Marilyn Manson
(Read Marilyn Manson, Part 1 First)
Marilyn Manson - On Religion, Politics & Life
"When I turned about 14, I developed a friendship with this guy whose mom was the secretary to Ernest Angley, the faith healer, who's very popular in the Midwest. He had a television show, and he was sort of like Liberace mixed with Jerry Falwell - very glitzy, very high-tech. He had a gold cathedral, one of the most decadent places I'd seen, until recently when I went to the Vatican - that outdid it! But whenever I spent the weekend with my friend, I would have to go to these Friday night services that began at midnight. It was odd because you were starting to fall asleep - it's the perfect time to brainwash people. People were tossing money onto the stage and speaking in tongues. It was very terrifying, like a horror show. It may have been what inspired me to become a rock musician!" (beliefnet.com).
"You're fighting to fit in, and you realize when you get there that the people around you are the same ones who held you down and humiliated you. You've finally arrived, but that bite from the apple of knowledge is bitter and causes a resentment that turns into revolution. Starting a band was my revolution. The story is very traditional, very symbolic and inspired, strangely enough, by the Bible. I look at Christ as a revolutionary and the first celebrity, someone who had dangerous ideas, was ultimately sacrificed and became merchandised into a necklace or something to hang on the wall." Cain had no slasher films to persuade him to kill Abel." (USA Today 11/21/2000).
"Bleeding-heart liberals. I find them very insincere, especially in Hollywood. Those are the people I would like to punch in the face the most. I guess a lot of people would find me more right wing than left wing, although I find myself in both wings. That's what lets me fly." (USA Today 11/21/2000).
"America has created an environment through the media where people know they can get their picture on the cover of Time or Newsweek by doing something outrageous, either as an artist or by hurting someone. They will always put the killer on the cover before they put the victim, because it's more dramatic for them to help sell fear."
"Maybe I should become a Christian and make them all happy. But I think if I found Jesus--which, I didn't know he was lost in the first place--i don't think he would be all that different from me." (beliefnet.com)
Marilyn Manson - One Conclusion
Marilyn Manson is no different than many of us. He experienced a side of organized religion during his youth that turned him off to any notion of God, love or truth in his later years. He saw money, greed, power and hypocrisy. He saw rules, rituals, ceremonies and buildings. What he missed was the core of Christ's message. It's not about religion - It's about a relationship! It's about knowing God our Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. That's it! The rest is of man, and as we just read, man has a tendency to get in the way!
What is your response?
