Katy Perry Says Layers of Her Former Christian Faith Are 'Dropping Off of Me By the Day'
International singing sensation Katy Perry revealed that she is now making a determined effort to shed off her Christian background, saying that layers of her former Christian faith are "dropping off of me by the day."
During a recent interview with Vogue, the self-confessed "black sheep" of the family recalled that she had a sheltered upbringing, thanks to her evangelical Christian pastor parents, Keith and Mary Hudson.
Perry, who was born Katheryn Hudson, said she lived in a "bubble beyond the bubble" together with other Christians who had limited schooling.
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"The schools were really makeshift," Perry recalled of her childhood. "Education was not the first priority. My education started in my 20s, and there is so much to learn still."
For example, Perry said she was not "allowed to interact with gay people," and admitted "there is some generational racism." She is grateful that she is a naturally curious girl, so she continuously asked questions about things she did not understand.
When she was a young girl, Perry said her musical knowledge was also restrained. "Amy Grant was our Madonna," she revealed, but "we knew about Madonna and Marilyn Manson in my family because we picketed their concerts."
She remembered handing out pamphlets titled "How to Find God" during a Manson concert in Santa Barbara, California. But in the end, she wound up watching the concert with her youth pastor. Perry surprised herself by finding the concert "really interesting and weird — I got it."
But she said her life conflicted with everything her family stood for. "My house was church on Sunday morning, church on Sunday night, church on Wednesday evening; you don't celebrate Halloween; Jesus gives you your Christmas presents; we watch Bill O'Reilly on TV. That was my whole childhood and youth and early teens. I still have conditioned layers dropping off of me by the day," she said.
Perry shot to fame after releasing the song "I Kissed A Girl And I Liked It." She confessed that she "did more than that" in the past.
She said she was a gospel-singing girl raised in youth groups that were pro-conversion camps, adding that she had a difficult time reconciling that with her sexual curiosity, reported USA Today. Perry said Christians viewed "homosexuality" as an "abomination," so she tried to "pray the gay away."
