Oh my fucking god, Diamond. You're hilarious
I have the beginnings of the flu, and I really needed this laugh today, so thanks.
So we're to believe that just because you're old and were a Jesus-loving-U2-fan back in the day, (and you've pretty much implied that those of us not old enough to have been a fan back in 1980 have no right to any kind of opinion, oops) that you know
firsthand the ins-and-outs of how U2 felt politically back then?
That's absurd, and you have absolutely no evidence to back it up, aside from your holier-than-thou 'I was there' opinions. Find some actual evidence to back up your claims, or stop spewing them. You only succeed in making yourself look like an ass (albeit a hilarious one, it's always fun to laugh at you.)
Being religious, and even being involved in a fundamental evangelical group does not necessarily make one politically conservative. I speak from experience. I've been where U2 probably were in the early 80s. Maybe they were just young and naive and liked the fellowship and worship and studies of Shalom, without necessarily tying themselves into ALL of the conservative beliefs of such a religious group. They've already made it clear (and yes, there is actual evidence, straight from the mouths of the band to back this up) that they left
because of the legalism and religiosity.
Been there, done that. Through my years in just such a church group, I never stopped believing in gay rights or a woman's choice to have an abortion, or really any of my former liberal beliefs. And in the end, it was sitting in church and hearing about how gay people were going to go to hell that drove me away.
I no longer consider myself a Christian, but I am a believer, and even now, in the trenches of heathen behaviour, I still like the Bible and am appeciative and observant of the religious references in U2's music. Using Biblical references in their songs as evidence of their supposed religious conservativeness is a very weak argument, Diamond.
It's possible that if they had liberal political beliefs in the 70s (and evidence does suggest that they do) that they held on to it, even in the deepest part of their Shalom involvement. Obviously I don't have any evidence to that, but nor do you have any evidence of your claims.
Not everything is as black and white as you might like it to be.