Changes Down Under (by Jim Wallis)
In the news you might have missed over the Thanksgiving weekend, Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd decisively defeated Prime Minister John Howard in an important Australian election. Howard has long been one of the strongest supporters of President Bush's policies. Rudd, on the other hand, has already made it clear that he has different priorities. In his first news conference, he committed to making climate change a priority, promising to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Rudd also announced he will withdraw Australia's troops from Iraq.
But deeper than specific issues are the principles that guide Kevin Rudd's politics. On my most recent trip to Australia, I had dinner and a long conversation with Rudd, in which I learned he is a committed Catholic Christian in a secular country and a longtime friend of Sojourners. We discussed at some length how to apply Catholic social teaching to public policy. We had a subsequent conversation in Washington, D.C., on faith and politics; and in the fall of 2006, he wrote an essay, titled "Faith in Politics," for an Australian magazine, The Monthly. He began by saying,
[Dietrich] Bonhoeffer is, without doubt, the man I admire most in the history of the twentieth century. …This essay seeks both to honour Bonhoeffer and to examine what his life, example and writings might have to say to us, 60 years after his death, on the proper relationship between Christianity and politics in the modern world.
Rudd pointed to the core principle that,
Bonhoeffer's political theology is therefore one of a dissenting church that speaks truth to the state, and does so by giving voice to the voiceless. Its domain is the village, not the interior life of the chapel. Its core principle is to stand in defence of the defenceless or, in Bonhoeffer's terms, of those who are "below". … Christianity, consistent with Bonhoeffer's critique in the '30s, must always take the side of the marginalised, the vulnerable and the oppressed.
It is unusual for a prime minister to cite Bonhoeffer as his model, but it is that principle that Rudd will bring to his new position as prime minister. Along with British prime minister Gordon Brown, he is a new kind of political leader who seeks to practice moral politics.
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Comments
Dear Mr. Wallis:
Your comment, "Along with British prime minister Gordon Brown, he is a new kind of political leader who seeks to practice moral politics." causes me to let you know that I own some ocean-front property in Kansas that I would like to offer you, at a really good price. You can rest assured that Bonhoffer, Ghandi, Martin L. King, and John Kennedy are all heroes of mine, too, therefore you may confidently conclude that I practice "moral real estate sales."
"For we know that we are the children of God, and the whole world lies in the (grasp of the Evil One. . ." Politics, even the most moral of politics, is not our savior, Mr. Wallis, never will be. And politicians too often start out to be "moral and new," but then the cases of scotch and the junkets to Bermuda and the weekend golf trips to Scotland start to flow, and "moral and new" changes to "business as usual."
Look to Jesus, Mr. Wallis, the same yesterday, today and forever.
Posted by: joekc | November 26, 2007 2:36 PM
Gasp! Does this mean you never participated in the immoral financial shenanigans of the last few years, almost universal in appraisals, buyer "givebacks" of the downpayment, the mortgage deceits in the course of your real estate biz?
I find it hard to believe, because every "Christian" real estate broker I know did, justifying it at the time that it was approved by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD and the VA, and that to do otherwise was to "stand in the way of someone else's American Dream," said with one hand over heart, with the other clutching wallet in pocket.
GHandi, Bonhoeffer and Martin L. King my foot.
Maybe Rev. Creflow Dollar?
Ah, well, I guess realtors are far more moral than any politician!
If you can grant there might be a few, I can grant that there might be a few realtors, too, if you would care to tell me the particulars of how you remained moral in the real estate morass of greed that dragged our country down morally and finacially.
Posted by: Going for Broker | November 26, 2007 3:08 PM
Better to have someone at the helm who's not only read Bonhoeffer, but internalised his influence and thought enough to have written about his signifigance and using it as a moral beacon to guide one's own policies - than incurious information retrieval from sports pages and condensed briefings with one thumb on the remote!
Posted by: Love's Labor Lost | November 26, 2007 3:24 PM
I think we all understand that Christ is the eternal answer to the world's political problems. Unfortunately, we live suspended in two eras, the Age of the Present and the Age to Come, and that requires some truck with secular politics. If you think politics is a lost cause, you're wasting your time on a blog named "God's Politics."
I'd like to hear from listers who hail from Australia and so actually know something about that country's politics and Rudd.
Posted by: carl copas | November 26, 2007 6:18 PM
I am one of the Aussies who voted for a change in Govt. Much of the swing, I believe was against the arrogance of the past leader, over Iraq and pro-business anti-union laws. He lost the trust of the people by inventing the notion of "core" and "non-core" promises... the kind you don't really have to keep! Christians in Australia have been served and mobilised by the Australian Christian Lobby- a non-partisan broad-based voice in the arena. They had both leaders in a discussion/debate for them. ACL also published a voting report card for all parties- see their website for a range of concerns extending from family to stem cells to migration and overseas aid.
No-one believes the public face of our politicians. Rudd is carefully controlling here. He is known to have a fierce and sometimes ugly mouth behind the scenes
Posted by: Public Christian | November 26, 2007 6:44 PM
Going for Broker, happy news, I am not really a real estate mogul!! I was trying to make a little light-hearted statement about how I felt Mr. Wallis was over-trusting of "the new guy in Australia," just because he talks the talk. A lot of politicians do that, you know.
I don't suppose I could get away with being a professional gambler, huh?
Posted by: joekc | November 26, 2007 7:33 PM
..at least that's a more honest trade! It has to be, the way the casinos track patrons. Gambling's what made mdern Mathematics. Let's not forget Pascal's Bet.
Posted by: Gone Broke | November 26, 2007 7:57 PM
Just for what it is worth:
One of our directors in Australia corrected the information above. Mr. Rudd was baptized a Catholic but is, in fact, a practicing Anglican today.
Posted by: Sherry Weddell | November 26, 2007 9:18 PM
Rudd is an anglican. He attends church with some of my mothers friends in Brisbane (about half an hour from here). His faith has always been public, even though the party he leads (Australian Labour Party) has typically steered clear of religion (sound familiar).
While I suspect that he is a moral politician I personally do not have much faith in the union dominated party he serves (probably because I'm a unionist). His political stands which Wallis has praised him for do not grow out of his faith (though they may be supported by it) but grow out of his parties socialist and environmentalist roots. They are platforms that predate his leadership.
Hopefully he will be at least more honest than his predecessor (who really did a great job for Australia).
Be Blessed,
Posted by: Trent | November 26, 2007 10:36 PM
I suspect you'd find that extremist Islam has people exactly like Bonhoeffer to follow. While he's held up as a model for Christian activism, he was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler. It's not a far jump to imagine an Islamic Bonhoeffer (like Nasrallah of Hezbollah) who sees the arabs and muslims being oppressed by the US and Israel and who encourages active resistance. In his case active resistance meant conspiring to overthrow the government and to assasinate it's leader.
Surely a worthy role model for pacifist Sojourners. He was committed to his cause the same way those who bomb abortion clinics or suicide bombers are.
Be Blessed,
Posted by: Trent | November 27, 2007 12:10 AM
You're talking about Adolf Hitler, man. Even the German Wermacht (army) officers wanted to assassinate him by 1944.
I think seeing millions of people taking showers with Zylon-B can have that kind of an influence on moral people as they see murderous thugs murdering with impunity,led by a psychopath - and it began to run full tilt that year in the camps.
In any case, Hitler executed all he suspected, kept eating vegetarian and loving animals right up until his own persoanl final solution in the bunker in Berlin.
Posted by: Ernst Zundel | November 27, 2007 3:58 AM
Mr. Wallis
I was encouraged also by the change in Australia. I was surprised that Mr. Rudd was that interested in Bonhoeffer - to the extent that he wrote about his personal dialog with this theologian. But I don't think that it is strange that Mr. Rudd should be for treaties that reduce global polution and take action to reduce violence in the world. This seems to be part of the Christian experience. Bonhoeffer's contribution to theology is that Christians should oppose with their lives the forces of evil in the world. More Christians need the faith to oppose those forces today rather than compromise with them.
Posted by: Nick | November 27, 2007 9:05 AM
Also encouraging that other matters, like Iraq, must have counted with the Australian people in this election, since the economy has been doing well under Howard.
Paul - originalfaith.com
Posted by: Paul Martin | November 27, 2007 10:28 AM
Jim,
Please take a longer, harder look at Gordon Brown...
Posted by: radical jonny | November 27, 2007 12:18 PM
Rudd wrote that "Bonhoeffer's political theology is therefore one of a dissenting church that speaks truth to the state..."
So I wonder how you apply this when you are head of the state. Hmmmm... One hopes Rudd would welcome the church to speak truth to him when he waivers from Christian principles. We'll see. Most political leaders certainly don't like the church giving them "advice".
Posted by: Eric | November 27, 2007 12:37 PM
Wallis had "a long conversation with Rudd in which (Wallis) learned that he is a committed Catholic Christian," except it turns out he's an Anglican not a Catholic. Was Wallis not listening during his long "conversation" or perhaps the "conversation" never really took place. In any case, the discrepancy, though minor, is just one more example of Wallis not knowing what he's talking about. Why do you people listen?
Posted by: Dave | November 27, 2007 2:43 PM
Sadly, John Howard's political fate was sealed a year ago when he refused to meet with Bono, another of Jim Wallis's friends.
As for Bonhoeffer, well, co-opting dead heroes to a political cause has become very fashionable of late. Think William Wilberforce.
Posted by: Gavin | November 27, 2007 3:07 PM
Iraq barely rated a mention in the Australian elections. The economy (with rising interest rates and the worst housing affordability ever) was a big issue, as were Industrial Relations and education.
My earlier comments about Bonhoeffer were in response to a post that has since disappeared (not sure why, it was pretty innocuous). I still find it ironic that someone who not only advocated assassination, but who was actively involved in a plot to assassinate his own leader should be held up as a role model by Sojourners. I think there's a tendency to only emphasise his level of commitment to action and to downplay (or outright ignore) the extreme lengths he was willing to go to. I think Bonhoeffer could easily be sited by those who favoured deposing Saddam by force.
Be Blessed,
Posted by: Trent | November 27, 2007 6:05 PM
In defense of Bonhoeffer, a true man of peace, let it be noted he was also a man of personal courage, constantly calling out for justice. His belief was that..."It is an evil time when the world lets injustice happen silently, when the oppression of the poor and the wretched cries out to heaven in a loud voice and the judges and the rulers of the earth keep silent about it, when the persecuted church calls to God for help in the hour of dire distress and exhorts people to do justice, and yet no mouth on earth is open to bring justice."
Yes, Bonhoeffer was involved in the plot to kill Hitler and thus rescue millions from his evil grip and visions. This was not a joyful undertaking for this pastor, but a case of willingness to lay down his own life so that others might live.One would have to be a victim of blind rhetoric to compare the heroic sacrificial actions of Bonhoeffer to a terrorist targeting innocent civilians.Hitler and Stalin both should have been stopped in their destructive paths, just as those perpetrating the genocide in Darfur need to be stopped.
Peace making has costs. I agree with General Norman Schwarzkopf who said that any soldier worth his salt should be anti-war. And yet there are things worth fighting for. Even devout pastors sometimes must fight.
War and violence are contrary to God's purposes, and it is a sorrowful day for people of faith and conscience when they must pick up arms against fellow human beings, and yet circumstances are sometimes imposed on nations. I am deeply saddened that courageous intervention did not take place in a timely fashion in Rwanda and that our sisters and brothers in Darfur have been subjected to the tragedy of genocide without pressure from the world to stop the madness.
Peaceful means for conflict resolution must always be sought first, and even when violence erupts,the task for people of faith is to search and work for the means to bring a just and merciful end to the violence. However, no scripture calls for compromising with evil and letting countless people die because we are "pacifists." We are people for justice, mercy, and humility before God.
Posted by: Marsha Hansen | November 27, 2007 7:00 PM
It's not necessary for genuine Christians to act as other than peacemakers. The world will always have their wars and Christians are called to do as Jesus says, not according to worldly reason's mistaken belief in violent cycles of revenge. Our mission to a lost world is totally different.
Posted by: Merton King | November 28, 2007 1:18 AM
"I think Bonhoeffer could easily be sited (sic) by those who favoured deposing Saddam by force."
Shhhh, don't give Bush any ideas. Of course, his speechwriters would need to tutor him on how to pronounce the name.
Posted by: I and I | November 28, 2007 9:25 AM
I am dismayed by Merton Kings comment's on "the world" and on "genuine" Christians. "The world" is made up of people created in the image of God, and loved by God. The only litmus test for Christians is whether we live the great commandments, and obey Jesus our teacher in embracing the apostolic gospel. Even in this test, God alone is the judge. Christians are called upon to be salt and light, not to set ourselves apart, but so that the world might benefit also.
We all need a new paradigm to replace the reprehensible idea of war and killing, yet there are plenty of genuine Christians on front lines in every war who hope that they are at one with others of faith who are praying for just solutions and who are actively seeking means to bring all violence to an end.
It is not revenge that motivates actions, including military actions, to liberate people in concentration camps, or to assist the defenseless.
It is one thing to work toward new paradigms for peace, and quite another to write off the world and its wars.
Posted by: Marsha Hansen | November 28, 2007 12:26 PM
How can genuine Christians be on the battlefield, killing other Christians - the spectacles of World Wars I and II - Northern Ireland - and even Christians in the Mideast, let alone non-Christians?
They may think they're following Christ's Great Commandment - love your enemy, Jesus said, because even the heathen love their own - but it is a delusion to think that solutions are found in killing other human beings, including the many civilians who in modern warfare are most of the casualties and offers nothing more to the world than more of its own hopelessness dressed up in approval of the worst kind of sin.
In war, men are stripped of their morals and conscience and are made the instruments of the sinful desires of others for whom they are called to fight and die for against the best interests of mankind.
Posted by: Merton King | November 28, 2007 7:44 PM
Mr. King,
Would you call the police if someone were breaking into your house? Are police officers immoral and without conscience for daring to bear arms and risk their lives to save you from harm? It is outrageous to presume that people in uniform on the battlefield have no conscience. Did David have no conscience? Did Gideon have no conscience? Did Joel not proclaim a time for beating plowshares into swords, just as Isaiah proclaimed a holy vision of a time to beat swords into plowshares? Did Jesus note the faith of the Centurion? Unless you are willing to re-write Biblical history, and cast Moses, Samuel and Joshua and Abraham as men without conscience, your argument does not hold. Jesus is indeed the fulfillment of the law, and people of the New Testament are charged with being peacemakers insofar as it depends on us, but so were people of the Old Testament. The demands for justice, mercy,humility and peace among human beings resound throughout both the Old and New Testament. God's righteous people, those who loved the Lord, did fight when the time came and they still do.
War is no ideal for any of us, and there are certainly unjust wars and aggressive actions in which no one of conscience should participate, but if a sniper is on the roof shooting people, just authority has a duty to respond. And when people are being annihilated in concentration camps, the peaceful thing toward those victims is to go in and release them even at the cost of one's own life.
The forces of evil were arrayed against the world in WWII, and good Christian people and others of faith, who were not stripped of their morality or their conscience, were called to the battlefield.Churchill wanted peace no less than Chamberlain, but a just peace, and a peace that honored life.
The ideals of peace ought to always be in front of us, and until the spirit and forces of war can be silenced forever, visionary negotiators and men and women in uniform are among those who make peace possible.
Posted by: Marsha Hansen | November 28, 2007 11:27 PM
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