I’ve always been intrigued by musical artists who make professions of faith or start out in “christian bands” doing “Christian music” only to abandon anything that even resembles biblical Christianity. I can’t quite describe why. Anyway…I came across this post on my old Greek profs blog. Katy Perry still has some semblance of faith, but by her own admission she’s pretty fuzzy on biblical Christianity. Check it out.
The Faith of Katy Perry
originally posted at:
http://www.dennyburk.com/the-faith-of-katy-perry/#more-9302)
The most recent issue of Rolling Stone has an interview with pop music sensation Katy Perry. I’ve written about Perry before and have noted her past life as Katy Hudson—a Christian music star and the daughter of two charismatic youth pastors. What I found interesting about this interview in Rolling Stone was her remarks about her current spiritual state and practices. She describes it this way:
“Speaking in tongues is as normal to me as ‘Pass the salt.’ A lot of religions use meditation or chanting as a subliminal prayer language, and speaking in tongues isn’t that different–it’s a secret, direct prayer language to God. If I felt intuitively that I had to pray for some situation, but I didn’t rationally understand it, I just let my spirit pray for me.”
Perry tells Rolling Stone that she still gets offended at blasphemy, even when her own fiancé is the culprit. She doesn’t want anyone taking God’s name in vain. The interviewer is astonished at Perry’s residual Christian scruples:
“It’s surprising to hear Perry talk about God in this way, because one would think her religious past is behind her, but she says she still considers herself a Christian. She shows me the tattoo of the word JESUS that she got on her wrist, just like her dad. ‘God is very much still a part of my life,’ she says. ‘But the way the details are told in the Bible—that’s very fuzzy for me. And I want to throw up when I say that. But that’s the truth.’
“‘I still believe that Jesus is the son of God… But I also believe in extraterrestrials, and that there are people who are sent from God to be messengers, and all sorts of crazy stuff… Every time I look up, I know that I’m nothing and there’s something way beyond me. I don’t think it’s as simple as heaven and hell.’”
The article also reveals why Perry has departed from Christian music and the strict charismatic faith of her parents.
“Perry started to question the path she was on. Her Christian label shut down, and, she says, ‘My gospel career was going nowhere.’ She started to write songs about love—and boys—on her guitar. And those weren’t gospel songs. ‘Letting go was a process,’ she says. ‘Meeting gay people, or Jewish people, and realizing that they were fine was a big part of it. Once I stopped being chaperoned, and realized I had a choice in life, I was like, “Wow, there are a lot of choices.” I began to become a sponge for all that I had missed—the music, the movies. I was as curious as the cat.’”
The article is as sad as it is revealing. I hope and pray that perhaps there is a flicker of gospel still alive in Perry and that she will heed it soon. Pray for her. The Lord’s arm is not too short to save (Isaiah 59:1).
———————–
Source: “Sex, God & Katy,” Rolling Stone (August 19, 2010)
Recent Comments