Jim Wallis - Political and Social Influence

Political and Social Influence

Wallis 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. 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". Wallis has served on the Advisory Council to President Barack Obama's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He serves as a spiritual adviser to President Obama.

In addition to President Obama, Wallis has developed personal friendships with former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. In his 2010 book Rediscovering Values, Wallis writes, "I consider Rudd one of the most hopeful young political leaders in the world today, a committed Christian who seeks to apply his faith to his public service; we consider each other good friends."

Wallis has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, discussing faith and politics.

He has appeared on the Democracy Now! show.

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. Most of them are very contextual. There are thousands of verses on poverty. I don’t hear a lot of that conversation." Regarding same-sex marriage, Wallis has made the following remarks: "I don't think the sacrament of marriage should be changed. Some people say that Jesus didn't talk about homosexuality, and that's technically true. But marriage is all through the Bible, and it's not gender-neutral. I have never done a blessing for a same-sex couple. I've never been asked to do one. I'm not sure that I would. I want churches that disagree on this to have a biblical, theological conversation and to live with their differences and not spend 90 percent of their denominational time arguing about this issue when 30,000 children are dying every single day because of poverty and disease."

Wallis is listed as a supporter of the Consistent Life Ethic, an ideology that includes opposition to abortion, euthanasia and the death penalty. In a 2008 interview with Christianity Today, Wallis expressed strong support for abortion reduction, adding that "I don't think that abortion is the moral equivalent issue to slavery that Wilberforce dealt with. I think that poverty is the new slavery. Poverty and global inequality are the fundamental moral issues of our time. That's my judgment." A 2008 Newsweek article states that "Jim Wallis devoted a significant chunk of his latest book, 'The Great Awakening,' to outlining his views on abortion. The evangelical leader wrote in favor of 'protecting unborn life in every possible way, but without criminalizing abortion.'" Wallis added, "Everybody tends to agree that preventing unwanted pregnancies is a good thing. I'm saying, let's take it to the next step and say that abortion reduction is a good thing too. It's about providing options—not taking away a woman's right to choose, but making things like adoption easier."

In August 2009, he signed a public statement encouraging all Christians to "read, wrestle with, and respond to Caritas in Veritate", the social encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI. A few months earlier, it was speculated that Wallis might have been chosen for the post of Vatican ambassador, but theologian Miguel H. Diaz was selected instead.

Wallis supported President Obama's health care legislation, and reportedly signed a letter urging that the legislation be passed even if it did not contain language explicitly banning federal funding for abortion. In 2009, Wallis made the following comments regarding Sarah Palin within the context of the health care reform debate in the United States: "Sarah, you're the one who is acting in an 'evil' way. After listening to your policy pronouncements during the campaign, many Americans decided, generously, that you weren't ready yet for high political office. Others thought you just weren't very smart. But this statement last week really does clear up the question for me. You are speaking like a demagogue in the worst tradition of those who knowingly distort and deceive, for their own political purposes. You want to stoke people's worst fears and then, hopefully, they will look to someone like you to be their leader. You're not stupid after all. You know that neither President Obama, nor anyone else in this health-care debate, would deny health care for your parents or child, and that none of the ideas being debated would suggest that. But people are confused and concerned, so you see your chance to prey upon their misunderstandings. Politics for people like you is really all about you, your fame and power, and your taste of it during the last election has revealed what kind of politician you truly are. Please don't invoke your 'Christian faith' anymore and embarrass the people of God even further. May your efforts to scare Americans during this important debate fail. May your political future also fail, and may your star fall as fast as it rose just a few months ago -- because we now know who you really are."

In 2010, Wallis admitted to accepting money for Sojourners from philanthropist George Soros after initially denying having done so. When conservative writer Marvin Olasky pointed this out, and that Soros also financed groups supporting abortion, atheism, and same-sex marriage, in a WORLD magazine column, Wallis said Olasky "lies for a living"; he subsequently apologized to Olasky for the comments. In 2011, Wallis acknowledged that Sojourners had received another $150,000.00 from Soros' Open Society Foundation.

In 2010, expressing concern about the growing polarization in American politics, Wallis and other Christian leaders signed on to a document entitled "A Covenant for Civility."

In regard to the 2011 United States budget proposal, Wallis described Congressman Paul Ryan and his congressional allies as "bullies" and "hypocrites."

Wallis made supportive comments regarding the Occupy London movement in a blog post entitled "Occupy St. Paul's: Thanks Be to God." Regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement, Wallis wrote, "The Occupiers' desire for change and willingness to take action to do something about it should be an inspiration to us all."