IDENTIYING AS A CHRISTIAN

I don’t feel like I’m a very good Ad for God. Like if ever there was a sinner, there is one here with me. February 1987 ー U2 Talkie Interview

I am the worst… I am at the very bottom of the list of a food chain of… I’m the sort of need to practice a whole lot more Christian. December 1, 2002 ー Interview with Larry King (CNN)

I wish I could live up to Christianity. It’s like I’m a fan; not actually in the band. November 1, 2000 ー “The Elastic Bono Band” by Danny Eccleston (Q Magazine)

[I struggle] to approach that word. I don't feel worthy to use the word 'Christian' because I know too much about myself. I'd be... the one who'd stick my hand out to grab the hem of [Jesus'] robe. June 21, 2009 ー "U2: Access All Areas" by Brendan O'Connor (The Independent)​

I would love to be a Christian if I thought I was good enough to wear that badge. I would tell people I am. Gandhi said I’d become a Christian if I ever met one. May 16, 2013 – Interview with Charlie Rose (New York, USA)

Religious people, generally, they freak me out. Honestly, I start twitching when I’m around them. But sometimes, maybe weirdos are the only people who really know they need God. 2005 ー Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas

But in the end, you've got to become the change you want to see in the world. I'm actually not a very good example of that ー I'm too selfish, and the right to be ridiculous is something I hold too dear ー but still, I know it's true. February 23, 2002 ー "Bono's Mission" by Josh Tyrangiel (Time Magazine)

We've found different ways of expressing it, and recognized the power of the media to manipulate such signs. Maybe we just have to sort of draw our fish in the sand. It's there for people who are interested. It shouldn't be there for people who aren't. 1996 ー U2 At The End Of The World ー Bill Flanagan

I guess that would make me a Christian. Although I don't use the label, because it is so very hard to live up to. I feel like I'm the worst example of it, so I just kind of keep my mouth shut. November 3, 2005 ー Interview with Jann Wenner (Rolling Stone)

I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep shit. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity. 2005 ー Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas

The reason I’m attracted to the light of Scriptures is because there’s another side of me that is dark. The reason I’m interested in men of peace is because I’m not like them and would like to be. I’m not someone in real life who turns the other cheek. December 1, 1988 ー "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by Liam Mackey (Hot Press)

...the reason I'm attracted to a man like Martin Luther King who as it were could turn the other cheek is because I can't turn the other cheek. I'm the very person who'll nut the guy next to me, I'm the very person who in a rage will... do things I don't want to do." January 1985 ー Bono: In His Own Words ー Dave Thompson (Published 1998)
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I've successfully avoided talking about my faith for 20 years... The problem is, when I do these kinds of things, the way it turns out in the tabloid papers here and in England is, 'Bono Pontificates on the Holy Trinity.' But at the same time, I can't let them gag me. February 2001, "Bono: The Beliefnet Interview" (Beliefnet)

Know the truth and it will set you free. It will blow things apart. Why I’m suspicious of Christians is because of this lack of realism. And I’d love to see more of this, in art, and in life, and in music. April 26, 2016 – Short film “Bono and Eugene Peterson – The Psalms” (Fuller Studio)
See Themes
Confessing Inability To Connect To God

See Quotes
Hypocrisy