Who Speaks for God?

I found this book had a lot to offer. Wallis starts with the assumption that the Religious Right (or the Christian Coalition, take your pick) doesn't really represent the opinions of most Christians, nor does it really represent the teachings of the guy that the whole shebang is named after, Jesus. He also maintains the Left, with its emphasis on certain issues, doesn't really offer a whole lot for Christians of moral conviction. I can't really argue with his analysis. He goes on to deal with what America, and the world, really needs: compassion, community, and civility. He then details how these are currently lacking, how these concepts tie in to Christianity, and how these concepts can help improve things in general. My two nit-picking complaints are that, one, he doesn't do much to detail how to achieve the desired states of compassion, community and civility, and, two, he doesn't do much to explain that this message is for more than just Christians. His message is one of inclusivity, and throughout the book, he does mention people of other faiths, but this book seems mostly written for Christians. I think it's important to realize that there are a number of people of other faiths, and a number of people of no particular faith, who would agree with what he says we need. Overall a pretty good book, encouraging and inspiring. Makes me want to go out and do good works.

This book was very interesting to me, as it was a nice break from the media representation of all religion as being part of the conservative moment. Wallis takes the Religious Right to task for their lack of religion, especially their non-concern for the poor. His ending segment from the Call for Renewal about how "religion as a political cheerleader is inevitably false as a religion" sums up the whole book - we must remain true to our religious ideals and not become ideologues. Unfortunately, the Christian Coalition is strictly political and not religious and true voices for religious politics, like those of Wallis and most other religious folks, get lost in the media stereotype of religion.