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Jim Wallis is the president of Sojourners, a magazine and organization whose "mission is to articulate the biblical call to social justice."  Marvin Olasky recently described his own politics as conservative, and chided Wallis for disingenuously insisting that his politics and Sojourners' were not leftist, and for accepting funds from the George Soros' Open Society Institute, which has a leftist political agenda but a posture somewhere between indifferent to hostile toward Christianity.

An interviewer recently asked Wallis about Olasky's assertions.  Wallis gave a carefully wrought, turn-the-other-cheek response: "It's not hyperbole or overstatement to say that Glenn Beck lies for a living.  I'm sad to see Marvin Olasky doing the same thing.  No, we don't receive money from Soros."

Yesterday the interviewer received a message from "the communications manager for Sojourners, confirming that Sojourners has indeed received funding from Soros' Open Society Institute."  It contained a moving statement by Wallis: "I should have declined to comment until I was able to review the [Olasky] blog post in question and consulted with our staff on the details of our funding over the past several years. Instead, I answered in the spirit of the accusation and did not recall the details of our funding over the decade in question." 

So, just to recap:

  1. Marvin Olasky says that Jim Wallis and Sojourners receive money from George Soros.
  2. Jim Wallis says that Sojourners does not receive money from George Soros and that Marvin Olasky lies for a living.
  3. Sojourners and Jim Wallis subsequently say that they do receive money from George Soros, though not much, though they don't say how not much.
  4. Jim Wallis does not apologize for saying something that was untrue - the three grants from Soros were "so small that I hadn't remembered them" - and doesn't retract or apologize for the assertion that Olasky lies for a living.
  5. The only blame Wallis is willing to assign for his own categorical statements that turned out to be categorically wrong is that it was all Olasky's fault, since Wallis merely replied in the spirit of the accusation against Sojourners.
Is it any wonder ours is an age of declining faith?

P.S. Marvin Olasky's colleagues and readers pitched in to help Jim Wallis overcome his spotty, overtaxed and emotionally susceptible memory.  The Open Society Institute's tax returns show that it made three grants to Sojourners between 2004 and 2007, for a total of $325,000.  Either Sojourners is drowning in money or Wallis is succumbing to dementia, because he says, fessing up, that the "OSI made up the tiniest fraction of Sojourners' funding during that decade--so small that I hadn't remembered them."  The other possibility, that Wallis lies - not for a living, exactly - but when it appears convenient for the greater good of articulating the biblical call to social justice, is too far-fetched and cruel to entertain for as long as it takes to pose the thought.
Categories > Religion

Discussions - 16 Comments

Call it Sojourners Untruths!

Williams, Appreciate you posted this.

On the Left, the ends always justify the means. Of course they lie -- it's for the best of causes. And of course they condemn those who disagree with them. Not only are those conservatives stupid, they are also evil, so anything the Left wants to say or do to them is perfectly fine.

I wish these purblind fools would wake up to their own behavior. They haven't escaped any of the basic human emotions like hatred or greed, they've just found a scapegoat to make those feelings justifiable (in their own tiny minds, at least). Honestly, the most despicable people I've ever met were on the Left.

Another good time to remember this...

Reinhold Niebuhr in his book "Moral Man and Immoral Society":

"Since inequalities of privilege are greater than could possibly be defended rationally, the intelligence of privileged groups is usually applied to the task of inventing specious proofs for the theory that universal values spring from, and that general interests are served by, the special privileges which they hold."

Soros is not applying his wealth and personal energies in such a way, and that is really what upsets conservatives devoted to justifying and protecting their privilege (or the privilege they hope to be safely nestled in someday when they magically end up on top of the heap)...

Perhaps Mr. Scanlon will view me as a class traitor. But as a member of unprivileged poor oppressed lower middle class in America--and someone who harbors no conscious belief in some magic that will vault me to the top of heam, I remain conservative. While I cannot speak for all conservatives, I would be not annoyed but delighted if Mr. Soros and Mr. Gates, and the whole lot of billionaires devoted some small fraction of their wealth to protect traditional marriage and the lives of unborn children.

"I would be not annoyed but delighted if Mr. Soros and Mr. Gates, and the whole lot of billionaires devoted some small fraction of their wealth to protect traditional marriage and the lives of unborn children."

I'm sure you would, but what does that have to do with the Niebuhr quote - how does it connect? If they deem to do so, Mr. Gates and Mr. Soros can opt to give all their money to Planned Parenthood and groups promoting Teh Gay Agenda.

Since we are having a discussion about MoveOn and George Soros and money, I think it appropriate to mention a undisputable fact about Soros. He gives tons of money to fund state and federal congressional races. Candidates that receive large campaign funding from Soros and Moveon are more often than not global warming bozos who believe that all Americans, with the exception of themselves and Al Gore, should live in tents with no running water, electricity and walk to work in order to save the planet. This includes the Congressional Democratic Rep from the district that I live in - Soros/Moveon donated over $40,000 to his campaign. This also means NO DRILLING for Oil. My rep has voted for every measure that prohibits oil drilling anywhere in the United States. Now, Soros has billions invested in a oil company in Brazil that is doing TONS of OFFSHORE oil drilling. The name of the company is Petrobas and is the FOURTH largest oil producer in the World and the largest investment in Soros financial profile/ Soros profited handsomely off the Gulf Oil Spill.

Anyone, Buehler, Anyone?

Just an FYI - Planned Parenthood made over a $1 Billion in profit last year - the bulk of that money came from taxpayers. They don't need any help from Gates or Soros - they are just doing find raping the American taxpayer.

Gee thanks, Craig. . . I just KNEW we were forgetting something!

(snaps fingers, speaks in Seinfeld-voice): ''Niebuhr!''

And, since you presume to know the REAL INNER MOTIVATIONS of conservatives, tell me, why did I sell of my "Starsky & Hutch" board game for a pittance when I was 11, instead of waiting for the arrival of eBay?

It relates to the Niebuhr quote about as much as Niebuhr relates to the original post, which was about Wallis's lying about getting Soros money.

Actually, Soros is just acting like a good liberal -- he knows that the road to power is to PRETEND to be unselfish, which of course makes one holier than thou (more self-esteem, better street-cred with progressives). So, while some rich people collect yachts and cars, others real estate, rich progressives like to be king-makers and push everyone else around. It's all one. As I said earlier in the thread, progressives don't really escape their own human nature, they just think they do.

Scanlon, you're about as deep as a mud puddle.

Theirs is the sin of Lucifer, for their goal is to take the place of God.

Soros has billions invested in a oil company in Brazil that is doing TONS of OFFSHORE oil drilling. The name of the company is Petrobas and is the FOURTH largest oil producer in the World and the largest investment in Soros financial profile/ Soros profited handsomely off the Gulf Oil Spill.

Whoa! Didn't the President say that at some point you have enough money?

I would think the Nazi collaborator Soros has enough.

Actually George Soros is applying this wealth in such a way as to enable him to gain more wealth. His currency raids via his hedge funds are made possible by his knowledge of the way governments work. Thus he extends all his efforts to make governments more powerful and all-encompassing. It’s hard to figure out how millions of individuals will react, it’s much simpler to figure out how a government will react. George Soros is not an altruist, he’s a gambler busy stacking the deck.

If you want to buy a house, you will have to get the loan. Moreover, my brother all the time utilizes a term loan, which seems to be really useful.

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These past few weeks haven't been very good for those who dismiss the "George Soros is an evil genius out to remake the world" notion as a whacked-out conspiracy theory.... Read More


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