My Good Friend Bono...

I don't think I can really do justice here to how much this speech has already impacted me. About a week ago, my proffesor asked us if we would like to watch Bono at the national prayer breakfast (for my ethics class). So I said "no - I hate that guy". No - you guessed it, I was the biggest keener around.

After my prof said that maybe - although this is potentially kinda crazy - that Bono represents a new "face" of Christianity which is striving for social change without hiding behind the cloak of evangelicalism. He said "if Bono had a church, I'd go to it, and not because he is a rock star". And my answer would probably be the same. I guess for me, it would be partly because he was a rockstar. But man - if you get a chance - try and find the video. If not, here is the printed transcript (and audio is on this page too)..

Check it out.

Some highlights for me:

"Even though I was a believer.Perhaps because I was a believer. I was cynical… not about God, but about God’s politics"

"It’s annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren’t they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain in the ass. Seriously"

"But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties; it doubts our concern, and it questions our commitment. Six and a half thousand Africans are still dying every day of preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity: This is about Justice and Equality."

I guess the true question is: will I do anything about it?

I plan to.