I was just going to post this! Does anybody think that he professes or shuts up according to his audience? What do you think of that? Still it's great to know where he really stands deep down inside.
Now I've wasted my copy saver on this so I'll post it anyway:
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 23:50:19 -0700
Bono Tells Christians: Don't Neglect Africa
He urges evangelicals to take a lead in fighting AIDS and poverty.
By Sheryl Henderson Blunt in Washington, D.C. | posted 04/19/2002
While in Washington to drum up political support for aid to Africa, U2
singer Bono made a clear confession before about three dozen evangelicals.
"He said, 'I'm a believer and I have faith in Christ,' " recalls Richard
Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association
of Evangelicals, who attended the March meeting on Capitol Hill. "You can't
argue with that kind of a personal testimony as a way of opening doors."
Bono, one of the world's most celebrated pop stars, has become an
international advocate for AIDS programs, forgiving Third World debt, and
increasing trade. He urged evangelicals to take the lead in fighting AIDS
and poverty, which have ravaged the African continent.
"A third of the Earth's population is incarcerated by poverty," Bono said in
a post-meeting interview with Christianity Today. "It is, as they say, the
drive of the Scriptures. Why isn't it the drive of the churches?"
A 2001 Barna Research Group poll commissioned by World Vision revealed that
evangelical Christians are significantly less likely than are non-Christians
to give money for AIDS education and prevention programs worldwide. Only 3
percent of evangelicals say they plan to help with AIDS internationally,
compared with 8 percent of non-Christians and 8 percent of self-described
born-again Christians. Evangelicals were also the least likely to support
children orphaned by AIDS.
Bono's meeting occurred less than a month after Franklin Graham called on
Christians attending the Prescription for Hope Conference in Washington to
offer AIDS patients love and compassion "rather than condemnation." At the
event, organized by Graham's organization Samaritan's Purse, retiring Sen.
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) said he was ashamed for not "doing something really
significant" to fight the spread of AIDS.
In its 2003 budget, the White House seeks a $200 million contribution to the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a new United Nations
effort. It also wants to increase bilateral HIV/AIDS programs from $435
million to $540 million?figures that Bono and many Democrats say are too
low.
While participants said that Bono's appeal was well received, some
challenged the notion that government money, rather than private sector
involvement, should be the vehicle for solving such problems. They also
emphasized that aid should go to democratic countries rather than corrupt
dictatorships.
"We should not be writing blank checks to oppressive regimes, but we should
be supporting those governments who are moving toward democracy and are not
engaged in corruption," said Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on
Religion and Democracy.
Participants, including representatives from evangelical relief
organizations and justice advocacy groups, said that Bono presented the
outlines of what he will say to Congress and the White House. He also made a
personal connection with a community he had never met with before, they
said.
With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bono plans to open
a Washington office for his new organization, DATA (Debt, AIDS, and Trade
for Africa), this spring.
Copyright ? 2002 by the author or Christianity Today
International/Christianity Today magazine.
