Bono making world a better place

Whatever your thoughts are on celebrities with a cause, hopefully you'll begin to rethink them after you watch and read about Bono. U2 is my second favorite band ever, and the band's frontman, Bono, is a leading voice on the plight of the African continent, specifically on debt forgiveness, poverty and AIDS. I don't say that out of bias - the man's eloquent, well-traveled, knowledgeable on what he speaks, and he lets his actions speak louder than his sage words. What's more, he's not doing this for the money; Bono and his bandmates already have more money than they could ever hope to spend in a lifetime.

In the video clip above, Bono really electrified the audience at the 38th annual NAACP Image Awards, where he received the Chairman's Award.

The difference between Bono and other celebrity blowhards is that he does more than simply complain or give interviews - he backs up his beliefs and thought with action, which should be wildly refreshing to most of us, and a lesson to some. It was to me - start complaining less, and doing more.

Too many celebrities waste away their fame by contributing nothing to society and really just annoying the living daylights out of most people. (Are you listening, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan & Britney Spears?)

I defy you to find a more eloquent voice on these issues today, anywhere in the world.

Watch the video above, then watch it again. Even though you have the video, it's worth reading Bono's words, too, because they should have a dramatic effect on all of us:

"True religion will not let us fall asleep in the comfort of our our freedom. Love thy neighbor isn't a piece of advice, it's a command..."

[...]

"Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die. And to those in the church who still sit in judgment on the AIDS emergency, let me climb into the pulpit for just one moment, because whatever thoughts we have about God, who he is or even if God exists, most will agree, that God has a special place for the poor; the poor are where God lives. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes, where the poor play house. God is where opportunities are lost and lives are shattered. God is with the mother who has infected her child with a virus that will take both their lives. God is under the rubble of the cries we hear in wartime. God, my friends, is with the poor, and God is with us if we are with them. Don't let anyone tell you that it can't be done. We can be the generation that ends extreme poverty."

Click here to sign up for Bono's One Campaign.