An Open Letter To U2: Be Our Hero, Change The World By Changing Your View of Human Life

       Dear U2, 

            Growing up as a child of the 1980’s in the United States, I had always had a fascination with music.  Every day during school summer break, my mom would turn the radio on to and from the pool.  I remember waiting with baited breath, hoping my favorite songs would be played over the airwaves.   

There is something mystical about this ancient artform.  Music has an unspoken ability to draw you out of the mundane routine of everyday life and bring you into the eternal.  It speaks a very special and intimate language to the heart, to those deep recesses where passion and desire lay.  Oftentimes, the hopes, dreams, desires and passions of the soul lay dormant for years on end out of fear.  However, with the proper lyrics, tune and moral message hidden within a song, the artist has the ability to set the human heart free from fear, anxiety, pain and ridicule.  Music, much like oxygen, breathes life into the soul of humanity.  It speaks of a time and place where evil is conquered by good, hate with love and hurt and pain with the sweet ointment of healing and wholeness.  

To this day, music is the artform I go to when I need to be uplifted and freed from the stress and anxiety of everyday life.  Your music, for years on end, provided sweet relief from those trying moments every person faces.  I was first introduced to your band in 2001.  You performed live from Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.   Though I could not be there in person, I remember being mesmerized, watching you on TV, as you captivated the stadium capacity crowd with the rendition of one of your all-time greats Where The Streets Have No Name.        

A few months later, you delivered a performance for the ages during the 2002 Super Bowl at the Super Dome in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Your moving tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorists attacks still stirs my heart with pride, gratitude and love.   Your final act, which was lifting the lapel of your jacket to reveal the American Flag, sewn to the inside of your coat, is a moment that is forever etched in my subconscious. Your performance, is one I, along with millions of American’s will remember forever.  To this day, there is no Super Bowl Halftime performance which has come close to matching yours.   

During the halftime show, you once again finished your rousing performance with your all-time classic Where The Streets Have No Name.  The guitar instrumental sets the stage for an anticipated and unmatched finale in music.  Having listened to this song and its lyrics, I cannot help but be immersed in the message you are driving home to your audience: joining you as we journey together to a place where there is freedom from malice, division, anger, hatred and injustice.  You do not shy away from acknowledging the issues which plague society, the “walls which hold us inside” or the winds of fate which “trample us into dust.”  But you invite us to hope for something more, to search for and grasp the hidden flame, the light of the city placed upon a hill.  In short, you invite us into the realm of the eternal, where the radiance of the Almighty God enlightens every man, woman and child.  In short, you are singing about the Eternal Kingdom to come, Heaven and the glory which awaits all of us after we have passed through and conquered the trials of this earthly life.        

The Vote: Tearing Down With Your Left Hand What You Have Built With Your Right  

It is no secret that many of your songs contain Christian overtones and your humanitarian work around the globe attests to your faith in and love of humanity.  For decades you have been a great model of civility, dignity and charity, which is a quite an accomplishment in Hollywood and the entertainment industry.    

Sadly, what you have built up with your right hand, you have all too easily torn down with your left.  Please do not take this as a condemnation of you or a character assassination.  If anything, I want these words below to serve as an invitation from one man to another, from my heart to yours, encouraging you to take a deep look inside yourself regarding recent events you have taken part in and ask yourself “Am I building up my fellow man or tearing them down? Am I bringing love, unity and peace to the world, or inviting division, anger and pain?”  I fervently pray that you will take these inquiries to heart and reconsider your recent advocacy in your homeland of Ireland.           

 On May 25th, 2018, a referendum took place where the people of Ireland were given the opportunity to vote on the 8^thAmendment which protected the right to life of the unborn child.  In a sweeping display of indifference towards the dignity of children, motherhood and fatherhood, the people of the Emerald Isle chose to strike down this most basic and fundamental right to life to the tune of 66 percent of the vote.[i]  It is no coincidence that the number who voted for repeal of this law represented the mark of the beast or the number “6” which signifies Satan.             

Leading up to the vote, you advocated for overturning this amendment.  When I learned about this, I was shocked, ashamed and devastated.  You are so much better than endorsing the killing of unborn children as are the people of Ireland, the home of my ancestors as well as yours.  Nothing is more valuable than a human life.  There is no greater gift than a child.  No right can ever supersede that of life.  Without the right to life, every other right is null and void. 

 Being a proud American who believes in God, Faith, Family and Country, I have been a witness firsthand to what legalized abortion has done to my country and what it will eventually do to Ireland.  Since the 1973 Roe V. Wade Case which legalized abortion, over 60 million children are dead.[ii]  We need to let that sink in.  Ten times the number of Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, are dead in my country alone.  Sixty million boys and girls, future mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, doctors, lawyers, musicians, athletes, clergymen, teachers, civil servants……gone.  Not only are they dead but their children and grandchildren are gone forever. Generations have been lost due to this scourge.  

 The monetary loss due to abortion is astronomical. It has been estimated that $35 trillion has been lost in the US Economy since Roe V. Wade became law. [iii]It’s simple math, people have babies, they buy products for babies who grow into adults, who pay taxes, who then buy products for their babies.  A dwindling population will need less and less of food, materials, clothing and shelter and hence fewer dollars will be thrown into the economy.  Driving through a main road where in live in Washington, DC I saw a Toys R Us, which has been in existence since I was born in 1982. Now in 2018, it is shut down.  The reason?  Not enough parents are having kids.[iv]  What about taxes?  Fewer people means fewer tax dollars.  Taxes pay for roads, bridges, schools, firefighters, police officers and the military. Without a military no nation can protect itself.  Without a police force crime will run rampant.  Since the inception of Roe V. Wade, over $27 trillion has been lost in tax revenue.[v]

What about your industry, the entertainment industry?  Bono, you alone possess a net worth of $700 million.[vi]  Due to abortion in the US, and with 1/4 of US women having procured at least one procedure, one-fourth of potential fans of your band are gone, and hence, you have lost 25% of the revenue you could have meaning, you are missing at least $175 million, if not more, thanks to this procedure you endorse.[vii]  

Aside from the monetary aspect, abortion has fueled the sex-trafficking industry and put numerous young girls into the hands of predators.  Live Action recently exposed Planned Parenthood being all too willing to cover up for men preying on underage girls.[viii]  Abortion fuels infidelity and promiscuous sex among the unmarried.  Men no longer have to fear being caught by their wives for adulterous affairs and vice versa because if and when the contraception fails, abortion is there to get rid of the “problem.”  It encourages men to have sex without love and responsibility, it encourages women to prostitute themselves before hedonistic and narcissistic playboys.  It has caused a rift between men and women the likes of which have never been seen before. How?  Why?  If you see the child as a disposable piece of tissue, what stops men and women from seeing one another as disposable once the pleasure has worn off?[ix]       

Being raised Roman Catholic, as you were also raised in the Catholic Faith, abortion has divided the clergymen in my country, turning priests, bishops and cardinals against one another.  Instead of standing for life and defending the innocent, many priests and bishops extol climate change, immigration, poverty and just wages.  Yes it is important to care for our environment and give food and shelter to refugees as well as give immigrants a chance at becoming naturalized citizens, as long as they are law-abiding.  But I would ask you to consider this, if you had a daughter who was pregnant out of wedlock; frightened, scared, ashamed, alone and unsure of what to do, would you really put the environment ahead of her dignity and that of your grandchild?  Any father with half a heart would protect her and that child with a vengeance.  I know in my heart, though it would be difficult, if my little girl, the mirror image of my wife, ever became pregnant, come hell or highwater, I would spend every ounce of strength required to protect her and that precious child.  And Bono, I know in your heart of hearts, you and every member of your band would do the same.  If you and I would do that for our daughters, why do the women of your country deserve less? Why would any woman deserve anything less?  It is no coincidence that this indifference towards the child in the womb has helped spawn a child abuse epidemic not only in the Catholic Faith in the United States and Ireland (for which I feel the greatest devastation) but within so many youth organizations, schools, sports teams and Hollywood.  

If a culture cannot respect the defenseless child in the womb, how can they possibly respect the dignity of the child outside the womb?  You cannot not have one and expect the other to merely work itself out.  The murder of the unborn children in the womb through abortion is satanic, but the fact that the same mentality has led to a worldwide sexual abuse epidemic of children is demonic.  

On a personal note, abortion, along with its baggage, trauma and devastation has hit home for me.  A very close friend of mine got a girl pregnant and while they intended to keep the child, her mother got involved, procuring an abortion.  A few weeks later the girl committed suicide. My friend, attempted suicide and, thankfully, he was unsuccessful.  The only reason he is still alive and with a family of his own were due to his parents devotion to the Blessed Mother and Daily Mass.      

If you personally know of anyone who has suffered the trauma of abortion or sexual abuse, and I am not merely addressing U2 but anyone reading this article, you have my deepest sympathy, prayers, support and sorrow.  I want nothing less for you or anyone you know, U2 included, to find hope, peace, healing and freedom.  I am sorry you have suffered through something so tragic and no doubt traumatic which has negatively impacted your life.  You did not deserve it and shame on anyone who harmed you either with words of actions.  But through the hope found in healing through our mutual Lord and Savior Jesus Christ you can have a tremendous impact on the world from this moment forward.  

An Invitation 

Bono one of the greatest quotes I have ever read comes from you: “My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them.”[x]  

Amen brother.  I have not heard a quote which is so appropriate for our times and which speaks to my heart.  I am not a saint, I am sinner who falls down far too often, but I also try my best to get back up and start again.  The greatest men and women I know are the ones who made mistakes, but they chose to get up, rectify their life and move forward.  They are some of the greatest husbands, fathers, co-workers, friends and yes even priests, that I know.  They attest to the glory you have sung about for decades on end.  

It is a glory we, as a culture, need to attain once again.  We need a renewal of understanding of the dignity of every human life.  We need strong men who not only recognize but defend that dignity, who see all life and every person as a gift.  We need advocates who will lend a voice to the voiceless. Bono, you and your band can be that voice.  In fact, we need you to be that voice.  That strength resides in you.  I know it does.  You have access to so many influential leaders like Pope Francis and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, whom you can encourage to vigorously defend the unborn. You have influenced people far and wide and we need you to do it again. 

Even though it may hurt for me to say it, your advocacy for repealing the 8^thAmendment was wrong.  Abortion comes from the very depths of Hell and resides in the raw evil of Satan’s own heart.  It is an act which leads to damnation.  But just as you said in your quote above, the greatest among us are those who come around from their mistakes.  I hope and pray with all my heart that you will realize this grave error you have made and that, as Pope John Paul II once said, you too will be counted among the most ardent defenders of human life and love![xi]

 I will be praying for you and your conversion!

[i]Henley, John. (2018, May 26). Irish Abortion referendum: yes wins with 66.4% - as it happened.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/may/26/irish-abortion-referendum-result-count-begins-live

[ii]Fisher, Brian. (2018) Abortion: The Most Devastating Genocide in History.  https://www.humancoalition.org/2018/02/26/abortion-devastating-genocide-history/

[iii]Shaw, Jerry. (2015, April 16). Abortion: 6 Impacts on the Economy. https://www.newsmax.com/fastfeatures/abortion-impacts-economy/2015/04/16/id/638995/

[iv]Garfield, Leanna. (2018, March 16). The US is at risk of becoming a “demographic time bomb” – and it may have contributed to Toys R Us’ demise. https://www.businessinsider.com/why-did-toys-r-us-close-declining-birth-rate-2018-3

[v]Shaw, Jerry. (2015, April 16). Abortion: 6 Impacts on the Economy. https://www.newsmax.com/fastfeatures/abortion-impacts-economy/2015/04/16/id/638995/

[vi](author unavailable) (Date available listed most recently as 2018) Bono: net Worth $700 Million. https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/rock-stars/bono-net-worth/

[vii]Earll, Carrie Gordon. (2018) By the Numbers: U.S. Abortion Statistics https://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/life-issues/dignity-of-human-life/abortion-statistics

[viii]Rouselle, Christine. (2018, May 30) Did Planned Parenthood Cover up child abuse and sex trafficking? https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/did-planned-parenthood-cover-up-child-sex-trafficking-and-abuse-10771

[ix]Smith, Janet. (date unavailable) Pope Paul VI As Prophet: Have Humanae Vitae’sBold Predictions Come True?  https://www3.nd.edu/~afreddos/courses/264/popepaul.htm

[x]Bono. Google Search: “Famous Quotes From Bono.” https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&source=hp&ei=3AGzW6G9C5C15gK92LiACQ&q=famous+quotes+by+bono+&btnK=Google+Search&oq=famous+quotes+by+bono+&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30l2.743.3920..4085...0.0..0.50.890.22......0....1..gws-wiz.......0j0i131.fmaMV5u-aUo

[xi]Pope John Paul II. (1995, March 25). Evangelium Vitae. http://www.priestsforlife.org/postabortion/ev99.htm