Today's TLA is GPB
God's Politics Book <Part 1>
I have been reading God's Politics by Jim Wallis. It is a revolutionary book in my opinion. I am only in the early chapters, but I really enjoy his tone in the book. He criticizes both secular/liberal left and the fundamentalist/conservative right with regards to God's Politics. He argues that both left and right political spectrums do not have a vision of/for Christian issues within America. The left doesn't know how to talk the language of religion in politics, while the right has a narrow conservative vision. Wallis puts it well with his quotation "Without a vision, the people will perish." But good and clear visions are not enough for Wallis. For example, Wallis writes an interesting chapter on protest.
He claims that protests should not just be against something, but rather protesters should also have an alternative solution to the problem. I would agree with his claim. I remember in college, the minority students were very angry that the administration neglected students of color by relegating their clubs and ethnic organizations to a dormitory basement. My question was always, how can an accredited university claim diversity, while hiding that very diversity which they market in a dorm basement? Well, as college students we could have complained and protested for years and those ethnic clubs would still be in that dormitory basement if we did not offer an alternative solution.
I remember we had an alternative solution. Minorities wanted to be visible to the general (white) community of that school. So we camped outside a building which was near the central hub of the campus community. It was located near the cafeteria. We camped out for several days and we finally met with the administration and offered them our alternative solution to have our ethnic organizations and clubs have a central location to exemplify diversity rather than hide it under a dormitory basement. And to this day, the ethnic clubs and organizations are still there. So I agree with Wallis, protest is not enough. You have to offer an alternative solution. It doesn't matter how much you know the other side is wrong, if you don't offer an alternative then there will never be a common ground to make peace. Anyways, I really like this book. But you don't have to take my word for it. < From the PBS show: Reading Rainbow >
Enjoy,
Jonathan
God's Politics Book <Part 1>
I have been reading God's Politics by Jim Wallis. It is a revolutionary book in my opinion. I am only in the early chapters, but I really enjoy his tone in the book. He criticizes both secular/liberal left and the fundamentalist/conservative right with regards to God's Politics. He argues that both left and right political spectrums do not have a vision of/for Christian issues within America. The left doesn't know how to talk the language of religion in politics, while the right has a narrow conservative vision. Wallis puts it well with his quotation "Without a vision, the people will perish." But good and clear visions are not enough for Wallis. For example, Wallis writes an interesting chapter on protest.
He claims that protests should not just be against something, but rather protesters should also have an alternative solution to the problem. I would agree with his claim. I remember in college, the minority students were very angry that the administration neglected students of color by relegating their clubs and ethnic organizations to a dormitory basement. My question was always, how can an accredited university claim diversity, while hiding that very diversity which they market in a dorm basement? Well, as college students we could have complained and protested for years and those ethnic clubs would still be in that dormitory basement if we did not offer an alternative solution.
I remember we had an alternative solution. Minorities wanted to be visible to the general (white) community of that school. So we camped outside a building which was near the central hub of the campus community. It was located near the cafeteria. We camped out for several days and we finally met with the administration and offered them our alternative solution to have our ethnic organizations and clubs have a central location to exemplify diversity rather than hide it under a dormitory basement. And to this day, the ethnic clubs and organizations are still there. So I agree with Wallis, protest is not enough. You have to offer an alternative solution. It doesn't matter how much you know the other side is wrong, if you don't offer an alternative then there will never be a common ground to make peace. Anyways, I really like this book. But you don't have to take my word for it. < From the PBS show: Reading Rainbow >
Enjoy,
Jonathan
1 Comments:
I like it. A bird needs to wings to fly, and when one wing thinks it's the true wing, we're in for a bumpy ride. I like the way your protest worked, it's a great example - seek a new solution, don't just protest against the old problem. Proactive rather than reactive, and true empowerment.
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hajush, at 1:08 PM
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