Saints or sinners? - The Irish Times

I can't resist commenting that the only possible answer from within a Christian worldview to the question as to whether U2 (or any Christians) are "Saints or sinners?" is "Both, thank you." But that's not actually so relevant to this colorful debate between two music journalists on the merit of U2. Along the way Stuart Bailie defends "spirituality, the engine that drives the U2 machine," while (atheist) respondent Hugh Linehan comments, "You may have helped me put my finger on one of the reasons why the whole thing doesn't work for me: it's not the aspiration towards transcendence, it's the literalness with which that aspiration is couched.... there's no escaping the fact that at times there is a strong whiff of the happy-clappy Folk Mass about U2." Linehan gets in a number of very entertaining jabs on other topics as well, such as "Anyone who sets out to change the world by taking mime lessons has already taken a wrong turn in life." Enjoy.