U2 and God

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~LadyLemon~

~LadyLemon~

I Serve Larry's Stick
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If someone loves U2 but doesn't believe in God...are they a hypocrite?

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I'm too sexy for my cat
 
It's not that I necessarily think that person would be a hypocrite, but it's that I can't understand why they would listen to U2 if they were a total atheist. I think a person from any spiritual tradition can get something out of U2's music, but if I were atheist, I don't know how much appeal a *lot* of their work would have for me.

Incidentally, this might be why I stopped listening to Tori Amos as much as I used to. I still have just about everything she's ever done, but it was not always easy going listening to her as I tried to discover my Christianity.

A lot of the music I listen to doesn't say anything one way or the other about God, and that's fine with me too.

Sidebar: I *can't stand* Creed.

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If you cannot live together in here, you cannot live together out there, let me tell ya. --Bono

You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice... --Bono
 
by that argument, I would say how can someone who is conservative tolerate U2's liberal tendencies?

The answer is simple. U2 encompasses almost every aspect of life in their songs, and whether or not one is religious or not religious, or pro-gun or anti-gun, or whatever the case may be, I think most humans can find something to relate to in the songs, something that speaks to them -- whether it be the soul, the heart, the sex, the politics, the empathy, the glamour, the satire, the sincerity or the sheer coolness of it all -- U2 transcends all of this better than any other band on earth, so even if you don't relate to one particular aspect of the songs, there is enough substance, enough depth, to appreciate all the rest of it.
 
and also, I think U2 is a bit more ambiguous than some people give them credit for; some people seem to always go searching for the religious aspect or interpretation of a song; for instance, a song like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is considered a "gospel tune" by Bono, but many people who listen to that song hear a different message -- one of hope and longing, searching for happiness and peace of mind, perhaps love... and not neccessarily relating it directly to religion
 
gnomes make great pets, and as we all know, it's ok to love your pets, just not love your pets, so no, I don't worship them, but I do love them
smile.gif
 
All of creation testifies that there is a God. U2 happens to be shining their light very brightly, but that doesn't mean someone will change personal beliefs, even as they love the band members.

Plenty of people do follow Judeo-Christian principles without believing in God. I sang Christmas carols before I was Christian. So there is precedent for "hypocracy" but we never call it that.

God loves you even when you don't acknowledge him, and he is always trying to bring you into relationship with him.
 
Listening to U2 is in itself a spiritual experience. I personally can't help but feel refreshed and invigorated and inspired after listening to them! But that doesn't mean that someone who doesn't believe in the same faith as U2 is a hypocrite for listening to them...that would be like, well I don't know, but it's not wrong on any level.

hippy

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One love, one life...
Give peace a chance!
Don't let the bastards grind you down!

Bono: I don't walk, I swagger! I sashayed once, but just once. It wasn't for me.
 
Well, I listen to U2 for the same reason I love listening to any artist or a band: because I like their music and Bono's voice. Lyrics were always of a least importance to me as far as listening to band/artist is concerned, anyway, and I rarely care about interpreting them in any way. Emotionally-wise, I just respond to the sounds and melodies more than I do to the meaning of the song.
 
Originally posted by paxetaurora:


Incidentally, this might be why I stopped listening to Tori Amos as much as I used to. I still have just about everything she's ever done, but it was not always easy going listening to her as I tried to discover my Christianity.

Click to expand...

Paxetaurora, I struggle with the same thing too, as I am a huge Tori Amos fan. But I listen to her mostly for her skills in piano, hoping to pick up a few tips from her now and then; I admire her genius in that area as well as her inspiring songwriting. But yes, some of her lyrics bug me, like Father Lucifer ("father lucifer you never looked so sane/you always did prefer the drizzles to the rain/...how's the Lizzies/how's your Jesus Christ been hanging"). However, I don't let that kind of thinking influence me. It is the same as listening to a friend yap about atheism or Christian-bashing all day--it's an annoying mosquito bite and nothing more. Also, I think that if one feels that one is pliable or impressionable, then one should stay away from such influences, as you have wisely done.

4.
 
I can't listen to Amos or Melissa Etheridge. Not only do I not like Etheridge's style of music, she has an unabashed anti-Christian view on life. Some of her lyrics include the phrase "the myth of the cross".
 
Originally posted by famous rungi:
Paxetaurora, I struggle with the same thing too, as I am a huge Tori Amos fan. But I listen to her mostly for her skills in piano, hoping to pick up a few tips from her now and then; I admire her genius in that area as well as her inspiring songwriting. But yes, some of her lyrics bug me, like Father Lucifer ("father lucifer you never looked so sane/you always did prefer the drizzles to the rain/...how's the Lizzies/how's your Jesus Christ been hanging"). However, I don't let that kind of thinking influence me. It is the same as listening to a friend yap about atheism or Christian-bashing all day--it's an annoying mosquito bite and nothing more. Also, I think that if one feels that one is pliable or impressionable, then one should stay away from such influences, as you have wisely done.

4.
Click to expand...

I don't mind artists expressing their own religious sentiments, but to blatantly mock a religion in this way is terrible.

Tori Amos is another artist whose work I will never buy.
 
I still listen to her, but her lyrics make me twitch a little bit sometimes. However, I wouldn't say that I *avoid* her, per se. Sometimes that twitch is a good thing. It makes me think about why people have hangups against Christianity, and how these hangups can be responded to.
 
Whats the big deal with Tori Amos?
No, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm actually asking... I don't know her work all that well. If its anti-christian then I should look into it.
smile.gif


Ant.
 
... And as for the connection between U2 and God, I do believe there is one HUGE connection, and, if I were to analyse some of Bono's lyrics, I would say that he's a man after my own heart;

'And I'd join the movement,
if there was one I could believe in -
yeah, I'd break bread and wine
if there was a church I could receive in...'
ACROBAT.

That says it all for me.
I love God, but I loathe religion.

Ant.
 
I think she's mostly against the factions of the Christian church that are still more patriarchal. Interestingly enough, she has said on more than one occasion that she has no problem with Jesus, and her dad is a Methodist minister.

She also had this crazy grandmother who was all about stuff like "masturbate and you'll go to hell."

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If you cannot live together in here, you cannot live together out there, let me tell ya. --Bono

You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice... --Bono
 
I am still not sure where my faith is...I believe in God, but like everyone else I have big questions. Anyways, I feel listening to U2 in itself is a religious experience.

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"I sometimes get the odd twinge that I wouldn't mind playing lead guitar, just like a couple of notes, but that's about as near as I would want to get to the front." -Larry
 
Originally posted by LarryMullen's_POPAngel:
I am still not sure where my faith is...I believe in God, but like everyone else I have big questions. Anyways, I feel listening to U2 in itself is a religious experience.
Click to expand...

EXACTLY! YES!

Ant.
 
Thanks for everyone's input--very interesting to read. I'm not a religious person but I am a spiritual person. U2's music really inspires me--I often say that their shows have been my religious experiences in life.
But anyway...that's all I have to say about that.
smile.gif


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Sitting on a cornflake
Waiting for the van to come
 
Fascinating thread!
This is the kind of juicy stuff I love in "Free Your Mind".

I had NO idea about Tori Amos! At first, when I read the info above... I got angry, "Well, screw her then!"
But, thats wrong. I mean, I listen to a lot of stuff that some Fundimentalist would consider "evil & demonic", but that I enjoy for what I "take" from it, and I give no creedence to its anti-whatever message or stance.
I think, at least for myself, my faith has got to be stronger than what a song may say to me, ...ya know???

Anywayyyyy, the usual pro-God/anti-religion stance has popped up here again by the usual suspects.. and I agonize while I force myself to just let it go. Ive stated my views plenty of times before, why re-hash it.

I love U2's obvious spirituality, and yes, Bono's Christianity.... and I like Creed too...and Collective Soul... and Kirk Franklin.


Peace

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My love for you
It's in the things I do and say
If I wanna live I gotta
Die to myself someday.
Surrender.
 
We are all U2 fans. The concept of God has nothing to do with U2.

We are all agnostic (i.e. we don't know if there's a God). Some of us are just willing to admit it.

Others have been effectively trained and socialized to "have faith" that there is a God, despite the near-total lack of evidence in support of this.

Just because we can't explain creation doesn't mean there has to be a God. That logic is totally flawed.
 
Originally posted by sv:
We are all U2 fans. The concept of God has nothing to do with U2.
We are all agnostic (i.e. we don't know if there's a God). Some of us are just willing to admit it.
Others have been effectively trained and socialized to "have faith" that there is a God, despite the near-total lack of evidence in support of this.
Just because we can't explain creation doesn't mean there has to be a God. That logic is totally flawed.
Click to expand...
Hey, God has LOTS to do with many of our decisions to be U2 fans! It's what turned me on to U2 back in `84. I loved the Christian lyrics.
Also, we are NOT all agnostics. I don't know what you think an agnostic is, but an agnostic is someone who hasn't decided whether he believes that God exists or not. That certainly doesn't fit me. I have definitely decided that I believe God exists.
 
No offense is intended by any of this.

I understand U2's idea of God is important to some. But U2's idea of God (and yours or mine) has nothing to do with whatever God really is (if it exists). So perhaps what you're responding to is the fact that you happen to have similar beliefs with U2, and you like to see them referred to in their songs.

And getting past the "agnostic" semantics, my point stands: none of us know if there's a God, whether or not we are able to admit it.
 
Originally posted by sv:
True. I should have said, "God has nothing to do with U2" rather than referring to "the concept".
Click to expand...

groooooan, let's forget this. I wasn't even referring to the way you wrote it. All I was saying was that God has everything to do with U2. Bono loves God. He has the joy of God. He sings songs about God. If Bono had no belief in God, there might not ever have been a U2, so God has everything to with U2.
 
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