Following a presidential election in which "conservative" nearly became synonymous with "moralistic," Christian leader Jim Wallis argued that neither the political right nor the left can claim such an association.
The author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It addressed a standing-room-only crowd at the Penn Bookstore last night.
So many people turned out for the discussion -- many from outside of the Penn community -- that some audience members listened from the Bookstore floor.
Political analysts observing the recent presidential election found that 27 percent of voters cited "moral values" as the most important issue for them.
Those voters cast ballots overwhelmingly for President Bush and the Republican Party.
Wallis suggested that Republicans monopolize the discussion on moral values but limit it to gay marriage and abortion.
Democrats, he said, feel more comfortable keeping values out of the public sphere in general.
This leads people to forget that "it's possible to have faith and care about the world," Wallis said.
He called for a movement to bring moral values to politics without being partisan or completely ideological.
"I think this country is ready for a new conversation about faith, religion, morals," Wallis said. "One the right does not control."
The activist emphasized global poverty and conflict as among the critical moral issues that aren't being given enough political attention.
But audience members were eager to hear his opinion on gay marriage and abortion, the two controversial topics that dominated the moral values conversation during the election.
Wallis' responses were descriptive of his desire to implement actual change rather than simply champion an ideology.
He suggested that the goal should be to decrease the "terribly high abortion rate" by having pro-life and pro-choice advocates "come together" and find "common ground."
The audience seemed receptive to these ideas.
"I don't want to be told a problem's not solvable," audience member Germaine Germeyer said. "I am Catholic, and I was so sick of reading that the only issue is abortion."
