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Bono issues blunt message for Christians
December 3, 2002
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI RELIGION WRITER
IOWA CITY, Iowa--Motoring his way across the blustery Midwestern plains from Nebraska to Iowa Monday in a gleaming silver and chrome tour bus, rock star-cum- humanitarian Bono revealed the true motives behind his crusade to save Africa from the scourge of AIDS and poverty.
The singer is on a seven-day tour of Mid-America with his organization Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa, or DATA as he calls it, to raise Americans' consciousness about the plight of millions of Africans who are HIV-infected and dying--more than 6,500 of them every day--because they cannot afford life extending AIDS drugs made in America.
"That there's a force of love and logic behind the universe is overwhelming to start with, if you believe it," Bono told the Chicago Sun-Times as he road past mown corn fields west of Omaha. "But the idea that that same love and logic would choose to describe itself as a baby born in s--- and straw and poverty, is genius. And brings me to my knees, literally.
"Christ's example is being demeaned by the church if they ignore the new leprosy, which is AIDS. The church is the sleeping giant here. If it wakes up to what's really going on in the rest of the world, it has a real role to play. If it doesn't, it will be irrelevant."
When the 42-year-old lead singer of the Irish band U2 talks about "the church," he's counting himself among its members.
As a lyricist, Bono has woven sometimes overtly Christian themes through his music. And as an activist, he's comfortable talking about moral imperatives. But he doesn't often talk explicitly about his own faith.
That seems to be changing as his passion for what he calls "the emergency" in Africa grows. Saving Africa is not just a matter of economics, security or morality. For Bono, it's a matter of faith.
"To some people the church is their ticket to respectability, a certain bourgeois point of view, a safety net for when they go to bed. My idea of Christianity is no safety net, a scathing attack on bourgeois values, and a risk to respectability.
"By the way, I don't set myself up as any kind of Christian. I can't live up to that. It's something I aspire to, but I don't feel comfortable with that badge. It's the badge I want to wear."
Bono spent the day jumping in and out of his well-appointed bus, talking to Midwesterners at roadside diners about his passion.
At the Iowa Harvest diner in Menlo, Iowa, Bono chatted with local activists and community leaders who had been summoned to talk about what they could do to help Africa and how important they felt the issue is at a time when terrorism and economic trouble are universal worries.
In one of only a few unscripted moments Monday, as his aides tried to wrangle him back on the bus, Bono turned to wide-eyed Gwen Varley, 13, seated next to him and asked if she watched MTV.
"No," the shy teen said.
"They don't have MTV out here?" Bono asked.
"No. I just have mean parents," she said.
First he commiserated with parents who don't want music videos in the house. But then he told her, quietly, "I'm a fan of MTV. Go get 'em."
On his way out of the Iowa diner and gift shop, one of the owners asked Bono to sign the guest book and handed him a gift basket filled with homemade goodies.
"Ooh, there's spicy stuff. I like that. I consider myself a spicy guy," Bono quipped, as he eyed a jar of preserves.
Ever the rock star, he couldn't resist adding: "I'm Man Spice. Or, actually, Old Spice."
At an evening program at the University of Iowa at Iowa City, the children's choir from Ghana that is touring with Bono spontaneously began to sing the U2 hit, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For,'' as he sang along.
Bono's Heart of America tour pulls into Chicago tonight.
Bono issues blunt message for Christians
December 3, 2002
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI RELIGION WRITER
IOWA CITY, Iowa--Motoring his way across the blustery Midwestern plains from Nebraska to Iowa Monday in a gleaming silver and chrome tour bus, rock star-cum- humanitarian Bono revealed the true motives behind his crusade to save Africa from the scourge of AIDS and poverty.
The singer is on a seven-day tour of Mid-America with his organization Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa, or DATA as he calls it, to raise Americans' consciousness about the plight of millions of Africans who are HIV-infected and dying--more than 6,500 of them every day--because they cannot afford life extending AIDS drugs made in America.
"That there's a force of love and logic behind the universe is overwhelming to start with, if you believe it," Bono told the Chicago Sun-Times as he road past mown corn fields west of Omaha. "But the idea that that same love and logic would choose to describe itself as a baby born in s--- and straw and poverty, is genius. And brings me to my knees, literally.
"Christ's example is being demeaned by the church if they ignore the new leprosy, which is AIDS. The church is the sleeping giant here. If it wakes up to what's really going on in the rest of the world, it has a real role to play. If it doesn't, it will be irrelevant."
When the 42-year-old lead singer of the Irish band U2 talks about "the church," he's counting himself among its members.
As a lyricist, Bono has woven sometimes overtly Christian themes through his music. And as an activist, he's comfortable talking about moral imperatives. But he doesn't often talk explicitly about his own faith.
That seems to be changing as his passion for what he calls "the emergency" in Africa grows. Saving Africa is not just a matter of economics, security or morality. For Bono, it's a matter of faith.
"To some people the church is their ticket to respectability, a certain bourgeois point of view, a safety net for when they go to bed. My idea of Christianity is no safety net, a scathing attack on bourgeois values, and a risk to respectability.
"By the way, I don't set myself up as any kind of Christian. I can't live up to that. It's something I aspire to, but I don't feel comfortable with that badge. It's the badge I want to wear."
Bono spent the day jumping in and out of his well-appointed bus, talking to Midwesterners at roadside diners about his passion.
At the Iowa Harvest diner in Menlo, Iowa, Bono chatted with local activists and community leaders who had been summoned to talk about what they could do to help Africa and how important they felt the issue is at a time when terrorism and economic trouble are universal worries.
In one of only a few unscripted moments Monday, as his aides tried to wrangle him back on the bus, Bono turned to wide-eyed Gwen Varley, 13, seated next to him and asked if she watched MTV.
"No," the shy teen said.
"They don't have MTV out here?" Bono asked.
"No. I just have mean parents," she said.
First he commiserated with parents who don't want music videos in the house. But then he told her, quietly, "I'm a fan of MTV. Go get 'em."
On his way out of the Iowa diner and gift shop, one of the owners asked Bono to sign the guest book and handed him a gift basket filled with homemade goodies.
"Ooh, there's spicy stuff. I like that. I consider myself a spicy guy," Bono quipped, as he eyed a jar of preserves.
Ever the rock star, he couldn't resist adding: "I'm Man Spice. Or, actually, Old Spice."
At an evening program at the University of Iowa at Iowa City, the children's choir from Ghana that is touring with Bono spontaneously began to sing the U2 hit, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For,'' as he sang along.
Bono's Heart of America tour pulls into Chicago tonight.
