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I saw an advertisement for a new book in the current issue of Relevant magazine: Rock Stars on God: 20 Artists Speak Their Minds About Faith, by Doug Van Pelt. Another one? I thought. So I ordered it, expecting to find Bono in there somewhere. After all, he fits the bill on both accounts for this book: he's a rock star and he's known for speaking his mind about faith. The odds were in my favor -- out of twenty artists surely Bono would be one of them. The book arrived; I looked it over; he wasn't there. Curious, I flipped to where the index should be, ready to look under "B" and "U." No index. Then I looked more closely at the list of twenty and read the Introduction, which revealed something the title didn't. These rock stars are from the world of heavy metal. You know -- Alice Cooper, Sammy Hagar, Metallica, Nickelback, and the like. It was all clear to me now.

Bono was absent from Van Pelt's book, but I could sense his presence all around. Rock Stars on God is the latest paperback on the growing list of books on this subject. Interviews, articles and books about a performer's faith have been coming at us with such frequency that the "musician-on-a-spiritual-journey" story is starting to read like a familiar cultural theme. The increasing number of rock stars who talk so comfortably about God has much to do with U2 making it seem so normal to do so, and with Bono seemingly finding it impossible to not do so. Musicians -- from Moby to Beyoncé to Lenny Kravitz to Sean Puffy Combs (and yes, even Alice Cooper) -- who talk about their journey and how important faith is to them follow in the line of their forefathers Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Bono. They all have different takes on God to be sure. But at the moment it's U2's take which most of the publishing world is interested in.

"People are writing books and articles about the spiritual nature of U2 because it is unavoidable," says Steve Beard, a writer and the founder of Thunderstruck, a website devoted to faith and popular culture. "You certainly cannot properly comprehend Bono without calculating in the faith factor of his rock and roll passion."

Many fans will have read Steve Stockman's Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2, published in 2001. This was the first book to capitalize on the fervent spiritual atmosphere surrounding the Elevation Tour. Walk On is published by Relevant Books, which also published Spiritual Journeys: How Faith Has Influenced Twelve Music Icons in 2003. One of those music icons is our man Bono, who graced the cover of the March/April 2004 cover of Relevant magazine for the cover article "How Faith Fuels His Quest to Save the World." (And yes, Relevant Books is also responsible for Van Pelt's Rock Stars on God book.) In addition to Walk On and Spiritual Journeys, two more books about the spiritual side of U2 were published in 2003: Faith, God, and Rock 'n' Roll by Mark Joseph, and Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog, edited by Raewynne J. Whiteley and Beth Maynard. Add to these four books the numerous articles and cover stories about Bono's faith, and what's coming at us might not be a publishing tidal wave, but it's more than a ripple.

What's really behind all this attention to the spiritual habits of U2? Four books in three years about U2 is understandable. But four books on U2 and faith? Most of the stories are nearly identical retellings of the same story with a few different quotes here and there. Is it a catering to an obsessive fan-base who feels entitled to know how often Bono prays? A quick money-grab by publishers on the heels of All That You Can't Leave Behind? Or are more and more writers simply finding it too hard to pass up telling such a good story?

Beard, who wrote the entries for Johnny Cash, Al Green, and Bono in the Spiritual Journeys book, says "Bono has been outspoken about his seemingly unconventional Christianity to the extent that many of his fans want to know how he juggles rock 'n' roll perks and a bleeding-heart devotion to God. I think fans are reading these articles and buying these books because they are genuinely interested in an artist's motivation and inspiration."

The way Rev. Beth Maynard sees it, our culture's interest in U2 as part of a larger phenomena: "English-speaking popular culture itself has become dramatically more open about spirituality in the past five years, so that overall trend is surely part of it. The U2 coverage is only a small part of an explosion of books, websites, and articles that talk about spirituality in pop culture in general." Maynard is a pastor and writer who frequently incorporates U2 material in her teachings. "I think there is more of a sense among people who decide what stories to run that the mainstream audience is now open to hearing about the spiritual lives of public figures," she says. "Pragmatically, I think when Tom Beaudoin's Virtual Faith did so well in 1998, a lot of publishers took notice and began thinking 'where can we get more of this stuff?' "

Publishers probably had an easy time finding more of this stuff, Maynard thinks, because they are becoming increasingly staffed by people who want to print this kind of material: "A generation born after 1960 and raised on pop culture finally has enough power in the system to be able to write about what's spiritually meaningful to us."

Rev. Dr. Raewynne J. Whiteley, Vicar of Trinity Episcopal "Old Swedes" Church in Swedesboro, NJ, and Maynard's co-editor of Get Up off Your Knees, agrees. She suggests that U2 has been a part of what is spiritually meaningful to young decision-makers in the media. "I wonder if it's not in large part a simple matter of a generational cohort coming of age. We were in our late teens when U2 first made it big; we're now of an age and stage in our careers where publishers will actually take our ideas seriously. Plus, All That You Can't Leave Behind has very clear Christian symbolism, which lends itself to interpretation, so I think it has inspired us to take public our musings about U2 and faith."

Cameron Strang, editor of Relevant magazine and CEO of Relevant Media Group, calls Bono "a spiritual father to many in my generation," who along with his band mates has created the music that has become "the soundtrack of our lives." From their first album to their latest, Strang says, the music "has always seemed to reflect the spiritual climate of my generation. This grungy, aging rocker from Ireland has given a voice to the struggles, hopes and spirituality of millions around the world."

If timing has played a big role on the part of the media, it's also been a factor in the lives of U2, Beard notes. "In addition to a skittish media, Bono is in a different place in his life than he was in the 1990s. Once you have purchased a castle, broken in the Lear jet, and celebrated happy hour on the French Riviera, you still realize that there is more to life than being fodder in the gossip columns.

"Bono once described the 1990s as a time when 'We got darker, but the lights were all the brighter at our concerts' -- a classic case of over-compensation," Beard says. "One gets the feeling that with the release of All That You Can't Leave Behind the band sent the giant lemon and cocktail stick into storage to collect dust with the monuments to rock's excesses. As he has become more outspoken on the issue of AIDS in Africa, he has been forced to spend more time with religious activists. He has said that he had to swallow his own prejudice because he tended to tar all traditional Christians with the same brush. Bono discovered that was a mistake. Some of his most enthusiastic audiences are young evangelicals and Catholics who have a heart for the justice and love rock 'n' roll."

"In the early '90s particularly, everyone (including U2) knew that the last thing anybody wanted to hear about was a pious save-the-world version of U2," Maynard adds. Now, following the Elevation Tour and coinciding with Bono's DATA work, "Bono has chosen to be much more up-front about his faith commitment."

So much of the press about the spiritual side of U2 makes use of the term "journey." Maynard sees their journey as having fairly conventional features, but adds that how they've chosen to describe their journey is unconventional. "There's nothing unusual at all about the journey hinted at in the themes of U2's work. Those themes trace the classic shape of a Christian spiritual journey from conversion to maturity -- a fervent connection with Christ, then a movement outward, then questions and struggles, then a more seasoned and nuanced recommitment. It's a spiral that is repeated throughout life.

"What's unusual is that U2 have honestly depicted all parts of that cycle in their work, in front of millions of people. They don't look at Christianity, but through it, and that instantly opens more doors. Even songs that major on spirituality are careful to offer other access points too. The band invites you to be part of their expressions of joy and faith, along with questions and struggle. U2 write about things with which everyone can identify; they simply do so without censoring the input of their spiritual natures."

Bono has thrived on embracing contradictions all his life and certainly doesn't try to censor himself. Beard credits Bono's staying power to his willingness to ignore the industry's play-book for fame. "[He's] one of rock 'n' roll's most effective and enigmatic spiritual provocateurs. He makes pitches for the Bible, gets nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and then makes news for getting pardoned by the FCC for using the F-word on television. He has always been introspective, provocative, and willing to snub the conventional wisdom of how to be a rock star. He seems to be in the MTV world but not of it. Every rocker of faith owes a debt of gratitude to Bono for paving the way with his winsome, clever, and creative appeal."

Bono's faith moves him to action, and it's when a character starts acting that a story starts going somewhere. What a story needs, writers know, is not so much a theme as all the little details and movements of the characters to live out the big ideas in a tangible, concrete way.

Strang explained Bono's appeal to the Relevant crowd as partly due to the fact that he acts on his faith. "Bono puts his money where his mouth is. He doesn't only talk about being a Christian, he actually tries to put his words into action. For too long we've seen American Christianity do absolutely nothing to impact their worlds the way Jesus instructed us to -- to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take care of the poor. [Bono's] not perfect by any stretch -- none of us are -- but he's out there trying to make a difference. It's a challenge and inspiration to those around him. Bono's message and lifestyle are a wake-up call to the American church. He's doing everything he can to make the world a better place."

U2 have made public their spiritual journey for about twenty-five years now, and one wonders how the next chapter will read. Gone is much of the irony and tension about religion we grew so accustomed to receiving from U2 in the 1990s. Gone is the sadly fascinating spectacle that was Mirrorball Man and his deliciously more decadent Euro-relation, Mr. Macphisto. What we've seen for the last few years is a psalm-chanting street-clothes prophet walking around with "soul" stamped on the soles of his shoes. (They were often platform shoes, giving him a ready-made stage on which to speak. Maybe most of that irony isn't gone after all -- it's just traveled from his head to his feet.)

Who will Bono show up as next? What message will he bring? And what will faith-based writers have to say about him?



© @U2/Calhoun, 2004.

@U2 Calendar

February 12 2010 09:00 PM - 12:00 AM - ONE - A Celebration of U2 The U2 Incident is now "ONE" 2/19 - 2/20/2010 09:00 PM - 12:00 AM - Elevation, The International U2 Show, 8th Anniversary Party A portion of proceeds will benefit Haiti Full Calendar