Bono on Faith, Evil, AIDS and Obeying God

These are excerpts from the book THE AWAKE PROJECT; UNITING AGAINST THE AFRICAN AIDS CRISIS (W Publishing Group). The book uses a transcript of Bono’s video message given to Christian Music Festivals…

These are excerpts from the book THE AWAKE PROJECT; UNITING AGAINST THE AFRICAN AIDS CRISIS (W Publishing Group). The book uses a transcript of Bono’s video message given to Christian Music Festivals…

“Today – in the next twenty four hours – 5,500 Africans will die of AIDS. Today in childbirth 1,400 African mothers will pass on HIV to their newborns.
If this isn’t an emergency, what is? In the Scriptures we are not advised to love our neighbour, we are commanded. The Church needs to lead the way here, not drag its heels. The government needs guidance. We discuss; we debate; we put our hands in our pockets. We are generous even.
But, I tell you God is not looking for alms; God is looking for action. He is not just looking for our loose change – he’s looking for a tighter contract between us and our neighbour.
…
I should be preaching to the converted here. There are 2,300 verses of Scripture pertaining to the poor. History will judge us on how we deal with this crisis. God will judge us even harder.”

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On World Aids Sunday Bono was interviewed by Larry King on CNN. The entire interview is available on http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0212/01/lklw.00.html.

KING: We're back with Bono and lots of things to talk about.

How do you explain an enduring marriage in a world of rock, where temptation must be rampant?

BONO: Wow! Rampant temptation.

KING: Rampant temptation.

BONO: Some of my favorite words. I happened to meet -- I have a great mate. You know, I have a great friend in Allie. And you know, I like being in her company, and...

KING: So, you've never -- you've never been tempted away, and it's kept it together and children and...

BONO: No, I'm tempted all of the time, like about half-an-hour ago. Aren't you?

KING: Yes, but what -- but I put it away. But where do you put it?

BONO: Well, if you don't know that by now...

(LAUGHTER)

BONO: How many kids do you have, Larry King?

KING: I have three grown and two infants.

BONO: You exercise restraint. That's what you do.

KING: Yes, you do.

BONO: And you know, that's it, but I mean, I'm just -- I'm in love.

KING: What makes a kid get evil? What makes a man...

BONO: What makes man evil?

KING: Yes.

BONO: I think -- I mean, if you ask a big question like that, and you have to look into -- you have to be responsible and to follow those questions through to the people and study the people who have asked them over eons, over centuries. And you get to the great books of wisdom, and you get to the scriptures, in my case. And you know, I've -- listen, I am the worst -- I am at the very bottom of the list of the food chain of -- you know, I sort of need to practice a whole lot more Christian. But...

(CROSSTALK)

KING: ... Christian.

BONO: That's what I hold onto.

KING: Right back with Bono. It's World AIDS Day. He's starting a national in the heartland talking tour with the Judds -- don't go away.

(MUSIC)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

KING: We're back with Bono.

You mentioned being Christian, and...

BONO: Trying to be.

KING: ... trying to be. Are you -- do you like organized religion? Are you a Catholic? Do you go to mass?

BONO: Who in Ireland could have too much respect for organized religion? We've seen it tear our country in two. My mother was a Protestant. My father was a Catholic. And I learned that religion is often the enemy of God, actually.
And religion is this sort of -- religion is the artifice, you know, the building, after God has left it sometimes, like Elvis has left the building. You hold onto religion, you know, rules, regulations, traditions. I think what God is interested in is people's hearts, and that's hard enough.

KING: So, especially in Ireland, you've seen it fail.

BONO: Yes, yes. And now, we're watching it around the world. We're watching what religion can do. And you know, I think it's anathema, and see -- religion takes ideas. Religion often reduces the size of God. God is so big. It's a gigantic concept in God. The idea that God might love us and be interested in us is kind of huge and gigantic, but we turn it, because we're small-minded, into this tiny, petty, often greedy version of God, that is religion.

KING: And so, we raise money in his name and go to war in his name.

BONO: Yes.

KING: If there is a God, he must be angry at a lot of this.

BONO: I think God is very angry at the moment, and I think there is -- I think it's shocking what is going on in the world. And I think it is an extraordinary moment.

Right now, I can tell you this. Our age will be remembered. This moment in time will be remembered for three things: the war against terror, sure; the Internet, probably; and how we let an entire continent, Africa, burst into flames and stood around with water in cans. This is not acceptable. It is not acceptable to let people die because they can't get the drugs that you and I take for granted. That means -- you have to ask very hard questions of ourselves if we're doing that.

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