I don't generally enjoy nonfiction. Nonfiction about religion? Blah. I have to read that crap for school. I don't really have strong motivation to read it in my leisure time.

But I saw David Kuo on The Daily Show (or the Colbert Report maybe?) and he seemed to be talking about something that totally interests me. Politics and religon. David Kuo worked in the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives under the current president.

Kuo started out as a Kennedy Democrat and after he and his girlfriend terminated a pregnancy, he began to look for a more "Christian" political position. Abortion became a hot topic for him, but his concern for social justice never left.

Kuo discusses at length the hope he found in George W. Bush. A man who appeared to be (and Kuo appears to argue is) a born-again evangelical Christian, who talked the talk of social justice seemed to be an answer to prayer.

After giving the White House a fair shake, Kuo discovered what I think most of us not directly involved in the political arena know intuitively. Politicians are about politics. And while they may have the best of intentions, their main goal is reelection, not social justice.

I loved this book. Kuo is writing more for an audience of conservative Christian voters than he is for a progressive Christian voter like me, but I really appreciated his candor about what it's like for a justice advocate in Washington.

His premise is certainly not that Democrats are just chomping at the bit to further peace and justice. He instead is saying that people who were hoping that the Repbulicans were offering the real deal are probably misplacing their hope.

Kuo's final argument in the book is that Christians should fast from politics. Christians ought to vote, but that is all. Pastors ought not suggest who their parishioners should vote for. Christians shouldn't lobby for political figures (or political parties) as part of their Christian duty.

While I feel that an active political life is part of being salt and light in the world, I appreciate where Kuo is going with this. I absolutely believe that private citizens and organizations ought to use the structures of government to further their charity work, but I think trusting that one politician or another will help our organization further the work of the kingdom is counter-productive at this point.

It's time for Christians to stop letting themselves be used for political ends. I can't recommend a book more than this one for any Christian interested in social justice issues.