“God’s Politics”

I’ve had enough contact with “Jim Wallis and friends” to finally find some motivation to rant. If you don’t know anything about “Sojourners” do a quick look down the topics off to the side or look at Wallis’ spate of political books on Amazon. As a non-partisan myself, you’d think I’d find some common ground with “God is not a Republican” guy. Nuh-uh. This guy is non-partisan like Barney Frank is non-pedophile. But that isn’t the worst of it; he actively spouts limp-wristed bullshit in such a passive-aggressive manner that it’s hard to glean a point from his ramblings. Wallis is an enemy of clarity, and perhaps worse. Peruse some of the topics on his blog:

To Hell with Human Trafficking. There, I Said It.
Wow, how brave of you. Will you take on murder and jaywalking next?

Sotomayor: She Deserves Respect
Oh bother, she doesn’t deserve anything like respect. And since when does the clergy start demanding respect for government officials? That’s always gone well, hasn’t it? What’s worse, though, is that the author doesn’t actually say anything. To summarize the post: Sonia Sotomayor is a judge, and she should get respect; also, Limbaugh and Huckleberry suck.

The Poor Can Lead the Charge
I actually giggled a bit here. The confusion of the bullshitting “non-partisan” hackery only compounds when they attempt to formulate and criticize solutions to real problems that real people face. For example:

The lack of property rights is one of many obstacles facing rural entrepreneurs, who make up most of the world’s poor. They know those obstacles best, but they lack the political presence to advocate for their removal. Giving rural entrepreneurs a larger political presence is not a typical focus for international development or social justice. The drivers of such transformation are membership-based business organizations such as local chambers of commerce — organizations not usually associated with eradicating poverty but that are vital to developing institutions (such as a centralized title registry) that will unlock the great wealth that the poor already have.

No; attempting to empower local governments has never worked as a solution. In fact, once could argue that by increasing the govt.’s ability to stave off outside investments is actually incompatible with property rights. What those people ought to do is throw off the chains of their interest-group-driven representatives and do what they would with their land. Men aren’t entitled to wealth, and a bureaucrat isn’t entitled to make decisions for someone else. Oh, it gets better:

I’m the Older Brother
This actually disgusted me. Here is his opener:

When it comes to President Obama’s stimulus package and its provisions to help those Americans who are having great difficulty paying their home mortgages, I have come to realize that I’m like the older brother in the story of the Prodigal Son.

This isn’t Christian, Tony Campolo; it’s opportunistic, partisan religious-jingoism. Try and wed the Gospel to Obama’s recovery plan all you want. I’m not buying.