Marcus Borg on a "Politics of Compassion"

The dream of God as we see it in Jesus—his alternative social vision—is usefully crystallized in three complementary ways. First, I call it a "politics of compassion." For Jesus, compassion was more than a virtue for the individual. It was the basis of his criticism of the social system of his day. Compassion was also the paradigm or core value of his social vision: Jesus’ understanding of God as compassionate led to a social vision grounded in compassion. It stood in sharp contrast to the core value of the social vision of elite theology, which was a politics of holiness and purity centered in the temple and legitimating the social order. Compassion as a core political paradigm suggests a political order that is life-giving, nourishing, and inclusive.

Second, the most effective shorthand nonbiblical language known to me for the dream of God and its opposition to elite theology and politics has been supplied by Walter Wink. Elite theology and politics lead to "domination systems." The opposite is "God’s domination-free order." This—"God’s domination-free order"—is the dream of God. . . .

Third, one may speak of Jesus’ social vision with one of his most frequently used phrases: "the kingdom of God. . . ." The kingdom of God is what the world would be like if God were king, rather than Herod or Caesar. In such a world, the poor would be fortunate, the mighty put down from their thrones, the rich sent away empty-handed. Domination systems would be replaced by God’s domination-free order.

Marcus Borg, The God We Never Knew (HarperCollins 1997)143.