Monday, May 23, 2005
Calvin College Takes Bush to Task
President Bush's visit to Calvin College turned out to be not quite as photo-opish as Karl Rove had hoped ("Preaching to the Choir? Not This Time"). Students and faculty at the evangelical school in Michigan organized protests against Bush's foreign and domestic policies ("Your deeds, Mr. President - neglecting the needy to coddle the rich, desecrating the environment and misleading the country into war - do not exemplify the faith we live by" read a full-page ad in the Grand Rapids Press, signed by 800 students, facility, and alums).
But this protest didn't come out of nowhere. Jim Wallis, executive director of Sojourners, spoke at Calvin on May 12. During his visit, Wallis met with about 300 students concerned with the forthcoming Bush speech, and talked about possible responses.
The New York Times, in its coverage of the event, referred to Wallis as a "leader of the Christian left." For the Times, any religious person who isn't Religious Right must be "Religious Left." I guess we shouldn't expect the mainstream media to understand the difference, but the left-right political spectrum is misleading at best, downright wrong at worst, in understanding voices from the biblical center (which has nothing to do -- as Wallis puts it -- with the "mushy political middle").
But this protest didn't come out of nowhere. Jim Wallis, executive director of Sojourners, spoke at Calvin on May 12. During his visit, Wallis met with about 300 students concerned with the forthcoming Bush speech, and talked about possible responses.
The New York Times, in its coverage of the event, referred to Wallis as a "leader of the Christian left." For the Times, any religious person who isn't Religious Right must be "Religious Left." I guess we shouldn't expect the mainstream media to understand the difference, but the left-right political spectrum is misleading at best, downright wrong at worst, in understanding voices from the biblical center (which has nothing to do -- as Wallis puts it -- with the "mushy political middle").
