Jesus for President December 8, 2007
Posted by Zack in Pennsylvania , trackbackShane Claiborne, one of the most compelling voices of the Revolution sweeping “Jesusland,” is still taking applications for stops in his “Jesus for President” tour. He, Chris Haw and other friends will be visiting dozens of communities this Summer, at the height of the U.S. presidential campaign season, stirring up a different kind of politics. Just what kind of politics they’ll be advocating, I have no idea—except that it will be a challenge both to non-Christians and Christians alike.
This tour is an event to keep your eye on. Each of their stops (they’re criss crossing the nation in a veggie oil powered bus) will likely attract thousands of young (and old) Christian seekers. These will be people who have found Jesus, as the “God of the oppressed,” but are now seeking a way to live out a gospel that was forged in ancient Israel, at the periphery of a global empire, in today’s America, in the belly of a global empire. The subhead of the tour is: “Visiting cities across the empire. Summer 2008.”
You can still request a visit from the Jesus for President tour in your city at jesusforpresident.org. Check out the form below—it’s a really cool way to set up a tour.
Here’s their app for stops:
Comments»
Thats awesome!
We already have Jesus in the White House, by proxy. When George W. Bush was asked to name his favorite philosopher, he said it was Jesus Christ. Then he took the country into war. I would be wary of politicians who invoke Jesus. I think we should keep Jesus out of politics.
E.L. — I think if you read a little bit about Shane’s project, you’d see that he’s going in the exact opposite direction from Bush. Essentially, he’s going around engaging Christians in a discussion about what “followers of Jesus” should want from a president. The answer that he gets from the Bible is something like: someone who stands for the poor and oppressed, stands for peace, stands for racial reconciliation, etc…
In fact, he doesn’t seem to place much faith in electoral politics at all — so my guess is that he’ll be talking very little about the presidential race. I think he’s using the presidential campaign season to point out how miss placed our priorities are.
But in answer to your main point: this “new” kind of Christian leader is not interested in religious tests for candidates, but in how the candidates actually behave in office, regardless of what, if any, god they believe in.
[…] Tip: Revolution in Jesusland […]
thanks for the heads up, shane rocks. just discovered your blog, great stuff.
Thanks for your blog post about Jesus for President! I just wanted to let you know there are 2 videos of Shane speaking about Jesus for President, plus audio clips, visuals, and a blog tour at this link:
http://zondervan.typepad.com/zondervan/2008/03/jesus-for-pre-1.html
Please feel free to join the blog tour.
Blessings,
Amy