The part that struck me most was the part where Bono talks about how church-going Americans regularly tithe 10% of their personal income, but are unwilling to spend more than 1% of the national budget on foreign aid. The mixed metaphor aside (government, church), that's a crappy and embarrassing statistic, and even those who think America is a "Christian" nation should be ashamed.
Coincidentally, I'm reading Songs to an African Sunset, another book from the old college book recommendation list. I've been reading it for a while, actually; it's currently overdue at the library, so I have to drop it off on my way to the bus stop tomorrow, but I did make it halfway through. It's not fiction, so I didn't get bored. It was a little depressing, though -- the author returns to her native Zimbabwe after years of living in Australia, and in the first two chapters describes the lives of three people from her village who have died of AIDS. The collection of stories are poignant -- and I really want to finish the book, but I have to wait until the person who has it reserved after me returns it.No matter how long that takes, no doubt Mugabe will still be around...
2 comments:
Interesting point B... however, Christians still give more on average than non-Christians including supporting causes that are not strictly church-based (sustainable agriculture and housing projects, etc. both here and abroad) It is not just "church-going" Americans who are unwilling to spend more then 1% of the national budget on foreign aid... It is fair to be disappointed in all Americans for not supporting foreign aid, but to unequivically target Christians lacks perspective.
I didn't think I made that point
-- but I'm pretty sure Bono did in his speech. I just pointed out that his analogy between tithing and government spending is misguided, because one deals with churches and the other with the state.
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