(RED)Wire music launch party

I expect by now several readers have already visited the (RED)Wire music launch party and seen the video of U2's cover of the Greg Lake (of ELP) holiday classic "I Believe in Father Christmas." It's a very potentially U2ey text, conjuring up the sort of "we were promised... but where is it" vibe of, say, ATYCLB's "Peace on Earth," or the "all sacred images are tarnished in our day" feel of Pop's "If God Will Send His Angels." You can decide for yourself what you think of the performance (though a friend of mine wagers that lots of floors will be done up with Christmas lights like those this year).

I had to smile in admiration at the very minor but very thoughtful lyric changes that turn Lake's text into something not just potentially, but authentically, U2ey. Did you catch them? "They sold me a Merry Christmas, they sold me a Silent Night, they sold me a fairy story..." is transmuted into something more like Popmart's "I wanted to meet God but they sold me religion" by one little shift: no longer did "they" keep selling "till I believed in the Israelite"; no, they can try to sell such holiday fantasies all they want "but I believe in the Israelite."

And the end of the original second verse, one assumes the implication is that the once-hopeful little boy awakes, exhausted and bleary-eyed, to witness his father dressed as Santa and realize the whole thing's a shuck ("I awoke with a yawn in the first light of dawn and saw him -- and through his disguise.") But U2 create a whole different feel by taking out that one little "and," so that the narrator now says that he watched in hope, woke at dawn, and "I saw him through his disguise." Another idea that we've heard many times before from this band.

Is (RED) doing poorly? The Independent looks at the facts.

Here is a really good article on (RED) in response to the hatchet piece in trade magazine Ad Age depicting it as basically a big scam and saying it wasn't raising any money. As anyone who's followed it knows, (RED) raised more money for Africa in its first 6 months than the entire private sector gave in the previous four years. (There is also a letter up from the head of the Global Fund setting the story about how (RED) benefits the Fund straight.)

The Independent article also does an excellent job of responding to questions like "Shouldn't people just make a charitable donation rather than buying something?" and "Is this essentially a way big companies can look philanthropic while actually giving less?" and "Why do we need (RED) when there are already charities and already a political lobby?"

Interesting comment: "Data collected for RED's chief executive, Bobby Shriver, shows that people who became aware of crises through RED's marketing have increased their charitable giving, rather than thinking they have done enough by buying RED." Not a big surprise, but good news.

I know I have some readers who are highly critical of (RED), and if you're one of them, I hope you'll take a look at this article. I've often said I am not at all the (RED) demographic and am personally fairly unlikely ever to buy a (RED) product, and I don't think anyone who's not part of (RED)'s target audience needs to either - but the article does a good job of summarizing why I completely support this initiative.

Bono at the NAACP awards

....What was it I was talking about last night again?


Watch for a subtle evocation of a relevant passage from the epistle of James in there.

"We humbly suggest that you can do both."

I'm surprised this parallel isn't all over the blogosphere... Anyone who has any interest or involvement at all in the ONE campaign, or cares about seeing issues of trade justice, debt cancellation, and more/better aid rise to the level of public consciousness where politicians will have to do something about them, should run to the theatre to see the movie about William Wilberforce, Amazing Grace. Observers will instantly recognize the "Bono" and "Geldof" characters, as well as the Edun/(RED) parallels, and more.

(RED) e-cards

Still time to send one of several reader-submitted (RED) holiday e-cards. My favorite's the snowman.

Honolulu December 9

A reminder of the upcoming INSPI(RED) night at the Aloha Stadium. If you're going to the U2 tour closer next week, don't miss the chance to participate!

Here's a nice roundup on progress on AIDS in Africa. Also, check out (RED) stuff for today.

Random Friday comments

Already 457 results for the Google [ U2 "window in the sky" ].

Tim's got another class up, this one reflecting on the Good Samaritan.

And, the US launch of the (RED) line on Oprah today, and the Stand Up Against Poverty events Sunday, probably give me a good enough excuse to link the ONE blog.

(RED) Raises $10M in U.K.from Feb.- Sep. 06

This article from the Kaiser Network says that in 8 months (RED) has raised twice as much from the private sector in the UK alone for the Global Fund as the worldwide private sector had given in the previous 4 years combined.

We say a prayer and make a toast.

I'm preaching a stewardship sermon on Sunday, and there's something about this post from (BLOG) RED that communicates what real stewardship is all about.

The Observer | World | With Bono the preacher man on his mission to Africa

I'm not trying to provide thorough coverage of the Africa trip currently involving Bono, Bobby Shriver, Richard Meacham of the Global Fund, Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News, executives of corporations working with (RED), etc - others are doing that much better. But I thought our readers might especially appreciate this Observer article: "I prophesy that this jewel of a kingdom is soon to become a giant...."

Independent RED edition

It'll only be online for a couple days, and you've probably heard about it elsewhere, but let me particularly recommend reading, in the Bono-edited RED edition of the Independent, some of the kind of stuff that would probably never get printed otherwise:, e.g. A conversation with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown about trade and the followup to the G8, EU subsidies deny Africa's farmers of their livelihood on how dumping of subsidised produce in African countries is forcing local producers out of business, The woman who has the power to change Africa which introduces Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria and her crusade against corruption, and International Development Secretary talks about the first day of his trip to Uganda , which covers the Lord's Resistance Army situation. And after all that reading, one might ask: so why doesn't news like this seem to get covered in Western papers?

There is also the excellent editorial I am a witness. What can I do?