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God's Politics
March, 2005
By Donna Zajonc

Purchase God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It at Amazon.com

Jim Wallis's best selling new book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, is creating an old style religious revival. Crowds in excess of 1,000 people are attending his book signings in churches all over America. Wallis has led "Sojourner" magazine, which is dedicated to faith, cultural and politics, for over thirty years. Suddenly his message is catching fire.

Who are the Americas who have been ignited by Wallis's message? Are they the same Americans who responded to Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority in the early 1980's? Hardly.

Neither are they the Republicans who heard Pat Robertson declare in his 1992 Republican Convention speech: "There is a religious war going on in this country, a cultural war as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the Cold War itself, for this war is for the soul of America."

They are an emerging group of citizens who are rallying around a rich spiritual message. Millions of Americans are desperate to regain their spiritual voice--not based upon a narrow interpretation of one religion, but rather a message that honors all spiritual paths and values.

During the 2004 national campaign we heard that "moral values" were the key that encouraged millions of Americans to vote. We were told that two issues, same sex marriage and women's reproductive freedom, were at the heart of the moral values debate.

Recent polls, however, demonstrate that Americans believe the moral values list is longer than just two issues. As reported in USA Today (Dec. 20, 2004) a Zogby International polling firm found that 64% of Americans identified either "greed and materialism" or "poverty and economic justice" as their response to the question: "What is the most urgent moral problem in American cultural today?" Only 28% chose either abortion or gay marriage.

Americans want a much broader values debate than the limited view of morality that many socially conservative fundamentalists have created.

Because fundamentalists have done an excellent job of strongly voicing their point of view, the media tends to believe this is the only interpretation of Christian values. Hungry reporters searching for polarizing stories automatically request well known social conservatives to appear in their media interviews. This has given the false appearance that there is only one voice speaking for spiritually oriented Americans.

Wallis's "big tent" of moral values includes many more issues than the few included by the social conservatives and the media. This is why his message is attracting thousands of enthusiastic citizens.

Rather than being a doomsday naysayer, Wallis is offering hope. His message is an alternative to many Democrats who are historically uncomfortable with speaking about faith, religion or values and those Republicans who want to focus only on a few polarizing political issues that fall short of the long list of values that most Americans want to emphasize.

My prayer is that people of all faiths will unite and incorporate the wisdom of the ancient religious traditions. Let's welcome a new political conversation in American about values and let us include a wide range of values based upon the spiritual teachings that bind us together as social beings so that we may learn to peacefully live together on this earth.

Wallis states in God's Politics (page 7) "Neither religious nor secular fundamentalism can save us, but a new spiritual revival that ignites deep social conscience could transform our society. Movements do change history, and the strongest ones are those with a spiritual foundation. Most important of all is the spiritual power of hope which may be the only thing that can finally overcome our too characteristic cynicism. Hope versus cynicism is the key moral and political choice of our time. This book is about the politics of hope." (Of course, I like the ring of that last sentence!)

I encourage you to embrace this opportunity to add your voice to the broader conversation on American values. Become a participant in this new spiritual revival, regardless of your religious path. A few simple things you can do are:

• Identify the moral values that are important to your life
• Share those with others and ask them about the values they hold
• Sponsor a book club in your home or church to further explore these issues
• Ask your church, synagogue or community groups to sponsor a forum that includes a wide variety of participants.

This broader perspective is the first step toward building a nation based upon the politics of hope!

Beginning in April I have room for two new coaching clients. I coach a wide variety of people including:

(1) coaches who want to coach political leaders. I will help you explore whether political coaching is for you and create a blueprint to enter this dynamic new coaching specialty.

(2) ordinary citizens who want to become extraordinary public leaders.

Email me at donna@politicsofhope.com for a complimentary session. I look forward to hearing from you.

Donna's Schedule of Upcoming Events

Additional events are listed here on my website.

Donna Zajonc is a Political Leadership Coach, a former three-term Oregon Legislator and was her party's nominee for Secretary of State. She has also managed several campaigns including a highly visible governor's campaign. Donna challenges her clients to prepare for public office with the same rigor that all professionals seek.