The preacher said, “What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Hearing this, every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked, “Is it me, Lord?” In America, in Europe, people are asking, “Is it us?”
Well, yes. It is us.
Carnival is over. Commerce has been overheating markets and climates … the sooty skies of the industrial revolution have changed scale and location, but now melt ice caps and make the seas boil in the time of technological revolution. Capitalism is on trial; globalization is, once again, in the dock. We used to say that all we wanted for the rest of the world was what we had for ourselves. Then we found out that if every living soul on the planet had a fridge and a house and an S.U.V., we would choke on our own exhaust.
Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not. And with it, we hope, comes a chance at redemption.
Wow. VERY well-written and poignant.
Does he know where his tax shelter is?
Sometimes to get through to the cynical you have to have religious concepts – Christian doctrine – expressed in unfamiliar language and compelling images. Bono does this superbly here. It is apologetics for a post-modern (and, alas post-Christian) age.
We need to be careful to remember that there are two realities; this world and God’s world and not mix categories. While I agree with the writer that we have squandered recourses and there may be worldwide consequences, I am under no illusion that people in general and world governments will use Christian “values” to fix the problem. I also remember that many of us saw the time of running out of recourses and ruining the environment was true in 1975. We see limits, but God has no limits. God creates something out of nothing. (For now we see in a mirror dimly)
Even if world governments suddenly saw the light and reduced energy use and carbon emissions by half, we would still need a savior. The world would still be a place of sin and rebellion against God.
Yes,
We still need a savior, but perhaps, by reducing our energy use and carbon emissions through conservation and technology, we will not only have saved more of the poor of the world (for whom Jesus said – As you do onto the least of these brothers of mine you have also done onto me) and allowed their faith to be deepened, but our faith as well will be deepened in seeing their faith.
Except, it is NOT us. It is “THEM”. statistics show that the industries in England and the US are cleaner than those in every other developed country! If Bono wants to focus on the true offenders, then he needs to take on Mexico, China, Pakistan, India, etc.
Plus there is ample evidence that the ice caps are growing, the climate is cooling, and the effects of Global Warming are reversing themselves NATURALLY. More and more scientists and climatoligists are coming out saying that the science behind human caused GW is based on faulty data and imprecise models; that Climate Change is a natural cycle.
I’m tired of being told I’m guilty when I’m not. Well, at least not of THIS. 😉
“statistics show that the industries in England and the US are cleaner than those in every other developed country! If Bono wants to focus on the true offenders, then he needs to take on Mexico, China, Pakistan, India, etc. ”
Um .. the US with 5% of the World’s population consumes directly nearly 25% of the world’s resources. There is no country with a higher per capita consumption level than the US. China, Pakistan, India even Mexico, etc. are not even close. I find it incredulous to say that China, India, Pakistan are the problem without connecting it to us, because, particularly, China and India eissions are caused manufactruing goods for our consumption. If they represented a population the size of the US they would be but a blip compared to us. So what you are saying is that they can participate in making goods for our consumption but they should not be allowed to have our standard of living because the World environment cannot handle it.
Frankly, Aldenjr, I would be very happy if the US stopped buying goods and products “Made in China”.