The Soul of Politics: A Practical and Prophetic Vision for Change

This eloquent manifesto for political and social transformation challenges liberals and conservatives alike. Wallis, a Washington, D.C.-based grassroots activist who is founding editor of Sojorners and an evangelical Christian preacher, writes in the tradition of Wendell Berry, Michael Lerner, Cornel West and others who have sought to reconnect politics to personal responsibility and the need to rebuild family and community. Attacking the religious right for supporting wasteful military build-up, fueling the backlash against women's rights and discriminating against homosexuals, Wallis argues for a new political morality that places the nation's-and world's-poor people at the center of our attention and is committed to ending institutionalized racism, sexism, selfish materialism and ecological destruction. Drawing on his own experiences fighting poverty, discrimination and gang violence in Washington, Los Angeles, South Africa and the Philippines, he sets forth numerous proposals ranging from community-based economic development programs to redistribution of land. (Oct.)