What Keeps Bono On His Knees? His thoughts concerning Grace ~vs~ Karma!

[Deuteronomy]

Hey everybody, here's a quote by U2's Bono that I find interesting (for a number of reasons).

......."The thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma. You see, at the center of
.......all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth
.......for a tooth, or in physics — in physical laws — every action is met by an equal or an opposite one.
.......It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it.

.......And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that ‘as you reap, so you will sow’ stuff. Grace
.......defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case
.......is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff." ~Bono

Thoughts about any of this?

~Deut

.........Isaiah 53
.........5 ..He was pierced through for our transgressions,
.........He was crushed for our iniquities;
.........The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
.........And by His scourging we are healed.
.........6 ..All of us like sheep have gone astray,
.........Each of us has turned to his own way;
.........But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
.........To fall on Him.

.........Romans 4
.........5 ..To the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

.........2 Corinthians 5
.........21 ..He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
.........

 

[Deuteronomy]

Perhaps the main or driving principle behind Karma, "you get what you deserve", is all about the concept of "fairness". We don't ascribe "fairness" to God as one of His Divine Attributes, rather, He is said to be "just".

Are Karma's "fairness" and God's "justice" really just two sides of the same coin, or are there differences in the two? If so, how are they different?

Thanks!

~Deut

 

[Deuteronomy]

Continuing with a couple more thoughts........

Shouldn't our God also be "fair" too? Why or why not?

Also, along with being just, God is also "merciful" and "gracious". These are all Divine 'requirements' (if you will) because "God is love" (and because we, at least in a secondary sense to His Son, are the objects of His love). Is there anything about Karma that has anything whatsoever to do with "love"?

Finally, the scope of Karma is considerably broader (and deeper) than Bono describes in his quote above. Christians do not hold to "Reincarnation" .. cf Hebrews 9:27, but w/o it, is there any sense in which Karma could possibly be considered as something that is universally "fair"? (and if it's not "fair" in that sense, can it really be considered to be "fair" at all?)

Thanks again!

~Deut

 

[Ugly]

Digging deeper into what karma Actually is is a belief that a force that some call God, others call "the universe", but all means the same thing, is some cosmic mirror. If we do good then the universe sends good back to us. The same goes with bad.
it is an eastern thought belief system that removes a literal God being for a conceptual existence.
This is different, in fact, than reaping what you sow. Reap what you sow does not involve some nameless force but rather a spiritual law founded in a single creator, God.
Karma is working to earn good. To gather enough cosmic brownie points to earn your way to nirvana after a multitude of lives.
Reap/sow is consequence and nothing more. It's not a reflection on your ability to be saved, or to "ascend" but rather a common sense concept that says "if you punch someone in the face, they'll punch you back".

So Bono is already starting from a place of misconception and it steers him in the wrong direction from that point on.

Truth is karma is Not fair. If a person is born with a mental disorder that influences their ability to behave right and wrong he then is sending out bad karma with no hope of balancing it out or overcoming it.
And by what standards are good and bad judged? In this field of thought morality is subjective.
And what if you do change from bad to good, but too late? Then you have this huge buildup of bad karma and you're clueless whether or not you're able to work your way out of the hole or not.
Grace, on the other hand, says "whatever you did before is erased".

People that think karma is fair are typically people that think a definitive morality is wrong, and believe being a good person is all it takes.
I wonder how many think beyond themselves and delve deep into the idea of karma and just how unfair it is. And realize that the selfishness with which they choose to believe karma would actually work against them.

 

[HeRoseFromTheDead]

Bono did have a Christian upbringing. He is very worldly, but has expressed faith in Christ to some extent.

 

[JaumeJ]

Karma, though not named is mentioned more than one time in the Word, although it is not an entity or a force in itself. It is written the evil we do will come back on our own heads .........so karma is really nothing new to the disciple of Jesus Christ, Yeshua.

 

[LPT]

Hmm interesting, all I can say is God knows best the when's and how's.

 

[longtrekker]

.
I vaguely remember a quote of Bono a while back – something along the lines of disparaging the current Christian music scene. One might think it was a sling against the faith – but no – it was given the nature of what is being sung that it should be vastly better !
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