Bono's Introduction to "They've Hijacked God"

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Rock legend Bono has put his name to a controversial new book lashing organised religion. The U2 frontman has penned a foreword to a tome that's set to get Irish clerics talking.

The book -- They've Hi-jacked God -- takes a swipe at the modern Christian church. It's by well-known Northern Ireland Christian Adam Harbinson. He's been in hot water in the past for his anti-Drumcree stance. He has even had his life threatened by crazed loyalists.

Superstar Bono was happy to endorse the book, saying that the Church was in a battle with God. "Sadly the Church is winning," says Bono. "Adam Harbinson takes on the Church as mausoleum for the 'dead' Christ and the Church as handcuffs and fire brigade for the risen Christ -- it's an interesting subject. I find solace in places I never could have imagined...the quiet sprinkling of my child's head in Baptism, a gospel choir drunk on the Holy Spirit in Memphis, or the back of a cathedral in Rome watching the first cinematographers play with light and colour in stainglass stories of the Passion. I am still amazed at how big, how enormous a love and mystery God is -- and how small are the minds that attempt to corral this life force into rules and taboos, cults and sects. Mercifully God transcends the Church which is, I think, the subject of this book."

Bono adds that he has taken comfort and peace in life from his little boy's baptism. Little John Abraham Hewson was born on May 21, 2000 [sic], the youngest of Bono and his wife Ali's four children. When Harbinson was asked how he managed to persuade Bono to write the foreword, he answered modestly: "I just asked him. "You don't have to go to church in order to be a good person...a Christian. That was Bono's experience and that's why he wrote this piece." The book is due for publication later this year.


? Sunday People, 2002.



Sorry--LOL, guess it hasn't been published yet. The above from atu2.com. I was wondering if it was out in the UK/Europe yet. :)
 
I don't know what church Bono and Harbison are talking about, but I know that I am blessed to be part of a church whose members genuinely desire to follow and emulate Christ and to exhort each other to do likewise, whose pastor is not a power-hungry egomaniac but rather a benevolent father-like figure (he's that much older than most of us) who wants to see his flock grow and mature, and which recognizes that many of the doctrines that were established by earlier Biblical scholars and church authorities are correct and beneficial.

The early apostles in the Bible also thought that the vast majority of Christians would be better off if they were members of such churches.
 
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I just could not agree more with speedracer.

I have just found a wonderful church a few months back and its just like the one speed described. Even more wonderful its a Baptist church in Texas no less and who could have a worse rap than that? This church has completely overcome my prejudice against Baptists. I am now proud to call myself one.

But most importantly, with the help of this church and its loving christian example, I have finally gotten over growing up in a bad church.

The problem as I see it is this. Many people who grew up in a bad church or in a bad church culture make the big mistake of taking their experience and transferring it to all churches and even to Christianity itself. This is not even remotely fair unless you have personally visited all the millions of churches in the world. For some reason or another these folks have blinded themselves to the fact that churches are made up of people and lead by people and so are as diverse and individual as people are.

How many people who have left the faith ever bothered paying a single visit to another church? How many good churches are overlooked through complete lack trying? I wonder.

If only all the good churches made the news every night like the bad ones do, then I know we wouldnt have a problem with this anymore. If only all the people who had positive experiences of church would speak up at once, I'm sure they'd surely drown out the very vocal minority who have had bad experiences.

Methinks, some perspective is in order for all the church bashers out there. Even Bono, who grew up in a very bad church culture, could use a little more than he's got. His earliest impressions were formed by the European style of Christianity and its still the church he has the most contact with. But Europe is such a different place religiously than the States is. Over there it is truly being strangled by people who can't let go of lifeless ancient traditions. But over here, the church though still of course imperfect, is vibrant and lively and yes more progressive overall and people tend to have a much better opinion of it.

As far as the book itself is concerned, it seems to me that Bono and the author have made the mistake of defining their enemy in terms that are much too broad. Maybe they are going over the top in order to shock and provoke people into reforming whats bad about the Church but I think that such a strategy could only backfire. When they say that they are against the Church and then fail to make a distinction between good churches and bad churches, it's just terribly unfair to the majority that are truly good.
 
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