Posted on 04/03/2006 9:29:05 AM PDT by fgoodwin
The gospel according to U2 and Bono
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=509842006
STEPHEN MCGINTY
* US church uses U2's songs to attract young worshippers * U2 lyrics are being used by Episcopal Churches from California to Maine * The U2 Eucharist was devised by the Rev Paige Blair
"I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined and heard my cry." - Bono, U2 Lyric
BONO has declared that he is not a man of the cloth, "unless that cloth is leather". But the words of the charismatic U2 front man are nevertheless ringing out from pulpits across the United States.
The Irish rock band's songs and lyrics are being used by the Episcopal Church in so-called "U2 Eucharists" as a means of attracting young people who relate to the group's social activism.
Earlier attempts by churches to connect to youth culture have usually involved ministers in open-toed sandals strumming acoustic guitars and singing Kumbaya to the general embarrassment of all. Yet, in parishes from California to Maine, worshippers are flocking to hear U2 classics such as Beautiful Day, Pride and Peace on Earth rolled into a service of prayer.
However, ear plugs are passed out with the Bibles and hymn sheets for those who prefer organ music.
The U2 Eucharist was devised by the Rev Paige Blair, a parish priest in York Harbor, Maine, and it has since spread through word-of-mouth and on clerical websites.
At All Saints' Church in Atlanta, Georgia, organisers had planned for 300 worshippers, and instead had to contend with 500, while at the Grace Episcopal Church in Providence, Rhode Island, as many people turned up for a Friday night U2 Eucharist as normally turn up on a Sunday morning.
While U2 songs are not yet listed in the Episcopal Church's authorised hymnal, Ms Blair believes it is only a matter of time. She said: "I seriously think the day will come. There's a gift they have in speaking to the human soul."
She came up with the idea after a sermon about the One Campaign, the Bono-backed initiative designed to alleviate global poverty and fight AIDS. She quoted equally from Bono and the Bible and included the lead singer's line: "Where you live should not determine whether you live or die."
Instead of a hymn, the service began with one of U2's earliest hits, Pride (In the Name of Love). As the music played, pictures of famous believers, including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, flashed on a 10ft by 4ft screen behind the altar.
Other songs included in the service were Peace on Earth, which was inspired by a fatal bombing in Northern Ireland and which questions why God does not halt human suffering; during it, Bono sings: "Jesus, can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line." Also played was 40, in which Bono echoes the 40th Psalm, singing: "I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined and heard my cry."
Bono may favour black leather while on stage in front of an audience of millions, but to some believers, he can still act as a latter-day prophet, producing songs filled with Christian symbolism.
The Episcopal Church in the US has been among the first to recognise the band's power. A few years ago two of its priests edited a book of sermons based on U2 songs entitled Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog.
Yet Bono has provoked criticism from fans and even members of his own band for his close involvement with the US president, George Bush, a born-again Christian, whom he lobbied last year as part of the Make Poverty History campaign.
In February, he joined Mr Bush at the national prayer breakfast in Washington, and told the gathered clergy: "I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather ... I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural, something unseemly, about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France."
The gospel according to U2
IN HER sermon, the Rev Paige Blair quoted from both Bono and the Bible and included the singer's line: "Where you live should not determine whether you live or die."
As an opening hymn, the service played one of the U2's earliest hits, Pride (In the Name of Love).
On a screen behind the altar, pictures of famous believers such as the Rev Martin Luther King jnr were flashed up as the music played.
Other songs included in the service were Peace on Earth, inspired by a fatal bombing in Northern Ireland and which questions why God does not halt human suffering.
Another song was 40, in which Bono echoes the 40th Psalm when he sings: "I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined and heard my cry."
Hmmmm.LOL. Don't know about the Grateful Dead.
Bono is typically liberal in that, instead of reaching into his own very deep pockets, he's extremely generous with other peoples' money.
The real sad thing is being preoccupied with 1985 in an effort to be hip.
Used to be Phil Collins was going to save the world ..Now its Bobo( Bono)--To me they are both blockheads
But at least he will be in line to the gates! LOL
Bono seems to be at least trying to do right and doesn't suck up to the left. He has said nice things about Dubya and IIRC Jesse Helms.
And the funny thing is I never really liked their music.
U2 seems a little old to attract a younger crowd to the church...?
I'd call them blatently honest. They talk about their struggles for faith in ways that the Christian music doesn't dare. Look at their two most recent albums - All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The Christian imagery - and raw intensity - blows past most of the saccharine crap played on Christian radio stations. A lot of their songs are blatently explicit examinations of faith in God in the light of a horribly screwed up world (e.g. "Peace on Earth" or "When I look at the World"). About the only place you find that kind of refreshing honesty - where people are willing to admit to God that they're baffled at how bad things are in the world - is in the Psalms (e.g. Ps. 73). There aren't very many artists on Christian radio who sing above the level of "Jesus-is-my-boyfriend" crap.
Now, I don't know about the spiritual beliefs of U2. It sure seems like Bono gets it - he understands the concept that God operates through grace, and not karma (see, e.g., Grace). At the end of the day, however, where Bono stands is between him and God. I know, myself, I've found his music to be quite uplifting and worth listening to while I run.
Not when you consider that my generation has to reach back to the 1980's to find really good rock bands. The 1990's was crap like Britney Spears (shudders).
Not that I know of.
I remember talking with a guy in his mid-thirties at my old church a few weeks ago. We were discussing what his kids had on their iPods, and I was discussing what was on mine as he solicited my suggestions for good music. (We were complaining that too much Christian music is supeficial and unlistenable.) He was astounded to find that I was listening to "what [he] grew up on."
I just recently learned Bono was a professing Christian and read a good interview with him. To me, it appears his faith is a private matter, yet one he certainly doesn't hide as it permeates his life. What I've heard/read from him always is very humble regarding issues of faith and Christianity. Reminds me of the bumpersticker about Christians being saved, not perfect.
The more I learn about him the more I like him....guess I should finally really listen to his music!
I stopped buying U2 records years ago but I was operating under old assumptions. If indeed they are as honest as you claim to be I'll have to give them another listen. I, too can't stand the pap on most Christian music stations. I think most Christians are afraid of being brutally honest with themselves and others in the church about matters of real faith. I don't know why. Somehow I don't think God is easily offended by what our puny minds think up.
Sometimes they are one and the same.
I think it's because brutal honesty about our struggles gets in the way of the facade of respectability we try to put forward. Christians are expected to look like they have it all together, and have all the answers. A True Christian (TM) never has his faith shaken by events. He never struggles with sin and temptation. He always wants wake up an hour early to have his Morning Quiet Times (TM). In other words, the image of the True Christian (TM) is about as realistic as that of G.I. Joe.
Another thing, I think, is that a person who asks the tough questions is a threat to many Christians, who really aren't sure of the answers themselves. This is too bad since, if the Church is unwilling or unable to provide answers, the local University offers some.
Read his words yourself and decide. http://www.data.org/archives/000774.php
Then read Christ's own words in Matthew 25:31-40.
Sure seems like Bono takes Mt. 25:31-40 quite seriously.
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