Jesus For President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw

I have just finished up the book by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw entitled Jesus For President. How timely, I know! It was definitely interesting, just as the previous book I read by Shane Claiborne (The Irresistable Revolution). I don't agree with him a lot of the time, but I do admire his passion to live out his beliefs. I find his writing eye-opening and definitely inspiring.

The book covers a lot of ground. Giving a quick history lesson run through of the way things worked "before there were kings and presidents" and then touching on the way emperors, kings and presidents evolved over time. It's main focus, through the first half of the book, seemed to be comparing the U.S. to the Roman Empire. It definitely brought up some points that I hadn't thought of before, like...

"The danger is that we can begin to read the Bible through the eyes of America rather than read America through the eyes of the Bible. We just want Jesus to be a good American."

The last part of the book consists of points that Shane and Chris make urging the reader to rethink the world, especially as an American living in America. Overall there are definitely some suggestions in there that I think some of us could learn from, in being better neighbors to not just our fellow Americans but to others around the world.

This book's antiwar themes are very prominent, as Shane is not one to dance around what he has to say. I'd like to share a few, brief, though-provoking passages/quotes...

"Jesus knew that his followers would face threats to their lives. But nowhere did Jesus teach that his followers should turn into wolves when they run into other scary wolves. He himself was killed like a sheep by wolves. By freely accepting crucifixion, he demonstrated what a sheep among wolves looks like. Refusing to become like the wolves to defeat the wolves. Jesus revealed that God, being love, chooses a different path - to suffer evil to overcome it."

"Christians must discern between the voices competing for their allegiance. Is history's voice the same as Jesus'? Does it call us to do the same things Jesus did?"

All in all, it made for an interesting read. Definitely worth checking out, though now that it's Election Day I hardly think anyone wants to hear the phrase "president" any more than absolutely necessary. But, this book is worth picking up, if for nothing else than the amazing artistry of the book. The entire thing is filled with colored paper, beautiful illustrations, cartoons and diagrams...it keeps you wanting to turn the page to see what's next (though I did find the parts that were intentionally misspelled/crossed out to be somewhat of a burden). I admire Shane, as I said before, for his passion and the way he lives out his beliefs and helps serve his fellow man...and he also has a beautiful way with words and makes it easy to read even the history that is this book.

Keep rockin' for Christ!
Jade =)