I have always appreciated a well-thought out, sarcastic censure of any given group. Fine tuned irony and dry wit has a special place in my heart. So when I came across
this "Anti-Christ" article at
The
Burnside Writer's Collective, I laughed and laughed and laughed. I thought, "Wow, this is brilliant."
However...
(There's always a 'however,' isn't there?)
I became gravely upset when I saw, linked off of that article, my most beloved
Relevant Magazine had posted
an article actually about the heresy of Bono. I have previously heard some of my Christian friends before talk about Bono as the Anti-Christ, and I thought the accusation was so outrageous I didn't even think it warranted much of a response. After this though, it does. Yes, I may be a bit biased towards defending Bono, but the article is still ridiculous for a few reasons:
First, she got it wrong. He says "Jesus, Jew, Muhammed...It's true, All Sons, of Abraham." She claimed that he said
"All True". If you need evidence, please watch the
Vertigo DVD: Live from Chicago. What he meant by this, I cannot tell you. I am not going to be the one to judge that far as to his true intentions, and neither should she. What she fails to keep in mind in her scathing attack, is that Bono came from a country where the lines between Protestants and Catholics was a bloody war line.
How dare she criticize someone for wanting peace and understanding amoung religions, when all that person has been told is that religion divides and kills and brings pain? She has absolutely no idea what that looks like. Wake Up girl, outside of the United States, rarely does religion bring peace and love. Asking for coexistance should be something we all do.
Secondly, her wording is unnecessarily strong. She claims this was the "Most disturbing experience" of her life. And she says "I felt like I'd been covered in bile." Is this what you equate to be the most disturbing experience of your life? Is this the state that you have set yourself in? Because as far as I am concerned, shouldn't we be a bit more concerned by and disturbed by images of actual death and destruction and poverty and war? Shouldn't we be far more concerned with spending our time upholding justice and compassion and mercy, then claiming a sighting of Bono saying "COEXIST" is the worst thing a person could ever see? I almost feel bad giving it any attention, because honestly, this girl doesn't deserve it.
Last but not least, last I checked Luke 6.37 said something along the lines of
"Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned."I do not claim to know what Bono was saying there. I do not claim to think that Bono is the most stand-up Christian either. But for that reason alone, I respect him. Because his theology isn't structured and aligned. He is searching all the time. He is always questioning, always moving forward a little, always moving back a little. He's the one who said "You know I believe it, but yes, I am still running."
But the argument over Bono's faith is another topic for another time. For now, I am done with this.
