Sojourners Spin

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey

Jim Wallis has admitted that Sojourners has received funding in the past from liberal billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Institute.

Last month, Marvin Olasky asked Wallis to admit his affiliations on the left when [he] reported on the money from Soros in World magazine.

The thing I find amusing and disappointing at the same time is the response of Jim Wallis to getting caught with his hand in the Soros cookie jar. Instead of ‘fessing up and apologizing for calling Olasky a liar, Rev. Wallis shows what a small man he apparently has become. Implausibly, he claims he didn’t remember three massive donations from the leftist activist, saying that he merely “answered in the spirit of the accusation and did not recall the details of our funding over the decade in question.”

That’s rich. In other words, the problem isn’t Wallis’s evident prevarication or incompetence (take your pick). Instead it is “the spirit of the accusation” (fully borne out by the facts) by Olasky. Ah, yes, those “malicious facts” keep getting in the way of the Sojourners spin.

This sorry episode should be no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. See my old CT column, which pointed to the politicization of Christian leftwingers like Wallis, “When Red Is Blue.”

HT: Christine for the nice phrase, “malicious facts.”