Bono -- winning hearts and minds

Thanks to my latest blogroll entry for an excellent link.

There is too much to cover in a summary post. Instead, go to the link and read John Sexton's remarks. (I looked at his blog and I like it okay. Nothing defiles it from the thinking Left but that is par for the course. Like all good Christians he seems to be very image conscious.) He's taken by Bono's straightforward, obvious sincerity as witnessed in a recent conference under the aegis of Willow Creek.

Don't waste valuable time with the partial transcript and go straight to the video of Bono and O'Reilly at the 2004 RNC. If you are not hooked after that, change channels and move on to something else. As for me and my house, we will be hooked. As I was watching I kept hearing a phrase echoing in my head -- Devil's advocate, Devil's advocate, Devil's advocate --

Indeed, poor Bill O'Reilly was in that terrible place that journalists must often sit, playing the Devil's advocate. He's awfully good, Mr. O'Reilly. Very professional. Hangs on like a bulldog. And only toward the very end of the clip did I get the feeling that he was being swayed by Bono, who comes across as one of the most articulate, patient, thinking and loving voices I have heard for some time. Hey, I'm a fan, now. And God forgive me, I couldn't shake the feeling that until the end Mr. O'Reilly was really enjoying the role of being an advocate for Satan himself.

I gotta end this post with a positive note. Here is a Bono quote that is in the wish-I'd-said-that category.

I never had a problem with Christ, but Christians…I never felt at home with them. They seemed a bit strange…It’s like a lot of Gospel Music. There a sense that a lot of Gospel music is a lie. It’s about pretending to be the person you wish you really were. And I understand about acting in faith, but I’m more at home with the blues. The blues is about how it really is…It’s honest.One day I read a poll where US evangelicals were asked if they felt responsible to do something about the scourge of Aids. And only something like 7% said yes. And I thought, A-ha! I knew I didn’t like these people and now I know why.

And then something happened. In the last couple years, it was like the church started to wake up. You know I was so sure I had them all pegged and now I just have to take it all back…the church is waking up. The church is making a difference.