion has a place in political discourse, this quote does highlight one of the chief difficulties in meshing the two. There is a constant tension between the absolute claims a religion like Christianity makes, and the demands of democracy in a pluralistic environment, which inevitably require compromise.