Jim Wallis

In the fall of 2010, we saw a disturbing rise in religious intolerance in the U.S. From the much-politicized opposition to a proposed Muslim community center near Ground Zero in New York City to a fundamentalist pastor's threat to burn Qurans, a wave of Islamophobia appeared to be sweeping the...

Politics is a true American idol, and the 2012 presidential election will be a dramatic demonstration of that reality.

Simply put, we create an idol when we ascribe attributes or place hope in persons or things that should belong only to God. People of faith may be tempted to worship at...

by Jim Wallis and Rev. Max Rodas

Today, the Supreme Court is hearing a case about the constitutionality of Arizona's anti-immigrant legislation, SB 1070. It will be months before the case is decided but a broad spectrum of the Christian community already has their minds made...

After an official investigation, the Vatican seems pretty upset with the Catholic Sisters here in the United States. They have reprimanded the women for not sufficiently upholding the bishops' teachings and doctrines and paying much more attention to issues like poverty and health care than to abortion, homosexuality and male-only...

I returned to Sojourners this week, after a three-month sabbatical. The time away was a deeply needed one, and did my soul good. It did my body good too, and I feel better than I have in years -- much lighter and healthier than before.

Sunrise walks on the beach, yoga...

It's been a bad year, and the 2012 election year looks to be even worse.

Don't get me wrong -- there were many good and even wonderful things about 2011. I can point to weddings, great things in our family lives, wonderful moments with our children, acts of courage in...

Each Advent in recent years, around the time when those prefab, do-it-yourself gingerbread house kits appear on supermarket shelves, Fox News launches its (allegedly) defensive campaign commonly known as the “War on Christmas.”

Fox News’ “war” is designed to criticize the “secularization” of our culture wrought by atheists, agnostics, liberals,...

I would never have been mistaken as a political supporter of President George W. Bush. But in his early days as president, I was invited to have conversations with him and his team about faith-based initiatives aimed at overcoming poverty, shoring up international aid and development for the most vulnerable,...

One of the greatest failures of Christians in this country is when they don't think and act as Christians first. Instead, they think first as Americans, consumers, partisans, and sometimes even as Red Sox fans. This leads to bending over backward to justify un-Christian behavior and attitudes to fit these...

I've learned that it's especially important for those who are always trying to change the world, to remember what they are thankful for in their world as it is!

First I am thankful to God for his or her patience with us. Thankful that despite how much we human beings...

It's time to invite the Occupy Movement to church! And Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion. Have some of the young protesters -- the "99ers" as they're becoming known -- from this rapidly growing movement over for a big holiday dinner!

Our faith communities and organizations should swing their doors wide...

The Penn State story of the sexual abuse of children has just sickened me -- as it has many others. I have been so upset and angry about these ugly and awful revelations that I've been unable to write about it until now.

Maybe it's because I have two young boys...

So let's talk about jobs, jobs, jobs.

Here is what I thought Barack Obama should have said in his inaugural address.

My fellow Americans, We are enduring a financial crisis that has created a great economic recession with much suffering for many, and with more to come. And there is an...

Last night, at the National Press Club here in Washington D.C., the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and Sojourners co-sponsored a conversation between me and Richard Land on what the religious and moral issues will and should be in the upcoming election year --...

My son Jack was born just days before the war in Iraq began. So, for these last eight and a half years, it's been very easy for me to remember how long this horrible conflict has been going on.

Finally, as President Obama has announced, this American war will soon...

In an international meeting last week with economists, business executives, non-profit organizational leaders, and theologians, my colleague Stewart Wallis of the New Economics Institute succinctly summed up the problems of the current global economy: it's unfair, unsustainable, unstable, and is making many people unhappy. These issues of the "un-economy" were...

You have awakened the sleeping giant, too long dormant, but ever present, deep in the American democratic spirit. You have given voice and space to the unspoken feelings of countless others about something that has gone terribly wrong in our society. And you have sparked a flame from the embers...

Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the United States' invasion of Afghanistan.

In his speech on the war in Afghanistan this summer, President Obama pledged that U.S. combat troops will all leave by the end of 2014.

In the latest news, however, U.S. military commander in Afghanistan,

Ten years. Thousands of lives. Billions of dollars.

This Friday, October 7, 2011, marks 10 years since the United States invaded Afghanistan in the name of the "War on Terror." Sadly, this summer President Obama announced he'll continue our military presence in the country until 2014, and Congress has agreed to follow his lead.

Where do we go from here?

We've put together a short video based on Isaiah 2:4, which reads:

"He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore."

But now, approaching this unbelievable anniversary, we come together to mourn, pray, and resolve to finally bring the war to an end.

We hope the video is useful to you for reflecting on where we find ourselves at this point in history and as a tool to start conversations with your church, your friends, and even your family.

Watch the video. Pray. Share it. And then email Congress.

For peace,

Jim Wallis
...

Here we go again. Presidential elections are coming and the role of "the evangelicals" is predictably becoming a hot political story.

Ironically, voices on both the right and the left want to describe most or all evangelicals as zealous members of the ultra-conservative political base.

Why? Perhaps because some conservative...