Speaker advocates alternate solutions

President George W. Bush's policies may have been misguided, but so have criticisms against him, according to Jim Wallis.

Wallis, head of Call to Renewal, a national faith-based organization dedicated to overcoming poverty, spoke to Penn students and faculty about methods for political activism last night at the Colonial Penn Center.

Wallis contended that political discourse should be more enlightening. "It is good to say 'no' to things that are wrong, but far better to have an alternative," he said.

He spoke about the necessity of faith-based initiatives in fighting poverty in American communities.

"If you took away the services provided by faith-based initiatives, this society would collapse overnight," Wallis said.

Neither government efforts nor faith-based initiatives can solve all of the problems that Americans face, Wallis argued, but in order to make an impact, they need funding.

According to Wallis, President Bush abandoned American communities' needs when he didn't provide promised funding for such programs.

"Churches are asked to make bricks without straw," he said.

Speaking about problems in America and the world that need repair, Wallis noted, "There are no easy answers for hard questions."

Wallis also criticized the Bush administration for not closing the poverty gap and for the war in Iraq.

"We live in a nation where one in six children live in poverty," Wallis said. "It's painful to see [the United States] spend a billion dollars per week in Iraq, when faith-based initiatives can't get money to fund their efforts."

Troubled about the contrary rather than enlightening aims of politics, he emphasized, "We need to stop talking about what's liberal and what's conservative and start talking about what is right and what works."

To demonstrate his point, Wallis spoke about his opposition to the war in Iraq outlining a six-point alternative-to-war plan advocated by Call to Renewal.

The plan included formally indicting Saddam Hussein for war crimes, removing him from power and thoroughly inspecting Iraq for weapons of mass destruction. The plan further called for providing humanitarian aid to Iraqis and constructing a road map for lasting peace in the Middle East.

"I have done plenty of criticizing the administration... but I am more interested in finding a different direction," Wallis said.

His central message of proposing alternative ideas, rather than practicing what he called the "politics of complaint" struck a chord with speech attendees.

"The concept of fixing problems rather than complaining about current policies... [is] amazing in its simplicity," Medical School staff member Ben Bressman said.

Pointing out that doing the right thing and doing the easy thing are not always the same, Wallis challenged each member of the audience to "find your calling," mentioning that this might not always lead to wealth, fame and leisure.

Cynthia Groff, a student in the Graduate School of Education, agreed.

"We can't all be called to the American Dream," she said.

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