Here's part of a report that Jim shared on Thursday with his online community. He asks provocative questions. For those of us who live and work among the urban poor, the questions are more than understandable.
What do you think?
The message of the fast gets clearer each day — fasting tends to focus you, and the message is that a budget is about the choices we make. This fast is not just about cutting spending, but about the values that will determine our priorities and decisions. Should we cut $8.5 billion for low-income housing, or $8.5 billion in mortgage tax deductions for second vacation homes? Should we cut $11.2 billion in early childhood programs for poor kids, or $11.5 billion in tax cuts for millionaires’ estates? Should we cut $2.5 billion in home heating assistance in winter months, or $2.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies and off-shore drilling? This debate isn’t about scarcity as much as it is about choices.
Jim Wallis
Sojourners
50 comments:
As far as morals are concerned, Wallis is somewhere up next to Hitler. I urge your readers to read up on his ideas.
Just when I think you can't outdo your previous comments, you come thru big time with another one even more ridiculous than the last, Chris!
Jim Wallis is a personal friend of mine. He is a minister. He is a Little League baseball coach. He lives in inner city DC among the poor. He battles for the voiceless. He cares for life and fairness and community.
How you could use the name Hitler in the same thought chain with Jim Wallis is beyond me. I can tell you that the only reason I'm not raging angry here is what I know about how Jim would respond to you. So, like him, I'll commit to pray for you.
A bit off topic, but I'm wondering why Wallis (and others on the left) have been so quiet about Obama's military action in Libya? How is it different from what President Bush did in Iraq (other than the fact that Bush actually sought and received congressional approval)?
I think this video helps explain it:
http://youtu.be/yAyCdfOXvec
Non sequitors.
I don't know anyone that I agree with on every position, but I do admire some people for the things they do. I like the idea of a budget as a moral decision. Cuts have to be made; where we make them shows our priorities as a society.
so what are your thoughts on the government shutdown? i'm one of the government workers facing a furlough.
Larry, Jim Wallis is a dedicated Marxist. I will cite a few examples, but for more go to the following:
Jim Wallis, Discover the Networks
Wallis founded the anti-capitalist magazine called Post-America, which identified wealth redistribution and government economics as the keys to achieve "social justice."
In 1971 the name was changed to Sojourners. In addition to the magazines anti-war position, Wallis also championed the cause of communism.
In the magazine, Wallis called the U.S. "...the great power, the great suducer, the great csptor and destroyer of human life, (he wasn't talking about abortion) the great master of humanity and history in its totalitarian claim and design."
He called Vietnam refugees, who were fleeing for their lives, leaving "to support their consumer habits in other lands." He admonished critics against pointing to the boat people to "discredit" the righteousness of Vietnams newly victorious communist regime.
The journal, Mission Tracks, published an interview with Wallis in which the activist evangelical expressed his hope that "more Christians will come to view the world through Marxist eyes."
In 2005, he stated that private charity to help the poor was insufficient and that social justice could be achieved only by an omnipotent central government empowered to redistribute wealth.
Obama chose Wallis as his "spiritual advisor" because they think alike. Need I say more about what kind of president we have? I suspect you think like both of them.
Chris and all, disagree with Jim all you like. That is so legitimate. But call him "Hitler"? That is absurd. Also, did you hold any opinions when you were 28 that you have since discarded? As to Libya and Afghanistan, Wallis has spoken out against those conflicts.
Larry,
I would suggest that you choose your friends more wisely, but alas your political/social beliefs parallel Wallis - "birds of a feather"
Wallis is a minister? Can you say Liberation Theology!
As far as I can tell, Jim Wallis has the same Marxist ideas he started out with. By the way, you both have similar ideas--wonder which came first, you are Jim? Just a couple of examples, you both admire Marxist Dorothy Day and you both like Liberation Theology.
Obama had to get rid of Van Jones when it came out about his communist leanings. By the way, you said the same thing about Jones to me a couple of years ago as you did about Wallis today. (perhaps their ideas changed) One would think he would think twice about Jim Wallis. But I suspect the Democrat party wanted someone connected to religion, even in the most loose sense, to conteract the religious right. They even highjacked the religious rights choice of words. Pro-life had nothing to do with abortion but with aids in Africa. Very interesting. Another thing, George Soros contributed to his cause. Of course, Wallis lied about it at first, then had to own up.
Again we have an example where there is plenty of blame to go around on both sides of the aisle. One question that really bothers me is why didn't the Democrats pass a budget when they controlled both the House and the Senate and the White House? I also have very little sympathy for Planned Parenthood which seems to be part of the hold up. I have also heard Harry Reid say some stuff that borders on the ridiculous. The bottom line is that if we do not find a way to control our spending we are going to end up a ruined nation. I wish we had more level heads in Congress who could sit down and really negotiate without thinking about the implications of the next election. Chris, I don't like many of the views of Wallis any more than you, but I really wish you would retract the "Hitler" statement. That kind of rhetoric does nothing but give people a very good reason to dismiss everything else you say, but Larry, I heard a congresswoman compare the republicans to Nazis. Chris might get carried away, but a congresswoman should know better.
Richard Corum
O.K. I apologize. What I had in mind was that Planned Parenthood does more abortions than died in the concentration camps and one never hears the left talking about that. In fact, they consider it a right. The commies have murdered tens of thousands of people and Wallis seemed to be sympathetic to them, both in Vietnam and South America.
Chris, I just want you to be effective when you comment. Sometimes when we couch our comments with inflammatory language in causes our valid points to be ignored. I understand your anger about Planned Parenthood and its ongoing connection to abortion, and I just cannot support such a group. I have no idea what Larry's views are about that organization, but even if he were to support them I would not compare him to Hitler. As a student of history with a special interest in World War II I can assure you that there are few people who have lived or are living now that could be compared to one of the most hate filled murderous individuals who has ever lived. Just as few if any could be compared to Dr. Martin Luther King in terms of the good he accomplished, so to with Hitler in terms of pure evil. One final note. The knuckleheads in congress appear to have finally passed a budget. Hopefully it is one that we can all tolerate.
I heard they didn't pass a budget because it was too near election time.
RC, you seem to do your best to make anything Larry says/writes palatable. Larry supports a host of people whose intentions are to drive us to a socialist model of government. Chris points out his thin and inconsistent claims and arguments on a regular basis. Yet you critique Chris more aggressively than Larry. I know Larry will stand up for you in this situation, but he has no credibility.
What can be more treacherous, more sinister than an abortion? Abortion is much worse than what Hitler perpetrated. A continent with a long history populated by adults can be manipulated and overpowered, but it takes a certain economic context, a certain political culture, and a weakness of character in the people of surrounding nations to allow a person like Hitler to drive a holocaust.
While the same three factors are in play in the abortion tragedy, one feature differs - the power is placed in the hands of one person in a personally distasteful situation, an unwanted pregnancy.
Using tax payer money, an immature teenager will be "counseled" in a brief period of time to vacuum away a few human cells, or shred a small body before evacuating it from her body. I could go into more detail, but I am sure I would be blamed for using graphic language for making us all think about such violence. Abortionists don't want parents to be aware of the "procedure."
Unlike adult victims and adult observers in the Jewish holocaust, there is no one to rescue the victims of abortion. Laws protect the murderers and betray the innocent.
Weak character is a theme in cultural demise. Let me ask again. RC, what do you stand up for? What would make you disagree with Larry? I read these posts routinely and you seem to need his approval.
Anon, I have already responded to your email. Let me add that I do not need Larry's approval, and often disagree with him. Larry could you please confirm this. I am just not a fan of "cut and paste" posts that to me come across as evidence of someone who could stand to do a bit more fact checking. God Bless
Richard Corum
Interesting string of comments. Two points: first, for the record Jim Wallis is and has always been anti-abortion and pro-life and, second, no one has yet to answer the questions Wallis asks in what I posted.
Wallis has long been for just ecoonomic policy. . .that doesn't make him a Marxist.
rocorum, who made you mediator?
LJ "just" economic policy is redistribution of wealth and is unadulterated Marxism
It only takes a couple of minutes to look up the record of Jim Wallis. In fact, he had admitted to being a Marxist in his conversation with Dorothy Day.
The only reason I am concerned is that he is so close to Obama. I find it hard to believe that more was not made of his appointment. Actually, the only reason for his appointment as "spiritual advisor" to Obama is to lure religious voters to the Democrat party and to teach them how to talk "religionese."
In 1983 Accuracy in Media wrote a book about his beliefs. They took 53 political positions such as communism, socialism, human rights, his position on Israel, etc. In every case his position was exactly that of the Soviet Union. If I remember correctly, the name of the book is The Sojourners File.
Larry, when you said a just economic policy doesn't make him a Marxist, that is rather clever of you. You didn't want to admit it but you can't deny it. The evidence is overwhelming.
I plan to do further reading on him.
Some of you people are just plain nuts. Wallis is worse than Hitler. Abortion is worse than Hitler. You really just sound ignorant or just plain cracked. ("Unlike adult victims and adult observers in the Jewish holocaust, there is no one to rescue the victims of abortion. Laws protect the murderers and betray the innocent." Exactly who was it who rescued the Jews while 6M were being killed? And do you think German law didn't protect Nazi murderers? Like I said, and I'm being kind - ignorant or cracked.)
And if Larry has no credibility, why do you read this post in the first place? Just making sure you correct everybody else's erroneous opinions?
And being consistently pro-life would make you concerned about AIDS in Africa.
And then you chastise RC for not taking such BS quietly.
I do not know how you people function on a daily basis given the nature of your "thinking".
Ken
Dallas
It's nice that you chimed in, Ken. You should think before doing it again, though.
Abortion is worse than Hitler's holocaust b/c the victims are the most defenseless of all - unborn, unformed, unprotected by anyone. Yes, German law allowed Hitler to persecute the Jews and much of the world looked to moral law to eventually engage this tragedy. To fight the holocaust, Jews fled, hid, fought back, and went underground to topple the government. Sadly, many still died.
Maybe if there were a fetal union who could contribute to a democrat campaign there would be some hope. Today, all around the world, abortion is the norm.
While I am proud of my parents and their parents for fighting WW2, they were too late for 6M people. Approx. 1.2 million abortions are performed in the US annually.
Ken, I must be nuts for figuring more abortions have occurred worldwide than the murder of 6M Jewish people, right? Maybe my estimate is off. Can you help? Maybe I am ignorant and don't understand how cheap human life really is. Can you give me a nice round figure I can use? Don't want to overspend on my parents long-term health needs, you know.
Larry usually chastises those who use name-calling tactics and smear tactics to personally attack another person in a post. But I don't expect Larry to stand up for anyone who opposes one of his personal friends.
By the way, our good Dallas neighbor, George W. Bush, provided more aids funding to Africa than any other president, including our current president of African descent. I think W. is pro-life.
I used to tune into the LJUD blog to try to understand other persons points of view. Now I just look for those choice opportunities to interact with geniuses and other elite members of our society.
I hope I addressed your concerns, Ken.
Wallis is a heretic.
I just read thorough this stream of comments.
I've said it before, I will say it again. This is a waste... Chris puts Jim Wallis on a par with HItler. Ridiculous; ignorant; mean spirited; foolish; asinine... Nothing else need be said. It is not worth the time.
If people read Larry James in order to label him, let them read elsewhere. I know what Larry does with his time and influence. I know the people he talks to on the streets of Dallas, I know the speeches he gives, I know a few of the many, many people who have received food, medical help, life skills training, job placement, after-school education help, and so much more, because of what he does.
For his critics, go build a better mousetrap. Go do a better job of helping people.
but you won't...
Thanks for providing perspective, Randy. Just one more tidbit: Larry's work is all about using other people's money to deliver all these services. This is why he uses this blog to propagate democrat ideals and employs the arguments of socialists to support his cause. Larry's use of Wallis concerns those of us who willingly support those in need, but don't want our paychecks to be robbed before we have a chance to pay our bills and set our own giving priorities.
About 80% of our budget is basically untouchable, classified as entitlements, defense, homeland security, and interest on debt. The Obama spending spree is making matters much worse and there is now an OMB predicted "insolvency date" looming in the future (2037).
The whole idea of "redistribution of wealth/assets" is well-documented in the Old Testament (see various provisions of the Torah, especially the directions for Sabbatical and Jubilee years). I suppose this makes Yahweh and Moses Marxists?
Take a look at Luke 16:19 to the end of the story. Classic example of no redistribution or disobedience. Likely the rich man got that way largely due to systemic advantage imposed by those with the power to do so.
Larry is correct, Jim Wallis is pro-life and anti-abortion. He just happens to be consistently pro-life as in anti-guns, anti-war, anti-poverty and anti-death penality.
One last comment, how could anyone find him to be a heretic? Certainly not on orthodox faith isses. Is it possibly the case that the American expression of Christian faith with its pro-capitalism, libertarian bent now figures in the determination of orthodox for our ancient religtion??? It could be later than we think, but not for the selfish reasons most suspect.
Anon 1:58, thanks for your post. You say, "Larry's work is all about using other people's money to deliver all these services," I confess this is true. I don't have the money to fund all that we do at CitySquare. We attempt to provide efficient, outcome tested approaches to assisting people who are living in poverty in one of the wealthiest places on the planet. We will continue to work hard to do so. Our faith tells us this is what we should do. Our calling confirms our faith. And, we are making a difference. Last year we touched and partnered with over 53K different individuals. We did not promote any political agenda other than the agenda outlined by the One we attempt to follow.
Much of the negative sentiment posted here reflects the frustation of people who feel as if they have lost control over their lives. I work daily among people who have no control whatsoever and they routinely shame me and my anemic faith.
BTW--I wish those of you who feel so strongly that I am wrong and/or totally evil would have the courage to at least identify yourselves. Or, is that asking too much?
Larry, I could not agree more with having the courage to identify ones self, but I am still glad that you have opened things up. Some people think I must agree with you on everything. The only thing that I have done is to try to be respectful in my comments. Your patience with your critics is amazing, and I believe you are right. People are frustrated because of a feeling of lack of control, and you are also right that the people that you interact with daily, the poor, have almost zero control. God bless you and I couldn't care less who reads those words.
Richard Corum
I apologize for the tone of my previous comment. I just find it incredibly offensive when people lightly compare other people and events to Hitler, the Nazis or the Holocaust. Intentionally setting out to kill 12M people simply cannot be compared to almost anything else in history (except Stalin, who did the same). Doing so minimizes the evil involved and the horror of those acts. It just makes my blood boil, but I should have shown more restraint.
Ken
Dallas
Anon 4:13:
I am personlly Pro-life. But abortion cannot be compared to the Holocaust. A bunch of individuals making what they view as the medical decision to terminate a pregnancy simply cannot be compared to the purposeful marshaling of vast resources to exterminate millions of people for purely ideological reasons. I may think a woman who chooses to have an abortion is wrong, but I will not villify her to the point of comparing her to a Nazi.
Ken
Dallas
For those bleeding hearts, there are plenty of charities meriting support without the Marxist Liberation Theology underpinnings. To my way of thinking if you buy into the LJ charity, you are buying into his political and religious perspectives. The same holds true for the Rev Britt.
This is the same liberation theology practiced by the Rev Wright, among others, that interjects their distorted politics into a religious social message, very similar to what LJ does here. Its religious, but its not Christian, only cloaked as such.
Brave, inspiring words there, ANON. TIme to come out of the closet. At least LJ owns his thoughts and words. Staying undercover does not help your credibility.
Ken
Dallas
I attempted to look up a guy named Ken in Dallas. I did find a guy named "Ken Dallas." I also found a former NASCAR driver named Ken Weaver from Dallas. But I had no luck finding a guy name Ken, from Dallas, who posts on Larry's blog. Maybe he doesn't exist. Or perhaps our Ken from Dallas is really Louise from Pensacola.
Get brave Ken from Dallas. Link you name to your blog or web site - or quit complaining out those of us who use anonymous replies honestly.
Clearly, we find two worldviews expressed on the comment section of this blog page. As I've thought about it in theological terms (a frame that is often employed by both sides), it seems to me that we have one group focused on the individualism of religion and a second group that champions the essential nature of the community or group to faith and devotion.
The first group is very interested to see subjects such as salvation, personal responsibility, economic opportunity, etc. through the almost exclusive lens of the rugged, successful, completely free and unencumbered individual. This group gravitates to biblical texts that promote such understandings. The group also sees virtually no space for applying the principles of their own faith materials to the public square when it comes to economics, questions of war and peace, civil rights, social justice, public policy, oppression, etc.
The second group unapologetically lifts up the community or the group and its interests over that of the individual. It finds it logical and comfortable to apply the values of faith emerging from a theology of the group to the public square and to the here and now issues determing the quality of life in the society. As has been noted here in this string of comments, the Old Testament is filled with policy values related to the "redistribution of wealth" (Jubilee and Sabbatical years, the no poor among you text of Deut. 15:1-11; etc.), while recognizing that all wealth does not belong to humans in the first place.
American history is replete with examples of this fundamental divison of thought, especially when it comes to the matter of regulating wealth/resources some would say for the sake of equity, which others would say to rob the individual of his/her assets.
The first group regards matters of faith as basically internal and pietistic in nature with an occasional moral issues bubbling to the surface (pro-life issues for example); the second has a more earthy piety of its own, but also sees matters of faith as very external with clear application to economics and public values related to the regulation of the marketplace (as in the word of OT prophets like Amos or Micah).
Both sides at times resort to name calling and labeling w/o the benefit of sufficient debate or explanation (a limit of this medium). So, the "fundamentalist libertarians" lash out at the "psuedo-Christian liberationists" on a regular basis.
I think we can do better than this, so I intend to keep posting my heart. How about you?
As I said earlier, there are plenty of public charities that don't carry the left wing political and false religious beliefs that seem to emanate from LJ and Associates. Support those charities that do good without the negatives associated with these charitable neighborhood organizers such as LJ and Jim Wallis.
Thanks for stooping to define me and my bounded colleagues, Larry. I'm racking my feeble mind in an attempt to recall an iconic collectivist society that managed to avoid killing a million people, or so, and I've reached my tiny wit's end. Can you help a simple guy out?
One of my favs: http://theliberalstate.blogspot.com/
Sure, GI Bill, Marshall Plan, Great Society effort to end elder poverty...just for starters as benchmarks...spend your time reading history, leave off Rush. Discover the affects of Sm Civil Rights Movement.
Oh,I forgot the church born on Pentecost...see Acts 2 & 4, compare with Deut. 15:1-11... plan from God, not me.
Read carefully:
The words I used are "iconic collectivist society," such as those led by
Chairman Mao
Kim Jong Il
Joseph Stalin
Benito Mussolini
Pol Pot
and our favorite, Adolph Hitler.
You know, your personal friend, Jim Wallis, admires a few of these leaders and idealizes the societies they produced.
Your either-or analysis above indicates you are not open to any possibility of a reasonable conservative philosophy. When you caricature the other side you will find yourself most reasonable every time. I don't follow Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin, Cunningham, Savage, or Beck. And neither would F.A Hayek, if he was alive today. Milton Friedman wouldn't follow them either.
Your list of links, including Sojourners, Utne Reader, Mother Jones, reveals your closed loop system. Further, you simply deny the very straightforward implications of liberation theology.
What happens when 100% of the GDP won't cover debt payments? What proportion of GDP should be taken up entitlements? I read your posts and all I observe are pleas for more government spending.
Closed loop? U failed to mention The Economist, The WSJ, and several major daily papers. At least your charge vs me is consistent w/your own extreme views. I'm not arguing for "collective state.". Rather, I'm advocating for a more equitable, more just society. And fir me the foundation of my views are discovered in the history & sources of my faith.
Larry:
It was a valiant effort - suggesting civil discourse even with those with whom you disagree. But I think you've made a fundamental mistake - Anon(s) isn't interested in dialogue, just diatribe. He/she/it (can't tell since their is no self-identification) has no interest in exchanging ideas, just personal attacks and rants. "Mind like umbrella - work best when open." - Charlie Chan. But I'm afraid that sentiment is lost on Anon(s).
Ken
Dallas
Some see poverty as the result of a failure of personal responsibility. Poverty is caused by a series of bad choices or personal moral failings. Others see poverty as the result of systemic causes. The deck is simply stacked against the poor. The truth is it is not either/or, but both/and. In most cases some bad personal choices combine with an unfair system to keep the poor ... well, poor.
That is a paraphrase of something Uber-Comrade Jim Wallis wrote a few years ago. Sounds pretty reasonable to me. Not at all like the person derided by some of these comments.
Ken
Dallas
I get so tired at people whining about poverty. I grew up in poverty but I would have never thought about feeling sorry for myself just because my dad was not able to send me to college. I ended up with a degree from one of the Ivy League schools. Oh, I forgot to mention, my late brother was a nuclear scientist who educated thousands in radiation safety, probably more than any other person in the country. He also made a couple of scientific discoveries and contributed to scientific journals. That sort of thing is what America is all about. It is not about getting as many people as possible on the dole. That is exactly what the left wants. LJ can't wait to get as many people on food stamps as possible. The end game is this: get as many people as possible to be dependent on government. We know the country is going broke. Then when everyone is dependent and the country can't pay anymore, it will be ripe for a new world order controlled from the top. Oh, guess who the masses vote for if they get all kinds of free entitlements?
Hold on to your wallet--Obama will announce more taxes "from the rich" tomorrow to support his big spending plans. What do you bet?
Sent from my IPhone
You keep affirming you'll never quit asking for money. Please answer these questions:
What happens when 100% of the GDP won't cover debt payments? What proportion of GDP should be taken up entitlements?
If you won't answer them, why not?
Larry, if you don't have a response to ANON 4:46's questions, we can only assume you don't care or don't see the harm in constantly increasing the debt load and entitlements to 100% of GDP. Either one would lead me to not trust you. I could only conclude that you want the nation's economy to fail, or that you will keep drilling for tax dollars without regard to the implications of your actions. Please demonstrate that you understand the implications and that you see a way for your non profit and others like it to fit into the budget without bankrupting us. I'm not sure I can support you if I don't get a clear answer.
Sorry, "anons." I don't sit at my PC all day watching my blog. My non responsiveness is no indication of an unwillingness to engage you.
Tax increases.
Past time for that.
Capital extended at the bottom, either in tax cuts or in direct benefits surge back into the economy immediately.
Tax cuts at the top do exactly what outlandish corporate profits are doing today: sit on the sideline or in the market.
We will reach a point where 100% of GDP goes to service debt only if we continue to 1) extend tax breaks to the wealthy 2) refuse to look at military spending 3) resist some reform of outlandish spending of health care system (the best money can buy and among the worst if you can't afford it) and 4) some adjustment in Medicare via means testing.
When I was running a capital campaign as a pastor, we had a slogan that made sense: not equal gifts, but equal sacrifice. So now, we have to pay down the tab and tax increases must play a significant part in that pay down.
The so-called "rich" or not really rolling in money,but they may have a small business that hires people. If taxes are not cut, they may not find it profitable to continue their business.
Obama does not like our country. He is a full blown socialist. In fact it may be worse. We must vote him out. A lot of people have seen their mistake and for that I am grateful. He gives me the creeps.
The so-called "rich" or not really rolling in money,but they may have a small business that hires people. If taxes are not cut, they may not find it profitable to continue their business.
Obama does not like our country. He is a full blown socialist. In fact it may be worse. We must vote him out. A lot of people have seen their mistake and for that I am grateful. He gives me the creeps.
Chris, absurd! The tax structure seemed to work really well under Clinton. Our problems have not been and will not be solved by extending the cuts, they have only deepened. We need sanity today, not extremes on either end.
it seems we need to take another look at the "socialist" term. the majority of how we live everyday life is socialist in nature.
as a Jew, i don't know whether to be offended or to pray for your ignorance. so much of this is wrong on so many levels.
shalom
Post a Comment