In the same way that I'll never forget where I was when I saw The Challenger explode or the World Trade Center buildings go down, I will never forget where I was when America celebrated the election of its first black president. And thanks to our friends at YouTube, this video should make it a lot easier to tell my grandkids:
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Messianic Complex
So I've been browsing through my extended MySpace network this afternoon (I'm getting pretty desperate for homework distractions) and I've noted that many of my friends (and friends of theirs) list God and/or Jesus among their heroes or people they'd like to meet. I've got Bono. Yep, I've got the man whom Bruce Springsteen declared as having "the most naked messianic complex in all of rock & roll" when he spoke at U2's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last year. So what does this say about me? Believe it or not, it says a lot about my own faith.
Consider the following remarks made by Bono when he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in D.C. earlier this month:
"Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land, and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash....I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV. Even though I was a believer. Perhaps because I was a believer. I was cynical not about God, but about God's politics."
He then went on to talk about the practice of tithing that occurs in America's churches and how impressed he is that people so freely give 10 percent of their earnings toward God's causes. In this new "family values" -oriented government, where Christian leaders and political leaders are increasingly the same people, Bono challenged our government about tithing. The Bible is quite clear on how Christians should embrace the disadvantaged and disenfranchised members of the world population, yet the political leaders in the most economically abundant country on earth give less than 1 percent of their earnings to aiding poverty in less fortunate countries.
Regardless of what we feel our government is responsible for in terms of foreign aid, and regardless of what anyone thinks about separation of church & state, the fact of the matter is, neo-conservatives seem to be picking and choosing where religion and politics should intersect. Bono, with his piercingly sincere yet rough-around-the-edges approach, is bending the ears of global leaders and daring to challenge them on these important issues. I think it's exactly what Jesus would do---maybe he'd even be one of Jesus' heroes (dodging lightening bolt here). So I say rock on...and sign the One Campaign pledge!
Consider the following remarks made by Bono when he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in D.C. earlier this month:
"Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land, and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash....I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV. Even though I was a believer. Perhaps because I was a believer. I was cynical not about God, but about God's politics."
He then went on to talk about the practice of tithing that occurs in America's churches and how impressed he is that people so freely give 10 percent of their earnings toward God's causes. In this new "family values" -oriented government, where Christian leaders and political leaders are increasingly the same people, Bono challenged our government about tithing. The Bible is quite clear on how Christians should embrace the disadvantaged and disenfranchised members of the world population, yet the political leaders in the most economically abundant country on earth give less than 1 percent of their earnings to aiding poverty in less fortunate countries.
Regardless of what we feel our government is responsible for in terms of foreign aid, and regardless of what anyone thinks about separation of church & state, the fact of the matter is, neo-conservatives seem to be picking and choosing where religion and politics should intersect. Bono, with his piercingly sincere yet rough-around-the-edges approach, is bending the ears of global leaders and daring to challenge them on these important issues. I think it's exactly what Jesus would do---maybe he'd even be one of Jesus' heroes (dodging lightening bolt here). So I say rock on...and sign the One Campaign pledge!
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