Dialogue: “Forgive Us Our Debts”
G.I. Joe:
Bono, they’re gonna call you crazy again. You know that, right? The bankers, the politicians — they’ll say debt is the lifeblood of the global economy. Without it, they’ll say, the whole system dies.
Bono:
Aye, I’ve heard that sermon before, mate. But I also heard another one — from a carpenter who said something different. Every day, millions pray, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Maybe we just forgot He meant it literally.
G.I. Joe:
I don’t know if I’ve got that much mercy in me, Bono. I can’t forgive these international moneylending vultures, the ones who profit from misery. They feed off the suffering of the poor and call it “interest.”
Bono:
Then start smaller, Joe. Maybe you don’t have to forgive them. Maybe you forgive us. Forgive Canada’s debts — the student loans, the small-town farmers, the single mothers paying 20% on their credit cards. That’s a start.
G.I. Joe:
Canada’s debts… yeah. I could live with that. Jubilee North.
Bono:
That’s the spirit, soldier. The first revolution is always spiritual. Before the numbers fall, the hearts have to change.
G.I. Joe:
Then let’s start with that prayer again — the real one.
Bono (quietly):
Our Father… forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
(They bow their heads — two unlikely prophets, whispering a rebellion disguised as a prayer.)
