Bono's Religion, Part Deux

OK, so a huge fracas broke out last month over a Weekly Standard intimation that Bono was swimming the Tiber. I made a contribution to it that was so good it got picked up by the Ratzi Fan Club....

And that will be the eternal apex of my career.

But now, Bono's making like Ratzi and doing book-length interviews, and he's revisiting the question of faith. CNA has something about it. The book is called Bono in Conversation:

At one key point in the interview, Bono talks about the difference between Karma and Grace, a difference which he says, is a “mind blowing concept…that keeps me on my knees.”

"At the center of all religions” Bono tells his skeptical interviewer, “is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one."

"And yet,” he says, “along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that.... I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge…It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."

Later in the interview, the musician seems to take a page from C.S. Lewis, the famous British author and theologian, who wrote the famous “Lord, liar, or lunatic” discourse. He says, “Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius.”

“But actually”, he says, “Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook.”

“Christ says, No,” Bono continues. “I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched."

Suffice it to say, you'll never find Paul Hewson at a megachurch.

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