One of our early readers sent in some comments that should create
some conversation today. Bringing U2 into a conversation with a group
of Christians can be challenging or even dangerous for the
relationship.
The boys held up as prime examples of good Christians that happen to
be in the music business, years later most view the boys as arrogant and
egotistical abandoning their early religious views.
In fact, many churches will point to U2 as evidence of the fact that
the music industry is too full of corruption and depravity for even the
most committed believers to hold out against, almost as mothers used to
frighten their children into good behavior with stories of the
hobgoblins that awaited the ill-behaved child! Viewing U2 on the
surface, this can be understandable, but a deeper look at what the band
are doing portrays a very different story.
Without a doubt U2 have changed a lot since their early albums. Many
believe that U2 no longer possess the Christian beliefs, which so
obviously underpinned these albums, and in many respects amidst the
images which U2 have created their beliefs can be difficult to unearth.
Often such use of artistic subterfuge is deeply frowned upon by
Christian fundamentalists who argue that the gospel message should be
perfectly clear; however, this is ignoring the fact that much of the
Bible is itself written in artistic prose, rich in hidden meanings and
multi-faceted nuances, whilst several books merely contain poetry – the
most artistic of all writing forms.
Jesus himself taught in parables, using the images of the day to
bring across truths about God, and most of the time leaving the people
scratching their heads and wondering what he meant.
