Rebuttal part one.
PreacherFergy said:
U2 was formed in 1978. The group is hugely successful. Their PopMart world tour, which ended in early 1997, earned 100 million British pounds; and the band members were already among the richest people in the Irish Republic (Whatever Happened to, p. 198).
How ironic; the author claims to have done research and still gets basic facts wrong. U2 was formed in 1976 and the Popmart tour ended in 1998. If we can't trust the author to get basic statistics right, how can we trust them on anything else?
Bono (the groups leader, real name Paul Hewson), Dave Evans (Edge), and Larry Mullen visited a charismatic house church called Shalom and announced themselves Christians in their teenage years. U2 member Adam Clayton does not make any type of Christian profession. In my opinion, he is the most honest of the four band members. At least he does not pretend to have faith in the Bible while living a rock & roll lifestyle.
I find it grossly offensive that the author dares to question the salvation of the three Christians of U2. It simply should not be done, especially because these men are clearly Christians. I shall go into more detail later.
They chose to stay with rock & roll and have been moving farther and farther from the Bible ever since.
The author obviously did not listen to the Pop CD, which I feel was their most spiritual, even moreso than the one usually credited as the most spiritual, October.
This business of spiritually-minded Christians being too far removed from reality is a common smokescreen used by rebellious types to excuse their worldliness.
What is the author going on about? Bono has a problem because these people are blind to the world, wrapped up in their own little bubble, not going out and clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, helping the poor, or making disciples. That's what he's getting at. It's a common theme of Bono's, that Christians are sitting back and ignoring the work Christ calls them to do.
In fact, there is very little, if any, evidence in U2s lives, music, or performances that they honor the Word of God.
This is the biggest lie in the entire article. On every CD, there are many spiritual themes, Bono often prays live - how many mainstream artists are prepared to do that? - they have a personal faith, and Bono is constantly calling Christians to action to follow Christ's commands.
Here are the songs with Christian interpretations on each CD (some may add more);
Boy: I Will Follow, A Day Without Me
Non-album single: 11 O'clock Tick Tock
October: Gloria, I Fall Down, Rejoice, Fire, Tomorrow, October, With A Shout (Jerusalem), Stranger In A Strange Land, Scarlet
Non-album single: A Celebration
War: Seconds, Drowning Man, Surrender, 40
The Unforgettable Fire: Pride (In The Name Of Love)
The Joshua Tree: Where The Streets Have No Name, With Or Without You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, One Tree Hill
Rattle And Hum (only counting the new studio tracks, not the live performances of old songs): When Love Comes To Town, Love Rescue Me
Achtung Baby: Even Better Than The Real Thing, Until The End Of The World, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, Ultra Violet (Light My Way), Acrobat
Zooropa: Zooropa, Stay (Faraway, So Close!), Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car, Some Days Are Better Than Others, The First Time, The Wanderer
Pop: Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, If God Will Send His Angels, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Gone, The Playboy Mansion, If You Wear That Velvet Dress, Wake Up Dead Man
All That You Can't Leave Behind: Beautiful Day, Walk On, Peace On Earth, When I Look At The World, Grace
Non-album song played live: American Prayer
B-sides (this is NOT conclusive, I don't know that many due to my limited collection of singles): The Three Sunrises, Luminous Times (Hold On To Love), Always.
Please note this does not include songs where they make reference to their faith but there is no Christian interpretation (i.e. Sunday Bloody Sunday, "We're still fighting to claim the victory Jesus won"), live performances where additional lines relating to faith were inserted (there is an extra verse of One sung live that goes along the lines of "Do You hear us coming Lord?/Do You hear us call?/Do You hear us knocking/We're knocking at Your door"), and there may be more songs on Rattle And Hum to add but I haven't listened to it in ages so my interpretations are sketchy. It is ironic to note that the two CDs with the least amount of spiritual songs - Boy and The Unforgettable Fire - were made at times when the author pinpointed them as being particularly spiritual: teenagehood (Boy) and their time at Shalom (The Unforgettable Fire was made not long after they left Shalom).
Bono has prayed live on many occasions. The two most notable that stick out in my mind are;
- the Popmart Sarajevo 1997 concert where he prays repeatedly throughout the show.
- many performances of Where The Streets Have No Name on 2001's Elevation tour, where he would pray Psalm 116 during the intro.
Bono also has spoken on his faith on many occasions, and not just during concerts (though on the final date of Elevation, he does make a two minute speech about how God is love and not hate). During 2002, for example, he went on a tour across America visiting churches and Christian universities, meeting people and speaking to them. Also, his speech to the departing class of 2001 at Harvard University is beautiful and he makes no attempt to disguise his faith. In everything he does, Bono's faith is featured prominently, from his lyrics to onstage alteregos to meetings with church officials and politicians in relation to Third World crises. Fruits of the spirit? This man has spent countless hours and money attempting to improve the lives of millions in Africa. He has spent weeks at a time in Africa doing aid work, he tirelessly campaigns to improve the lot of many, and he never sacrifices his morals or beliefs for anyone. Saint? Indeed.
The other members of U2 are not in the spotlight nearly as much. Larry, the drummer, is a very private person - fans do not even know the first name of his youngest child - and Edge believes faith is a very personal, private thing, though he has spoken about it and, like Bono and Larry, takes his children to church (Adam has no children to take, even if he wanted to).
They are one of the most popular rock & roll groups alive today and this certainly would not be the case if they were striving to obey the Bible in all things.
Well, using that logic, Jesus was a hypocrite, wasn't He? Most popular person in history must be d-mned.
Their record sales are in excess of 70 million. They have won five awards on the wicked MTV. They have often won Rolling Stone magazines readers poll titles for most popular rock group. Bono has been named the most popular rock singer. In 1992 Bono was named premier male sexpot (U2: The Rolling Stone Files, p. xxxvi).
The most conservative estimates for sales are actually 120 million; 180 million is the usual number, though there is no verification. I don't see what point the author is trying to make with that statistic or with the awards (interesting how they overlooked the numerous Grammy awards), and Bono didn't exactly ask to be named premiere male sexpot, did he?
In 1990 Bono said: More than any other group that ever was, the Who were our role models. I love them and hate them for that (cited in Rock Facts, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, p. 107). As we have documented in our book Rock Music vs. the God of the Bible, the Who was a very wicked rock band, and it is impossible for a person who loves the holy God of the Bible to consider the members of the Who as role models.
What rubbish. It's not a sin to admire a band for talent.
Because of their popularity in the rock music field, the members of U2 have had countless opportunities to testify plainly of their faith in Christ
Which they have done, frequently.
but Bono says they dont like to discuss their religious beliefs in public.
And where is this quote? Bono has said "Our music is like our fish in the sand: it's there for those who want to see it, it's not for those who don't" and that is the right attitude to have - he doesn't force his faith onto anyone, it's something for him and if people want to see it, it's right there for them to see if they so wish. But if they don't, that's well and good, he doesn't want to shove anything upon them against their will, because all that will do is make them bitter and push them further away from God.
I have read dozens of U2 interviews, but I have never heard them give a clear testimony of the new birth.
The author clearly has no understanding of where U2 is from. They come from Ireland, a country torn apart by religion and religious claims. For them, religion is something that men have used for evil purposes to nearly destroy their country, and hence it's not their favourite topic. However, they have publicly professed faith. I do not have any sources, but I do recall reading it. Personally, I think their lyrics are a public enough confession of faith.
The members of U2 dont support any denomination or church. In fact, they rarely attend church, preferring to meet together in private prayer sessions (U2: The Rolling Stone Files, p. 21).
You say that like it's a bad thing. As I said, they are from Ireland, a country torn apart by religion, where denominational differences are much more severe than elsewhere. I want to know what's wrong with private prayer sessions ...
Bono says that he would like to be able to go to a Catholic church or a Protestant one (Ibid., p. 20).[.QUOTE]
And he does. The man takes his children to a Catholic church.
The members of U2 do not believe Christianity should have rules and regulations. Im really interested in and influenced by the spiritual side of Christianity, rather than the legislative side, the rules and regulations (Edge, U2: The Rolling Stone Files, p. 21).
And that's exactly right! Christ condemned the Pharisees for the legalism. As Bono has said many times, Christianity is about God's love and grace, not about adherence to laws and regulations. A belief in God and an acceptance of salvation through Christ leads to faith, and as the author gave verses to prove, those who love Christ keep His commands - hence, through the focus on the love and grace of God, the members of U2 still keep the commands, they just do not go legalistic like the Pharisees and some Christians do. They have a very solid understanding of faith, and Bono's is so good that he has been asked to write introductions to Biblical books (one version features an introduction to Proverbs by him) and to speak on faith at many churches, universities, and other institutions.
