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Bono: 'It's Not Charity, It's Justice'

Singer-turned-activists says Easter is time to reflect on priorities

By Amelia Atlas, Newser User

Posted Apr 19, 2009 5:41 AM CDT

(Newser) – Bono returns to his New York Times guest columnist spot a week after Easter with a spiritual meditation about the holiday and economics. The season of Lent is not just a time for individual reflection, opines the singer, but also for rethinking our social priorities. Of global projects like the fight against AIDS and malaria, he writes: “It’s not alms, it’s investment. It’s not charity, it’s justice.”

"Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not,” he writes. “And with it, we hope, comes a chance at redemption. But redemption is not just a spiritual term, it’s an economic concept.” America has entered a moment of economic hardship, he warns, but in "the roughest of times, people show who they are. So much of the discussion today is about value, not values. Aid well spent can be an example of both, values and value for money.”

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (1)]

Singer Bono of the Irish band U2 performs during the Echo 2009 Music Awards ceremony in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday evening, Feb. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Kai-Uwe Knoth)

Bono, the international rock star who has helped bring worldwide attention to medical and economic problems in Africa, receives the 2007 Liberty Medal along with advocacy organization DATA . (AP Photo/Jim Young, Pool)

U2 front man Bono sings in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the inaugural concert for President-elect Barack Obama in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Bono and former French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt are seen after Bono was awarded with the Peace Summit Award during a summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, Dec. 12, 2008 in Paris. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

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I think of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, whose now combined fortune is dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty. Agnostics both, I believe ... Not all soul music comes from the church.
- Bono

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Bono: 'It's Not Charity, It's Justice'