AUDIO
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Archbishop Peter Jensen's Christmas Message 2011 on the centrality of Jesus to human history
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Ten things that irritate me about U2 - on the occasion of the release of No Line on the Horizon:
1. The way white middle-aged guys (like me) think that by liking them they (ok, we) are getting hip with the kids. These guys have been around since 1979! They were COLD WAR warriors!
2. Earnestness. Hey, even their ironic period was earnest. Am I being cynical? Well, a little. Why do we take our moral cues from celebrities? Why does being a musician give you an authority to 'speak out' about the 'issues'?
3. The way the Christian references in the lyrics are clung to by U2's Christian fans as evidence of their theological profundity and their potential for evangelistic connection with 'the culture'. This is getting boring. People in 'the culture' don't get it - like the guy who wrote that their song 'Grace' was actually about karma.
4. The way they write a couple of hooky, rocky numbers for the radio just to get us interested - but the rest of the albums are moody slow numbers.
5. They play in stadiums so vast you can't actually see them with the naked eye from seats under $200. So close, far away…
6. Edge: take off the hat already. It's time. We're OK with baldness in men who are almost 50. Heck, we had a totally bald rock star in Australia and now he is a cabinet minister!
7. The way in which Larry seems to have disappeared from the band. Why don't they buy a drum machine and be done with?
8. Just how rich are these guys? Couldn't they make poverty history on their own? At least in Ireland they could…
9. Watching Bono suck up to Obama. He appears to be buying into the Obama-equals-messiah complex currently pervading the English-speaking liberal world.
10. The fact that I am going to buy their new album anyway, because - darn it - I like 'em and I always have. And at least they aren't having to do reunion tours like all the other 80s bands…
lol. Have they ever started up a "U2 Foundation" or something like that?
When they played at Homebush a couple of years ago, we stayed home, watched one of their concerts on DVD and just turned the volume up.
hmmm...If the Boomers had Cliff, and (we) x'ers have Bono. I wonder who does Gen Y or iGeneration look to?
I just came across this headline:
Minister for rock: Garrett reforms Oils for fire benefit
And they're sucessful.
The more important question here, behind my silly article: should give up on U2 as an apologetic aid? Are they really helping?
Is "look you can be Christian and cool" really all that helpful, when we have to go to such great efforts to explain away so much of their behavior?
Bono is obviously "spiritual" but if we tie ourselves to him I think we do ourselves and Jesus a disservice. Besides which I am fairly confident after watching Andrew Denton's interview with Bono that he doesn't want to be the pinup boy (aka old man) for modern (20 years ago) Christianity.
Bono is a musician - it's his job. Sure, it's a job that gives him a public platform, but in the end it's his job. Surely we don't expect him to layout the gospel in clear and undiluted form every time he writes a song or gets on stage? If he did that, then he'd be a preacher, which is another job entirely.
Do we expect Christian actors to only ever take roles that affirm Jesus as saviour, or Christian politicians to proclaim Christ at every press conference? I think we often judge people like Bono based on what we think we'd say if we were in their shoes - which is a massive call.
Michael, I think your question about whether U2 are helping us apologetically or not is an unfair one. If they have some songs that can help in certain circumstances then we should use them. But I would say that of any piece of art - popular or not - and not place higher expectations on a secular band that happens to have a few Christians in it.
I'm also not a big fan of Christians holding up Christian celebs as examples to the world - remember Hansi Cronje (and even Bob Dylan).
You must admire them for that.
I think rather they are perhaps a bellweather of how the 'spiritual' and the individual are connected in post-CHristianity...
:-)
It is hard to be pretentious when you can't spell...
Just wondering, did you write this deliberately to bait all the die-hard U2 fans (like me) into responding? If you did, it came SO close to working... :-)
The only thing that irritates me about U2 is that Bono is not my best mate - yet.
the behavior I was talking about was In part the lack of standing on any solid ground when it comes to Jesus. Bono doesn't make it clear where he stands.
The other thing is that my one personal contact with Bono was after a gig late one night outside his hotel, he was so drunk he couldn't stand up or talk. I found this difficult from a Christian "role model" but I guess he has never put himself in that postion so perhaps it is a bit harsh.
Christianity Today, meanwhile, said the album offers some of the most thoughtful and introspective lyrics put out by U2 frontman Bono, who the magazine noted as being “in love with Jesus and himself in equal measure.â€
LOL
The other night they were asked to contribute
the 'Top ten things u2 has learned over the years'
Prepare to cringe.
1. They tend to offend.
2. They are hard to see the point of. But easy to see what the point is NOT.
3. Were do you go after reading one of these articles? Who knows, who cares, at least we know what we dont like.
4. I love reading them, especially when I agree with them.
5. Micheal Jensens list was actually funny. And was less a dig at U2, and more a WHAT MAKES ME ANGRY funny rant.
6. But then I dont really know why he wrote the list.
7. These lists tend to miss out on balance. And im not talking about the media's idea of 50-50 coverage or anything like that, they just tend to be self-affirming biassed lists, which do not try and weigh up different options.
8. They always over generalise
9. They are provocative in style, not necessarily in content.
10. Nice numbers are picked and accheived even if they dont have that many good points.
No offence to Micheal Jensen intended here. HE is a cool guy. I've read your book. It is provocative and thorough in content & style. U2 are artists. We do Idolize them. But who else do you idolize in today's world. We shouldn't be looking to them for wisdom. They have to balance the fact that they are just artists, and yet idolized and learnt from.