Wallis: Poverty is the New Slavery

Photo by David Troyer

Author Jim Wallis spoke to a full crowd in Lehman Auditorium Tuesday night on his book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, as one of the final events of Poverty Awareness Week.

"The power of the religious right is being broken," Jim Wallis said to a packed chapel Tuesday night, calling for a new social movement that recognizes poverty, war and the environment as crucial moral issues.

Applying the words of Jesus, Wallis said "as you have done for the least of these you have done for Me." He presented a different kind of conversation about faith and politics that does not limit its morality to two values, gay marriage and abortion. A conversation that invited in people as young as eight years old who said "didn't know you could be a Christian and care about poverty."

Wallis said that "inequality angers the heart of God," and he called for a group that listens to the 2,000 verses in the Bible concerning poverty. A movement that wants to change Jesus' perception as "pro-war, pro-rich and only pro-American," and that feels Christianity is too often represented in politics by "loudmouth televangelists." From his travel experiences over the United States and world, Wallis believes that, "a generation of young people are being raised up for this time." These young people are hungry for spiritual integrity and social justice but most importantly for the connection between the two. In a direct challenge to the young people in the audience who believe in this movement, Wallis quoted one of his former staffers in reference to being leaders: "We are the ones that we have been waiting for."

"Social movements that have changed world history always have spiritual foundations," said Wallis towards the end of his lecture. With poverty being the new slavery and the "country hungry for a moral center to our public discourse," Wallis described a new movement in the spirit of the civil rights and abolitionist movements that combines faith with people willing to find a new way to think about God's politics. Wallis's lecture was the capstone event of Poverty Awareness Week (PAW) and the first speaker brought in by the Student Lecture Series.

The story of how a NY Times bestselling author with such influence came to Eastern Mennonite University begins in 2004 when a group of students formed with the intention of bringing vibrant intellectual and spiritual ideas to campus through guest lecturers. One of the main purposes was to create discussion and intellectual growth in a nonclassroom setting.

The students on the committee began a search for someone to start the series. After much discussion and communication with Jim Wallis and his organization, they settled on him. Wallis was attractive because of his message's vitality in the current U.S. political climate. He also creates discussion concerning politics without being ideological and divisive. Once Wallis was selected as the flagship speaker for the Student Lecture Series, the next task was to fund his visit and advertise his appearance. According to Lee Hartman, a member of the SLS committee, the fee for his appearance, which included a dinner with Q and A, a time with a book discussion group sponsored by SASS, a lecture in Lehman Hall and a book signing, came to $10,000.

Different groups helped sponsor Wallis' appearance. These included Eastern Mennonite University, its Seminary, the Lilly Project, Shenandoah Anabaptist Society, and MMA. The Student Lecture Series also spent a considerable amount of time advertising at EMU and in the greater community. Posters were put up all over EMU's campus, at James Madison University and Bridgewater College as well as at local businesses. Advertisements were also placed in local newspapers and over the air on local radio stations.

Besides advertising, the EMU community prepared for Jim Wallis' visit through other methods. The Shenandoah Anabaptist Science Society began a weekly book discussion earlier in the year on Wallis' latest book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. This group met every Thursday during lunch and examined the issues and ideas Wallis raises chapter by chapter. This group was then invited to attend a dinner and Q and A time with the author before his public lecture. During this time, Wallis spoke very candidly about his story and fielded questions concerning his target audience, the church and politics, and illegal immigration.

Another event that coincided with Wallis's visit was PAW. PAW events included a string of discussions, chapels and a food drive (in part coordinated by CAC). One discussion, in Common Grounds, focused on global poverty, the environment, the United Nations, and the effect foreign policies have on worldwide poverty. Chapels included a special presentation by Vaunda Brown, a former homeless woman who is now a local business and community leader.

All of these events served as background for Wallis' lecture Tuesday night in Lehman Auditorium. The chapel was filled with a wide spectrum of attendees, from EMU students and faculty to community members. During his lecture Wallis discussed how the political system in the U.S. has mishandled religion, both from the left and the right side of the spectrum. The main message of his speech was a call for a morality and spiritually based social movement, in the spirit of the Civil Rights and Abolitionist movements, to address the critical issue of global poverty. Wallis conveyed his message with a mixture of humor, story telling and a challenge to the audience.