Another Invitation To Glenn Beck

Dear Glenn,

Since I challenged your claim that "social justice" was a code word for Communism and Nazism, and your calling on Christians to leave their churches if their pastors preach social justice, you have begun to modify what you are saying -- and I appreciate that. You said social justice was a "perversion of the gospel," and I countered that to assert that, instead, it is at the heart of the gospel and part of the core meaning of biblical faith. And the church authorities you wanted Christians to turn their pastors in to would all agree that social, economic, and racial justice are integral to the message of Jesus.

But now you've moved from labeling social justice as Communist or Fascist to saying that it only means "big government" and that it violates the separation of church and state. Then you said that some Christians mean Marxism by that term and some do not. Finally, you said that if social justice means "empowering" people to act individually, then that might be okay. Well, that's progress, but there's still some need for conversation here. Christians can have different views of the role of government but still agree that social justice is crucial. Very few who believe that are Marxists. And while we all preach empowerment to live out the gospel, we don't think the meaning of social justice should be reduced to just private charity. Biblical justice also involves changing structures, institutions, systems, and policies, as well as changing hearts to be more generous. So there is still a lot to talk about here.

I am glad to see you are beginning to recognize the deep richness of the term "social justice." I and my organization, Sojourners, have committed 35 years to exploring this and to working with Christians across the spectrum to deepen their commitment to this essential, biblical concept. Now that you're willing to admit that social justice is more than just a code word, we have a wonderful opportunity for the two of us to sit down together and have an open and public discussion on what social justice really means and how Christians are called to engage in the struggle for justice.

Why don't we do that, on your show, or in some other venue? And let's make this a civil dialogue and not engage in personal attacks on each other -- which is never helpful in trying to sort out what is true. So let's talk about the heart of the matter. When would you like to get together for this conversation?

Blessings,
Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis is the author of Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street -- A Moral Compass for the New Economy, CEO of Sojourners and blogs at www.godspolitics.com.

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Comments

[Weirdwriter]

04:14 PM on 03/20/2010

Thanks, Rev., for reminding us what true Christianity is all about -- caring for the least of us as if it were for ourselves.

Whether we do that individually or collectively.

[jjtx]

11:29 AM on 03/22/2010

Yes, indeed. Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry as an individual, but he also confronted the social systems that kept those same people in poverty and oppression (the powers and principalities).

[EdNeedham]

02:07 PM on 03/19/2010

Thanks, Jim!

Here's hoping he bites!

New article: Why We Love Jim Wallis and Pray for Glenn Beck.

http://democratdeal.blogspot.com/2010/03/why-we-love-jim-wallis-and-pray-for.html

[Bogstomper]

11:21 PM on 03/18/2010

"Now that you're willing to admit that social justice is more than just a code word, we have a wonderful opportunity for the two of us to sit down together and have an open and public discussion on what social justice really means..."

Reason and civility. What a cunning ploy. ;)

I hope Beck accepts. I'd like to see that conversation.

[whirledgonecrazy]

06:48 PM on 03/18/2010

Jim, I love ya, but Glenn Beck has no balls, so don't hold your breath for his RSVP.

[MamfeMan]

12:12 PM on 03/18/2010

All of this is so bizarre to me. If you are a full-on libertarian, borderline anarchist, then I will buy your argument about 'redistribution of wealth' not being social justice; because then it doesn't matter who is spending my money. The bottom line is someone is taking it (i.e. Repubs or Dems) and redistributing it somewhere, whether that's to invade a foreign country or remove a foreign object from my lungs. Then I'll respect this argument about a redistribution of wealth. Otherwise, I find it all a bit dubious. The reality is we can't help everybody. Social justice? Doesn't that mean, for instance stopping genocide if you have the means to do it? Charity? I also respect the idea that the libertarian, borderline anarchist has such faith in human kind that our inherent charitable natures will end up in a world that is swimming in the kindness of Teletubbies and the like, but it's not. As a people we haven't been charitable. As an individual, I didn't have the means to help my neighbor pay his $30,000 hospital bill when his appendix burst. I didn't have the means to contribute to the $800 a month my friends had to pay for COBRA when they got laid off. I could buy them a dinner, or a beer, but that's it. If you are going to tax me, which is gonna happen regardless, I can think of worse places for my money to go then into health care.

[robphilnz]

03:15 AM on 03/19/2010

Well put.

[grumpyfarmer]

01:08 AM on 03/18/2010

Putting Beck aside, as a Christian and a conservative I think we really need to examine the message we are sending. Christ most certainly would not have advised standing idly by while working folks were unable to afford health care, and I doubt he would have approved of executives awarding themselves million dollar bonuses while their companies went bankrupt. It is beginning to look like the far right do not believe that compassion has a place in Christianity.

Face it, if everyone was truly following the 10 commandments, we wouldn't need laws....or bailouts...we probably wouldn't need a healthcare bill.

Lately, I have begun to wonder if the cheese is starting to slide off of Becks cracker.

[ladyearth]

09:53 PM on 03/18/2010

With all due respect, Jesus gave us two great commandments. Jesus said to love God with all our heart, all our mind and all our soul, and He said, the second is like unto the first, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus then added that ALL the law and the prophets are fulfilled in these two commandments. We, as Christians, must allow these two great commandments to live and grow in our hearts, and become the ground the ground from which our actions flow.

[aonemandog]

12:52 PM on 03/20/2010

Were you there when Jesus said these things?...... I thought not.

[sierraseven]

06:41 PM on 03/19/2010

Oh, I don't even wonder. I'm sure that the aerosol Cheez Whiz that serves as his brain parted company with the saltine long ago.

[RosaC]

03:46 PM on 03/17/2010

If you listen to Glenn, he is saying that there is a huge difference between Social Justice and Charity.

People tend to use the word Social Justice as if it has the same definition as Charity. We need to know the difference.

In my opinion, Social Justice is a movement towards a socially just world by means of redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation ordered by the Government.

Charity is the personal act of giving help to those in need because it is the right, moral and Christian thing to do being moved to do so by the Holy Spirit. It is our choice. Free will. Do you want to follow Jesus and help the unfortunate or do you not? The choice is yours.

[bsmithslo]

02:00 AM on 03/18/2010

If we support the use of legislation and taxation to create a socially just society by means of redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation ordered by the Government then by all means lets do it. But, let's not bring Jesus into it. We need to advocate these policies based on reason. Advocating for the poor takes many forms. Progressivism is only one. In a representative Democracy we set social policy by reason; not revelation.

Progressives need to understand that the imposition of progressive Christian values no different than the imposition of conservative Christian values. We need to be very careful when we determine by law what we believe is God's will for the government. We need to be especially cautious when we try to impose our values on others simply because we have the power to do so.

[Gary Barber]

02:46 AM on 03/20/2010

The problem lies in the fact that if you impose "social justice" by means of taxation by the government, even if it is intended to help, you are still giving that power to the GOVERNMENT. The person that you give that power to may have your trust, but you are not giving the power to that person, you are giving the power to an entity that by nature will change and with that change will come a change in the values of the person wielding the power you have given.

Anyone who has any concept of history knows that giving power away to your government means that sooner or later someone will come along and abuse that power.

[witsendster]

07:33 PM on 03/20/2010

Good Grief. I do not agree with this definition being put forward that social justice is defined by redistribution of wealth through progressive taxation, etc. - What malarkey. Just more rhetoric from the right to obscure the truth. Social justice issues may be situations - racial or otherwise - where conflict resolution is enacted. It could be working to promote legislation against hate crimes. It could be pushing for compassionate immigration reform. It could be - yes - encouraging some of our tax dollars to be spent on health care for our citizens instead of so much going to the military industrial complex. It could be pushing for protection our citizens by promoting clean air, clean water legislation. So, when you lobby for social justice issues, in my opinion, you are looking for just change for people - often people who are unable to represent themselves or who are weaker and less powerful - against the larger, less moral interests.

[ideasmatter]

06:20 PM on 03/16/2010

Like most bullies, Beck is a coward underneath. And it shows whenever he is challenged.

[Spirited Away]

10:33 PM on 03/15/2010

I submit to you that one of the greatest manifestations of social justice by churches (and in this case mostly evangelical churches) was the abolition movement.

[whirlpool]

08:27 PM on 03/15/2010

His church teaches that men (not women) will be gods and have their own planet. Glenn is just ahead of schedule thats all. The sooner the rest of you pay up and obey, the sooner it will all be fulfilled.

[tropkins]

06:40 PM on 03/15/2010

Extemist politics need to be removed from our political system
whether they are Extremist Right Trying to Burn down all the Trees
Or they are Extremist Left Trying to Power hug all the trees...
lol
Both are idiots and both need to be put in their place......
namely back out in the fringe where they belong....
Ideology has no place in our political Structure in
regards to the decisions and Laws that are made..
Our politicians Have the right to their own Ideas...
But they Should not have the right to use their position
to spout Ideology and attempt to convince the people
that it is the right choice.....
They were hired by us to be the Mouthpiece of their area
And that should be the extent of their power..plain and simple

and that is the reason we have Polarized Partisan Politics today
because the Sheep of our nation Assume that their party has
a monopoly on the correct thing to do.....
when in actuality both parties are wrong

[ideasmatter]

06:22 PM on 03/16/2010

I'd venture that hugging trees does a lot less damage than burning trees.

[Dancingtheblues]

11:30 PM on 03/18/2010

Sounds like you got a nice little ideology going on there mr/ms tropkins. I trust you'll continue to tell us THE correct way we should think about other ideologies as well as who is an idiot and who isn't.

[auntnoree]

06:04 PM on 03/15/2010

I believe people are missing the point of christianity. It all revolves around free will, and if you make the right choices you will be rewarded, and if you make the wrong choices you will pay for your mistakes. Charity is given by freewill. To have it taken from you is redistribution. Given the choice most people will step up and help the less fortunate. The churches I have been involved with helped the less fortunate by giving food, clothes, paid bills and helped the elderly. This is not "social justice" but a loving gesture for those we can help. The "social justice" the progressives are talking about is a redistrubtion of wealth.

[M-M-F]

03:31 AM on 03/16/2010

Have you not heard of Calvinism or Lutherans or predestination? The central point of Christianity certainly does not revolve around free will.

I take your point about 'redistribution' but I urge you to think a little deeper. If your slaves are freed, taken from you, is that redistribution or is it social justice? I'm pretty sure it wasn't a loving gesture on the part of slave owners who lost their livelihoods.

Votes for women--social justice or wealth redistribution? If Native Americans had relied upon charity instead of receiving justice, they would have ended up on reservations. Oh, wait, that's just what happened. Justice is not redistribution of wealth, it's being fair and, where I come from, being a good Christian.

[auntnoree]

11:36 AM on 03/16/2010

Justice and Social Justice are two different things.Christ was not the first Calvinest. Calvin was and he was human. The idea of predestination does not negate your obligation to serve God thru your service to man, that being said, God has given us all free will, asked us for a 10 percent tithe, and reassured us that anything we give will be returned 10 fold. He does not force us to do anything. I do not follow the teachings of Calvin . I follow the words of Christ.

As for slaves being freed that issue is totally different than them being taken and given to another master. Freeing the slaves is truyly social justice. The healthcare bill is not. It is taking from one person and giving to another.

Womens suffurage has nothing to do with wealth redistribution. Women had the right to work. Justice was served here. And as far as the Indians go, they have had their share of injustice just as all races have. Every race in the world has been slaves to another culture at some point.

I doubt they would trade in their BIA housing and flushing toilets for chasing a buffalo around with a stick anymore that I would trade my wonderful life in the greatest country in history, for chasing sheep around mountains and eating raw oats in Scotland regardless of the injustice that brought my forefathers to this great country. I am thankful for freedom and will make the most of it.

[robphilnz]

04:07 AM on 03/16/2010

And how does your church deal with people who have no church? They are also God's children.

[auntnoree]

11:42 AM on 03/16/2010

None of the churces I have been lucky enough to be associated with would turn anyone away if they are not affiliated with a church. . If anyone comes to the church with a need the church tries to fulfill it. I remember once a family came to our church on a Sunday morning needing help to buy gasoline to get to California because the gentlemans father was deathly ill. They did not belong to our church nor were they even from our town or state. The elders gave them money from our coffers, and then individuals took up a seperate collection to help them out. We also offered food, a place to sleep and our prayers for them and their father.

Who better serves the people? Individuals or the Government?

And of course, all people are God's children, even those who do not believe.

[curby 13]

05:59 PM on 03/15/2010

I am happy that Beck called it as he saw it. Social justice in itself isn't bad. The way that it's meant to Mr. Wallis here it is. This man has stated that voluntarily giving of your money isn't enough. He has said that it need sto be forced. Sorry my God didn't force these beliefs upon me. God stated it's good to give not only for your fellow man but for the person giving as well. To force a person to give only diminishes the actions.

[Spirited Away]

05:16 PM on 03/15/2010

I find all this discussion very enlightening. I agree with some of the libertarian/conservative individuals in this blog who decry the malaise that can set in within a welfare state. I have also read much conservative secular philosophy that I don’t agree with: I don’t agree with social Darwinism, and this is what I see within these conservative philosophical constructs. I believe in God, and I don’t see poverty as being a great situation either for an individual’s self esteem or for their health (as modern medicine is proving). And because I have a Faith that stresses taking care of the poor and people unable to defend themselves, I believe in some sort of safety net, and I believe it should be a goal to lessen poverty. We have a secular philosophy that would like to get rid of social security and food stamps for the poor and probably even job retraining programs for the unemployed all for the aggrandizement of social Darwinism and the right of an aristocracy (ie, Robber barons). I don’t see what is so glorious about this kind of great society.

[Bigheart521]

04:09 PM on 03/15/2010

I don't like to comment on Glenn Beck because I am waiting for the men in the "white coats" to come and pick him up and admit him to a "psych facility".