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<DIV><FONT size=2>When he gets time maybe the Rev. Jim Wallis can try to educate
the very minor, but crackpot evangelists like Cultmaster Douglas Wilson.
Maybe he could also educate him about the prohibition of self enrichment by
lying about the message of Christ.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2>W.</FONT></DIV>
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<H1>Evangelical leader takes on Beck for assailing social justice churches</H1>
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<DIV class=cnnByline>By <B>John Blake</B>, CNN
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<SCRIPT type=text/javascript>if(location.hostname.indexOf( 'edition.' ) > -1) {document.write('March 12, 2010 -- Updated 2227 GMT (0627 HKT)');} else {document.write('March 12, 2010 5:27 p.m. EST');}</SCRIPT>
March 12, 2010 5:27 p.m. EST</DIV></DIV><!--endclickprintinclude--><!-- google_ad_section_end --><!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->
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alt="The Wantagh Memorial Congregational Church in New York posted this sign, Christopher Hofer wrote on CNN iReport."
src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/LIVING/03/12/beck.boycott/t1larg.beck.sign.irpt.jpg"
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<DIV class=cnn_strycaptiontxt>The Wantagh Memorial Congregational Church in New
York posted this sign, Christopher Hofer wrote on CNN iReport.</DIV></DIV><!--===========/CAPTION=========--><!--endclickprintexclude--><!-- /REAP -->
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<DIV><B>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</B></DIV>
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<LI>Evangelical leader calls for boycott of Fox personality Glenn
Beck<BR></LI>
<LI>Beck said Christians should leave churches that preach social
justice<BR></LI>
<LI>Minister says Beck perverts Jesus' message<BR></LI>
<LI>The Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr: Pastors who preach economic justice are
preaching socialism<BR><!-- google_ad_section_end --></LI></UL></DIV></DIV>
<P><B>(CNN)</B> -- An evangelical leader is calling for a boycott of Glenn
Beck's television show and challenging the Fox News personality to a public
debate after Beck vilified churches that preach economic and social justice.</P>
<P>The Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of progressive
Christians, says Beck perverted Jesus' message when he urged Christians last
week to leave churches that preach social and economic justice.</P>
<P>Wallis says Beck compared those churches to Communists and Nazis.</P>
<P>Wallis says at least 20,000 people have already responded to his call to
boycott Beck. He says Beck is confusing his personal philosophy with the
Bible.</P>
<P>"He wants us to leave our churches, but we should leave him," Wallis says of
Beck. "When your political philosophy is to consistently favor the rich over the
poor, you don't want to hear about economic justice."</P>
<P>Wallis says he wants to go on Beck's show to challenge the contention that
churches shouldn't preach economic and social justice.</P>
<P>Social and economic justice is at the heart of <A class=cnnInlineTopic
href="http://topics.cnn.com/topics/jesus_christ">Jesus'</A> message, Wallis
says.</P>
<P>"He's afraid of being challenged on his silly caricatures," Wallis says.
"Glenn Beck talks a lot when he doesn't have someone to dialogue with. Is he
willing to talk with someone who he doesn't agree with?"</P>
<P>Beck did not answer numerous requests for an interview.</P><!--startclickprintexclude-->
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<DIV>Glenn Beck talks a lot when he doesn't have someone to dialogue
with<BR><SPAN>--The Rev. Jim Wallis</SPAN> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>But a prominent evangelical leader says he, too, is suspicious of churches
that preach economic and social justice.</P>
<P>Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, a Christian college in
Virginia, says Jesus wasn't interested in politics. He says that those pastors
who preach economic and social justice "are trying to twist the gospel to say
the gospel supported socialism."</P>
<P>"Jesus taught that we should give to the poor and support widows, but he
never said that we should elect a government that would take money from our
neighbor's hand and give it to the poor," Falwell says.</P>
<P>Falwell says that Jesus believed that individuals, not governments, should
help the poor.</P>
<P>"If we all did as Jesus did when he helped the poor, we wouldn't need the
government," says Falwell, the son of the late evangelical leader, the Rev. <A
class=cnnInlineTopic href="http://topics.cnn.com/topics/jerry_falwell">Jerry
Falwell.</A></P>
<P><B>What is economic and social justice?</B></P>
<P>The term "economic and social justice" is not easy to define. It has
different meanings for different people.</P><!--startclickprintexclude-->
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<DIV>If we all did as Jesus did when he helped the poor, we wouldn't need the
government<BR><SPAN>--Jerry Falwell Jr.</SPAN> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV><B>RELATED TOPICS</B> </DIV>
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<LI>
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cnnRelatedTopicKeys.push('Christianity');
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<A href="http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Christianity">Christianity</A></LI>
<LI>
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cnnRelatedTopicKeys.push('Martin_Luther_King_Jr');
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<A href="http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Martin_Luther_King_Jr">Martin Luther
King Jr.</A></LI></UL></DIV></DIV><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>For some Christians, practicing economic and social justice means that
churches should practice charity: setting up soup kitchens, assisting victims of
natural disasters, and helping people find jobs.</P>
<P>For other Christians, practicing economic and social justice also means
trying to change the conditions that cause people to be poor or unemployed. The
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. subscribed to this definition of biblical
justice.</P>
<P>Marty Duren, a Southern Baptist Convention pastor, says some conservative
Christians have traditionally thought churches shouldn't get involved in
economic or social justice.</P>
<P>"For a long time, Southern Baptists and <A class=cnnInlineTopic
href="http://topics.cnn.com/topics/national_association_of_evangelicals">evangelicals</A>
were so focused on the return of Christ that what was happening in the real
world was almost incidental," says Duren, who blogs at <A class=cnnInlineTopic
href="http://www.martyduren.com/" target=new>martyduren.com.</A></P>
<P>But within the last two decades, Duren says, more evangelical Christians have
come to believe that the Bible calls for economic and social justice.</P>
<P>William Wilberforce, for example, is a 19th century British politician who
helped abolish the slave trade in his country. He is now regarded as a hero for
some evangelicals because he applied his faith to the economic and social
justice issues of his day, Duren says.</P>
<P><B>Did Jesus preach about social and economic justice?</B></P>
<P>The Bible cares about social and economic justice, Duren says.</P>
<P>"The Old Testament is replete with examples of God threatening to judge a
nation because of a lack of justice or carrying out that threat of judgment
against a nation,'' Duren says.</P>
<P>He believes Beck was wrong to tell Christians that they shouldn't belong to
churches that seek justice.</P>
<P>"If I had any authority at Fox News right now, Glenn Beck would be seeking
economic justice," Duren says.</P><!--startclickprintexclude-->
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<DIV class=cnn_strylccimg300cntr><!--===========IMAGE============--><IMG
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alt="The Rev. Jim Wallis is the president of Sojourners, a network of Christians."
src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/LIVING/03/12/beck.boycott/story.rev.jim.wallis.gi.jpg"
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<DIV>The Rev. Jim Wallis is the president of Sojourners, a network of
Christians.</DIV><!--===========/CAPTION=========--></DIV></DIV></DIV><!--endclickprintexclude-->
<P>That concern for justice is what helped convert him, says Wallis, president
of Sojourners. Wallis, who counts King as one of his faith role models, says the
Bible isn't just concerned with feeding the poor -- it's concerned about the
conditions that create the poor.</P>
<P>Wallis also evoked the Christians who fought against slavery as well as civil
rights activists.</P>
<P>"The Bible just didn't say take care of the victim -- it talks about
justice," says Wallis, who is the author of "Rediscovering Values: On Wall
Street, Main Street and Your Street."</P>
<P>Meanwhile, Wallis says he's waiting for that public debate with Beck.</P>
<P class=cnnInline>"I'll have it," Wallis says, "anywhere he
wants."</P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>