Irvine511
Blue Crack Supplier
No - I was not implying anything. Good to see you!
There have been in the past people on both sides of the aisle who would like to feel that Bono is in line with their way of thinking. That was my point PERIOD
Are you trying to say that ONLY conservatives are guilty of such things? Is it wrong to point out that it happens on both sides of the aisle?
Again, so very nice to see you
I do believe that this is one of the most openly religious albums other than maybe October that the band has produced. I think that I see it because of my religious background, and I love the fact that I can identify with the religious themes within the album.
My brother in law does not see the album that way. He does not see the religious themes nor does he agree with me that Magnificent is almost Psalm like in its lyrics. He sees a self absorbed Bono.......:O)
I guess my point - people see what they want - but not just what they like for those of us who hold this band to our hearts - like any hero - we want to identify with them...so we see what we want - no matter what our ideology.
yes, it's quite true that it's easy to make the case that Bono is saying what onfe wants him to say.
however, politically, the liberals have a much, much better case to make. Bono is a liberal. Bono is thoughtful and complex and has in recent years decided to focus on points of commonality between different sides and use those to forge agreements on certain issues that he believes transcends politics.
however, again, if you're going to go issue by issue, point by point, the liberals are going to have a much easier time making the case that Bono is one of them than the conservative are going to be able to do. likewise, i have several times made the point that Boy is loaded with homoerotic imagery and tension. this upsets some people on here. but i can make my case, and make it very well. this doesn't mean that i'm right, per se, but it means that i can make an argument. i bet a liberal could give 1441 reasons why Bono was against the Iraq War, but can a conservative honestly claim that their plea for intervention against Milosovic is the same as the 2003 invasion? likely not.
likewise, for those, like the Baptist review that has been posted in WTHAN, who want Bono to be a very conservative Christian, of course they can go about making that point. there's not much in Magnificent to dispel the notion that he's talking about Christ if you want him to be talking about Christ. i'd argue that what he means by "magnify[ing] the magnificent" is not about showering praise unto Christ, or even God, but by celebrating the bond forged between individuals, perhaps through music, and it's that point of commonality that is Magnificent. i recently heard an NPR piece about a former clergyman who had rejected the divinity of Christ and instead focused on Christ as a revolutionary philosopher who argued that proximity to God was achieved not through fear or obedience, but through our very human relationships to one another.
that's what i think Magnificent is about. i don't think it's a worship Christ song. i think it's about the relationship between the singer and the audience,
but with lyrics so intentionally vague, i'm sure there's lots to be read into it. i think we can agree that it's about love. perhaps God? he does say later in SUC that "God is love" and that seems to buttress the point that it's about human love, and perhaps human love is the best means of accessing the Magnificent, the "vision over visibility."
there's certainly something beyond the senses at work in NLOTH, there's something beyond human comprehension that these characters are scratching at and trying to get towards, but i don't think Bono ever goes so far as to name what that is. looking at White As Snow, it seems the lyrics say "lamb" but it sounds like "land," and several lyric sites online say "land." the important point is that the whiteness of snow seems to be a point of purity, of something beyond what is actually real, of something imagined or sensed rather than seen or felt. and "only a heart could be as white as snow" -- i take that to mean that only love, again, is capable of forgiveness. certainly not human beings.
however, the life of Bono betrays any sort of exclusive, evangelical interpretation. there's absolutely the supernatural at work in NLOTH. but it's not named, and it's not exclusive.
i wish you'd drop the sarcasm. i'm not much for FYM anymore, and that's one of the reasons why. i just don't have the energy for the fight these days.