where does he say "salvation through Jesus alone?:" he says that Scripture -- not Bono, SCRIPTURE -- says that salvation is important, so i think you're taking your own understanding of what "salvation" means and foisting it upon Bono and putting words in his mouth that aren't there. and in the second quote, he says REDEMPTION.
[q]This is an example from "Bono: In Conversation" where Bono explains the deity of Jesus compared to other religions: Assayas: That’s a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it’s close to lunacy , in my view. Christ has his rank among the world’s
great thinkers. But Son of God, isn’t that farfetched?
Bono: No, it’s not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I’m not saying I’m a teacher, don’t call me teacher. I’m not saying I’m a prophet. I’m saying: “I’m the Messiah.” I’m saying: “I am God incarnate.” And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet we can take. You’re a bit eccentric. We’ve had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don’t mention the “M” word! Because, you know, we’re gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no, I know you’re expecting me to come back with an army and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he gonna keep saying this. So what you’re left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we’re talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we’ve been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had King of the Jews” on his head, and was they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it. I’m not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that’s farfetched…"[/q]
this has been posted quite a bit, but i think it's important to note that Bono is explaining what the Bible says that Jesus has said (obviously, we don't know what Jesus actually said). that's really all. does he believe it? probably. but this isn't a profession of faith in the way that you understand it, it's much more of a theological analysis.
[q]Here is an example where he talks about "With or Without You" being about his struggle to stay faithful to Ali, and his struggle to faithful to God. Bono-"The lyric is pure torment. One of the things that was happening at the time was the collision in my own mind between being faithful to your art or being faithful to your lover. What if the two are at odds? Your gift versus domestic responsibility? I had always been the kind of person who would sleep on everyone else's floor, the eye of the travelling rat, a natural tinker. I would just wander off and be very happy. So now I have this person in my life whom I love more than my life but I'm wondering if the reason I'm not writing is because I'm now a domesticated beast. I'm wondering if I'm house-trained? If I meet somebody and I want to go off with them, to find out what their world is like, I can't because I'm a married man. It's not even about sexual infidelity. I just remember thinking: 'Is this the life of an artist? Am I going to have kids and settle down and betray my gift or am I going to betray my marriage? It was a very difficult thing in my head. I had met a couple of people on the way who had taken advantage of my naivete, is the best way I can put, and I realized I knew so very little about this world and now, the future looked like I was going to know even less. You can learn about politcs, culture, but your emotional life also has to be developed. I think in some senses mine wasn't, and I was going through all this kind of uncertainty. I was at least two people: the person who is so responsible, protective and loyal and the vagrant and idler in me who just wants to run from responsibility. I thought these tensions were going to destroy me but actually, in truth, it is me. That tension, it turns out, is what makes me as an artist. Right in the centre of a contradiction, that's the place to be. There I was. Loyal. But in my imagination filled with wanderlust, a heart to know God, a head to know the world, rock star who likes to run amok and sinner who knows he needs to repent....
If I had cut loose, what would have become of me?"[/q]
it says he's stayed faithful to his marriage. and he has. it's tremendously admirable. but it doesn't get into the specifics of sexual fidelity -- in fact, in the above, he says, "it's not about sexual infidelity" -- and there's ample evidence in "New York" and, i think, "WOWY" to show that bono has wandered off a bit. but what is important, and is a testament to their marriage, is that he's always come back. but this is a mistake to view this as evidence that Bono has never had an extramarital affair, when his lyrics seem to say otherwise.
and it's important to note that Bono is a performer, and in both these instances, he's speaking to an audience. just how honest do you expect him to be? these are words and music for mass consumption -- he would never deliberately embarass Ali with anything so direct.
and why don't you think it works? could it be that it's the fault of that message itself?
let me ask you: is a child on the streets of Calcutta, raised as a Hindu, going to hell?