Overtly Christian imagery crops up often (in US artist Lady Gaga’s new album, Born This Way), and two songs take Christian tropes as a central theme: “Judas” and “Bloody Mary.” These both twist familiar Bible stories into metaphors that fit what is presented as Gaga’s own experience. (Jon M. Sweeney, America Magazine)

The message of “Judas” becomes clear in one line: “Jesus is my virtue/ But Judas is the demon I cling to—I cling to!” The singer wants to be good and wants forgiveness, but struggles to give up the pleasure of sin.

We’ve heard this before, as early as St. Paul and St. Augustine. Hers is a struggle that any honest Christian will recognize: to uphold one’s virtue and be “good” amid a reality brimming with temptations to be “bad.” Gaga personifies the dilemma in the characters of Jesus and Judas—the savior and the tempted, or here the tempter—addressed as possible lovers.

FULL STORY
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/culture.cfm?cultureid=215″ target=”_self”>Confessions of a Dangerous Diva (America Magazine)

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