“As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering. The children of the world belong to everyone. You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry,” Madonna wrote in an Instagram post on Monday.
“Politics Cannot affect Change. Only consciousness Can. Therefore I am Reaching out to a Man of God,” Madonna wrote in the caption of her post.
The pope has more ‘fans’ than Madonna. Do you seriously think that Madonna has as much political influence as the head of the Catholic Church?
No, but she probably has as many fans in Gaza or Israel. But that’s not really the point I was hoping to make.
My original comment is not because I think she has more pull, but because I resent celebrities pulling the “Oh, me and my wealth cannot change anything because the problem is too big! Instead of investing my time and money, I’ll just kick the can up to governments so I don’t have to commit any serious effort myself.” My attitude goes back to an interview I heard with Bono of U2. He was traveling Africa at the time with U.S. diplomats to encourage spending of U.S. taxpayer money to solve problems there, and it was/is a worthy cause. However, when asked by an interviewer, “You’re very influential and your concert tours make millions. Couldn’t you put on a charity tour to raise money for this cause?” " Oh, no," he responded. “This problem is much too big for any single person. It requires the kinds of investments only governments are capable of.”
So yeah, got it. My taxpayer money can fund a very wealthy Irishman’s dreams of how to improve the world (again, they were good dreams), and all he wants to do about it is travel the world doing publicity with diplomats, spending other people’s money. Couldn’t be arsed to put any actual work time in. Only believed in the dream enough to make others pay for it.
I see Madonna making a similar play here. “Hey, look at me, guys! Now go tell the Pope to tell Israel to stop!” I mean, I don’t know what sway she thinks the Pope has in Israel, or why the Pope should care what a former Catholic thinks he should do, and I’m not going to complain if he makes a plea for the end to this Palestinian Holocaust, but she’s wealthy and has her own influence. I’d like to see more effort on her part before she starts telling world leaders what to do in public forums. Based on her long history of courting controversy for publicity, her message to the Pope is just pandering to her dwindling fans until she invests more effort than a social media post. If the wealthy lady wants that kind of power to call on world leaders, then I need to see her making big donations publicly, marching with protestors, making public rally speeches. Not this “I was a big deal 30-40 years ago” vibe.