My God VS Your God
Ok ok, so maybe I’m a few years behind the time but on February 2nd 1996 the rock-star Bono gave the keynote at 54th National Prayer Breakfast. Bono spoke mostly about poverty and his involvement with the ONE Campaign. The keynote was also made into the book On the Move.
Religion is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. It is something that I feel gets in the way of relationships, of people, of life, and of love. Cute T-shirts and bumper stickers are created with phrases such as “It’s not about religion it’s about a relationship” or “love the sinner hate the sin” these are all good reminds but what do they mean and what must happen for us to obtain these things. It seems no matter who I talk to they tell me “I don’t judge” yet they do, we all do, it’s human nature to want to think of ourselves as being better or that being different is wrong. Here is where the confusion comes in I’m told that being different isn’t wrong as long as that difference isn’t going against what the common belief on the matter is. Why is it so easy to judge others yet not look at ourselves or the relationships that we could be harming?
In his speech Bono said:
“…And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject. That’s why I say there’s laws of the land and then there’s a higher standard … As the laws of man are written, that’s what they say. But God will not accept that. Mine won’t. I don’t — will yours?…This is a dangerous idea I’ve put on the table, here: my God versus your God, their God versus our God, versus no God. It’s very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity…”
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this concept, my God versus your God. I think this is often something that is over looked. As Christians we all have a vision of what God is and my vision may, in fact it most likely is, different than yours. Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist whichever “label” you choose or refuse we all have our views on life, love and why. I’m not a fan of the hippy crap but maybe it’s time to truly learn to coexist stop focusing on the petty differences and start seeing on each other as humans , exploring our differences, but remembering to keep love at the center.
NOTE: read, hear, watch the keynote at: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/bononationalprayerbreakfast.htm