The Reverend Jim Wallis (b. June 4 1948, Detroit, Michigan) is an Evangelical Christian writer and political activist, best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners Magazine and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name. Wallis actively eschews political labels, but his advocacy tends to focus on issues of peace and social justice, earning him his primary support from the religious left. Wallis is also known for his opposition to the religious right's fiscal and foreign policies.[1]
Raised in a traditional evangelical (Plymouth Brethren) family,[2] as a young man Wallis became active in the civil rights movement. He graduated from Michigan State University, where he was President of Students for a Democratic Society and then went on to attend Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois where he joined with other young seminarians in establishing the community that eventually became Sojourners. His books include God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (2005), Faith Works: How Faith Based Organizations Are Changing Lives, Neighborhoods, and America (2000), and The Soul of Politics: Beyond "Religious Right" and "Secular Left" (1995). His writings are regularly published as op-eds in major media outlets, and he teaches a course in religion and politics at Harvard University. He is also the convener of Call to Renewal, an interfaith effort to end poverty. In discussing the 2004 American presidential elections, Wallis said "Jesus didn’t speak at all about homosexuality. There are about 12 verses in the Bible that touch on that question ... [t]here are thousands of verses on poverty. I don’t hear a lot of that conversation."[3] Jim was invited by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) to give the Democrats' weekly radio address on Saturday, December 2 2006. He spoke about the importance of moral leadership in Washington, and touched on a variety of social concerns.[4] In February 2007 he wrote in Time about the post-Religious Right era and the resurgence of mainstream Christianity, with evangelicals "deserting the Religious Right in droves".[5] Wallis is married to the Rev. Joy Carroll Wallis, upon whom the title character in The Vicar of Dibley was partially based.
References
- ^ US right has hijacked religious vote, says evangelical, Stephen Bates, The Guardian, February 16, 2006. Last accessed 10 October 2006.
- ^ God's Democrat: the Church of Jim Wallis, Katherine Mangu-Ward, The Weekly Standard, April 11, 2005]
- ^ God's Politics: An Interview With Jim Wallis, Michal Lumsden, Mother Jones, March 10, 2005. Last accessed 10 October 2006.
- ^ Jim Wallis: We Need Greater Moral Leadership, Jim Wallis, Beliefnet, December 2, 2006
- ^ The Religious Right's Era Is Over, Time, February 16, 2007
External links
- God's politics: a blog by Jim Wallis and friends
- Official biography from Sojourners
- Interview with Jim at Premier.tv
