who called it...okay it was eli.

i sent the below article to matt with only the words "I told you so" but he apparently wanted to have an actual discussion about it. I decided to share said discussion with the masses.

Nice. What I would enjoy hearing is your analysis of the article, what you see/hear between the lines, and the worldview/tradition you think Tara Leigh Cobble is approaching the subject from. I would also be interested in your thoughts on music, concerts, emotion, truth, and how they do, should, or shouldn't intertwine with one another. Also, regarding the article as an article in the form of written words, what is your opinion of Tara's ability to tell a well balanced and crafted story. If you would like to receive my analysis of the article, Tara, and the other above mentioned points, let me know,

mm



first of all - i oppose that u2 is the greatest rock band of all time. that statement sets the stage for my general disregard of tara leigh cobble's opinion in this matter.

that said: i think the christian community has put bono on a pedestal that he can't live up to, and shouldn't be expected to. his responsibility to us is as a rockstar, not an evangelist. we shouldn't put so much stock in what he says. he's a pop culture icon, and he has taken a leadership role in publicizing the importance of social justice and political awareness, but he never qualified himself as a religious leader just because he said he identifies himself closely with Christianity. He has taken huge strides in changing the priorities of our generation and I respect him for that, but if we keep playing "follow the leader" with every trendy pop star who may or may not share our religious affiliation, we're going to get ourselves in a lot of trouble. in fact, it's pretty clear that it's too late.

in the relevant podcast devoted to this issue, some people mention that they thought bono said "it's true" instead of "all true." i don't know if that is relevant (ha!) or not but either way, he never called for one world religion, i think he was calling for reconciliation, which is valid. there was another statement that said he said "it's true, all sons of abraham" which is true.

i feel pretty sorry for bono. i think he's gotten himself into a position of power that he can't handle and it's only a matter of time before he crashes and burns. the world is looking at him really closely and he's a human, which means he'll surely disappoint.

tara leigh cobble is a christian folk artist and lives in nashville. so that's the tradition she comes from. her worldview is clearly not all that huge if seeing u2 is her life's pinnacle...in my opinion. also, her writing seems a bit immature. i tend to be more critical of journalism than i need to be, and relevant magazine usually disappoints in that area.

at the risk of this post being ridiculously long, i'll save the rest for the email to matt.