Here We Go Again (by Jim Wallis)
I'm on a plane to Portland, Oregon, to begin the West Coast swing of The Great Awakening book tour that will also take us to Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego—all back to back. The events are quite diverse and very interesting, from universities, churches, various civic forums, pastors' lunches, student groups, and, of course, lots of bookstores.
Already, I am being reminded of the God's Politics book tour three years ago. So many people have told me how depressed they were after the 2004 election, and how the appearance of God's Politics gave them real hope again about the possibility of an alternative to the Religious Right, or, even more personally, how that promise actually brought them back to faith. I can't tell you how much that encourages me. Last time we were really stunned by the size of the turnout at all the book events and also at how young the audiences were. And Tuesday night, at the opening book event for The Great Awakening at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the hall was filled with students.
I've been doing lots of radio interviews in the last few days and have found the comments and questions very interesting. Two stand out.
First, several interviewers have suggested that God's Politics and now The Great Awakening are giving Christian faith a different image than the one that has dominated for several years now. They say these books are helping to "re-brand" Christian commitment away from the divisive, partisan, political, and top-down agenda of the Religious Right to a new image of faith that is much more welcoming, open, inclusive, and focused on both compassion and social justice. I really hope that is true and that's part of the reason I write these books.
The second question I am asked is even more important, it seems to me. The Great Awakening is a very hopeful book, several of the interviewers have told me. But then they ask, "Do you think we really can be hopeful about real change in this country and the world?" They ask me to forgive them for their cynicism and then ask, almost longingly, if hope is really possible. That is exactly the question this book tries to deal with, and I am sure it will be the hot topic of conversation at every stop along this book tour.
Along the way, I'll be blogging about the people I meet and what they have to say. Keep up with us at the God's Politics Blog. And do visit the Great Awakening Web site our terrific staff has created for the book tour. It is full of good resources, including a downloadable study guide for those who want to start Great Awakening study groups in their church or community. (I heard a lot about those during the God's Politics book tour—including when I was in Dallas last year and a man whispered subversively in my ear that they had two God's Politics book study groups in George Bush's home church!)
The Great Awakening also has a cool little video about what inspired me to write this book, put together by some of our most talented young staffers (I am so lucky to have these people). You can also see the schedule for when we will be coming to a city near you! So come on out, bring your friends and bring your kids. We're going to have a whole lot of fun.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Comments
Prayers have been offered by our family for success for this tour, which isn't just about commercial promotion, but a consciousness-raising to give the ideas the widest possible mindshare so that people can be inspired to act out their faith in life-changing ways, personally and communally.
We are awaiting arrival of copies of the book to our Public Library, where it has already been asked for.
Posted by: Sojourner Truth | January 31, 2008 1:37 PM
Yeah well, all good 2 U Jim and may you make a lot of $$$,
But this Christian of THE BEATITUDES isn't banking on bucks or a revival;
WAWA is after a spiritual evolution revolution and a GREATER AWAKENING
FREELY given 2 U and open minds and hearts under the:
A Greater Awakening Link
@ WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
The Next in this ongoing series Coming Soon:
"The New Body of Christ and Blowing Your Mind Brother"
Eileen Fleming,
Reporter and Editor WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu"
Posted by: eileen fleming | January 31, 2008 5:13 PM
Hi Jim:
As a retired public high school teacher,I just want you know how much I enjoyed reading "The Great Awakening." It was awesome, I wished I could have used it in my classroom years ago. However, I did use one your books, "Waging Peace" as a reference, for deveoping a curriculum on: "Peace and Justice" units.
I really enjoyed your chapter on "Politics for the Common Good" (ch.4). It reminded of what it was like growing up on a small farm in Southern Minnesota in the 1940-50 era. I remember how people enjoyed coming together as a community and talk "politics". People often joked back and forth... like the republicans belonging to the country clubs, while the democrats joined the farmers union. No one got angry or felt threatened. But, if an issue ever came up regarding "the common good", they were all pretty much on the same page. I can not recall any 'party politics'or name calling. But something changed where the common-good politics was replaced by the politics of individual gain and special interests. It was a sad and drastic change for those of us who recall the 'good old days' of social justice and compassion for all.
Your book offers us a lot of hope for the future. It is very painful to see our government as 'broken. We must cry out for CHANGE. My prayer is that your book will help spark a new movement in America. May the movement bring about 'conservative radical'like changes,effecting the hearts and minds of all those who read it.
Posted by: Roger A. Ris | January 31, 2008 10:49 PM
Roger, thanks for what you shared. Somehow in our society, the idea that "greed is good for society" took hold. Perhaps the trickle-down theory contributed to that to a degree, by encouraging people to believe that the best way to help the poor would be to become rich themselves. But I think it has to do more with the "me decade" and everything that followed. Anti-communism of the forties and fifties somehow transmuted into anti-government ideology in the seventies, dovetailing perfectly with the narcissism that exploded during that time. And LBJ's war certainly didn't encourage the young to have confidence in government solutions. Such a sad confluence of factors to get us to this point.
Posted by: I and I | February 1, 2008 11:32 AM
Why don't you guys just join up with LifeWay and David C Cook? Oh, but I forgot--you need to appeal to the broad culture that "likes" you, so that you can "be popular" and "push the Great Awakening" and get to the top of the NYTimes Bestseller List.
Methinks you're being a tad cynical. The truth is that "Christian" publishing won't touch the book because the whole apparatus often suppresses dissenting voices.
Posted by: Rick Nowlin | February 1, 2008 12:17 PM
Rick Nowlin, once again, is an apologist for Jim/Sojo.
Suspect's post is right on time.
Sojo says:
1. "PUSH" the book
2. "BUY" the book
3. "START" a study group
This IS marketing of a product, for Amazon/NYTimes credibility/legitimacy (in the eyes of the larger culture).
Something's wrong with this formula; it's too commercial and suggests that the answer to the "problem" is to read, study and cling/cleave to "The Great Awakening".
Say what you want, Rick, but your excuses for this behavior is repugnant.
By the way, there is such a thing as "health" cynicism, and it's quite biblical.
Posted by: AJ | February 1, 2008 12:49 PM
AJ--it's not just Sojo. It's actually very prevalent within Christian publishing. I'll read Christian books, and regardless of the author, there often are accompanying study guides, either at the end, or as separate books to purchase. It's a given that publishers expect that Christians will use the book to be the center of a study session or discussion group (likewise, secular publishers expect their books to be used in "Common Freshman Reading Experiences", hence the study guide at the end of "The Kite Runners"). How many "Purpose Driven Life"-types of materials can you think of? Purpose Driven journal, Purpose Driven study guide, Purpose Driven CD compilation, Purpose Driven Starbuck's coffee blend--Limited Edition LL Bean Purpose Driven Subura Forestor...Someone else pointed out on a previous thread (I think it was Don) that authors, both Christian and secular, have obligations to the publishers as part of their contracts to promote the book on talk shows and speaking engagements. I don't agree with the practice, but I don't know what the solution is, either. Equally heinous is all the money spent on political campaigns. What's the answer to that, in this media age? I don't know--I don't like it either, but I don't know what the solution is--any ideas you could suggest to Wallis so that he doesn't have to fall into this trap of consumerism? The constant criticism I've seen on these threads isn't all that productive, but I'm sure he'd be interested in alternative methodologies if you can make some constructive suggestions.
Posted by: squeaky | February 1, 2008 1:39 PM
Squeaky, well put, and thank you.
Funny, whenever I see your alias at the end of a post I think of the picture of the young red-headed woman Squeaky Fromme on the cover of Time Magazine in the mid-seventies, accompanied by the headline "The Girl Who Tried to Kill Ford" Do you have red hair?
Posted by: I and I | February 1, 2008 3:18 PM
You can't reach a large number of people to disseminate ideas, unless you publicize and promote them.
It costs money to write and publish books and if they're not advertised, no one buys them because they areen't aware of them. If no one buys them, the writer and publisher have wasted their money and a lot of people never get to hear important ideas. Moreover, it then becomes unlikely that similar topics will be seen as worthy of being published, bo matter how important they my be.
The mere act of promotong and advertising is not unsavory in itself. Manipulating people to buy things they don't need through creating pschological needs is another matter and is the essence of consumerism.
On the other hand, I just happen to think that a whole lot of people would be energized and helped by the insights in the book he's seeking to gain a wide audience for, so the more it's known to be available, and what it is it aims to do, the more chance for people actually choosong to read it there will be.
If they don't think it's valuable, despite the awareness generated, they certainly don't have to buy it.
Instead, they could choose to buy something "cosumerist," which The Great Awakening Certainly is not.
Posted by: Sojourner Truth | February 1, 2008 9:26 PM
"Do you have red hair?"
Creepy!
But yes, Squeaky's point about Christian books is fair enough. It's a good with the bad thing. I want them to be available, and so I must accept the marketing mechanisms that make them so.
Of course, almost anyone could get a free bible, if need be.
Posted by: kevin s. | February 2, 2008 1:02 AM
Squeaky:
I agree that that's the nature of the publishing "bizness". However, wasn't the internet supposed to be the venue to fight against this kind of "industrialized" agenda by publishers?
YouTube and EbaY are just two examples that show us that "The World is Flat".
If Jim/Sojo want their message to be heard, and for thier materials to be read, then why not maximize internet publishing and supplying the "Great Awakening", chapter by chapter in a very systematic, intentional way, to their multiple ministry partners (Red Letter Xians, Justice churches, and study groups), free of charge (or minimal charge?).
Where is the webcast for online and video discussion?
I think your points are good ones to describe the obligations that publishing companies place upon those who sign contracts, but in this day and age--when so called "movements" opt for the old excuse, "the devil (publisher) made me do it", then it seems that it's business as usual.
There are many people who would enjoy reading The Great Awakening, and would gain from its insights.
But when the insights are "pushed" and marketed in the same format at secular books, then the gloss and glitz of it all can compromise its overall value.
In this context, what may have been profound can easily turn into PRODUCT that gets marketed for PROFIT ($$$).
Posted by: AJ | February 2, 2008 1:20 AM
sometimes, you just gotta laugh.
marketing. evangelism. getting the good news out there.
maybe we *should* just keep these crazy ideas hidden.
nobody should publish or talk, or heaven forbid! be paid for their ideas.
let's don't compensate anyone for their time or efforts when they put forth a message of social justice. let's don't pay preachers or oprah. missionaries or rick warren.
that's a great idea!
hmmm... jesus himself probably would have been accused of... oops! he was!
go get 'em, jim.
Posted by: zib | February 2, 2008 11:00 AM
Zib:
Won't you sing that same flippant song to the megachurch preachers (i.e. the Swaggarts, Bakkers, Copelands, Osteens, Prices, Longs, Dollars, Jakes, Roberts, Tiltons,Meyers, etc., etc., etc.), who have beguiled millions of dollars from the flock.
No one is arguing extreme reductionism here. Just realism with respect to the climate of the culture.
Lick you (spiritual) finger sometimes, stick it in the wind (and no place else), and sense the direction things: read the times and the seasons.
That's quite biblical. Jim, Sojo, and all of us should be held to more stringent standards, and not to those of Oprah and any other "do-gooder".
Posted by: AJ | February 2, 2008 3:49 PM
In line with your "forgive my cynicism" commentators, it isn't so much cynicism as certain practical considerations that lead me to ask whether a great awakening or even a modest awakening can occur today, except possibly within certain subcultures, and therefore limited in numbers and potential effect.
First, the loudest and most influential voices in our culture, emanating from the realms of politics and entertainment, remain, on the whole, and to put it generously, half asleep. Second, it's hard to see what mechanisms for moving the culture in positive directions exist for awakened people who lack access to levers of major communication and influence. For example, my book will appear in bookstores nowhere despite its creation in a spirit of genuine vocation through a 25 year period of adversity that one wouldn’t think such an undertaking could withstand. I persisted, the book has received solid endorsements, but I’m severely disabled, housebound, mostly bedridden, and despite my higher education in religious studies from the U of Chicago divinity school, related work experience, a second related masters (in counseling) and my lifelong dedication to my topic, I’ll never have a marketing platform that guarantees sales potential, and therefore no trade publisher, with the result that a truly unique book that its readers have loved will never contribute a potentially powerful voice to exactly the kind of awakening you're talking about. Prevailing social conditions reward existing power, social status, connections, wealth, and cookie cutter spin offs that assure sales. The genuinely creative is stifled and unheard like never before in America.
And this much is easy to see: without a great awakening in the near future, apart from an unleashing of creativity in spirituality and moral life, the progression of humanity's technology and its byproducts in combination with our material excesses will continue to dim the future for the children of us all.
I discuss this further in my current post, permalinked below:
Paul - Original Faith
Posted by: Paul Maurice Martin | February 3, 2008 2:08 PM
PS That's odd - permalink didn't take. Here's my home page, which has always worked. Blog link is at the top of the page and the post is Sat. 2-2.
Thanks,
Paul - Original Faith
Posted by: Paul Maurice Martin | February 3, 2008 2:13 PM
Paul:
Sorry to hear of your trying situation. Isn't it interesting when an intelligent point like yours is made, challenging the market-driven PAC of Sojo, that the fans go silent?
You don't even get an apology for Sojo from Rick Nowlin.
Sadly, Sojo (as kind and gentle and fervent as they may be about thier cause)has opted for standard commercial marketing of their "PRODUCT", with the strong soapbox determination that thiers is the only message that will lead to a GREAT AWAKENING in America!
Kinda sounds like the promise/guarantee that if you buy my book, you will have YOUR BEST LIFE NOW!
I guess we should all indulge Jim--and buy his new book, before we miss out on the great awakening. (Don't miss this opportunity! For a Limited time Only!!!)
Coming to a (spiritual) theatre near you: infomercials about "THE GREAT AWAKENING"
According to Sojo, the Revolution of The Great Awakening, will be televised.
Posted by: AJ | February 3, 2008 10:03 PM
You don't even get an apology for Sojo from Rick Nowlin.
As if that has anything to do with me... :-)
According to Sojo, the Revolution of The Great Awakening, will be televised.
Don't be so sure about that. Remember, "God's Politics" was a runaway best-seller but was still a bit underground.
Posted by: Rick Nowlin | February 4, 2008 10:40 AM
Post a Comment
Are you aware of our Rules of Conduct?