robingallup

When I worked as a youth pastor at a Baptist church, I was occasionally approached by parents concerned over their children listening to your music. Usually, I would pull up your segment in Bowling for Columbine. I would follow this by encouraging these parents to listen to their children, and to experience their kids' music together. Maybe ask questions like, "What do you identify with in this music? Why is it meaningful to you?" And to actually listen to the answers. Some dismissed me, but others took me up on this suggestion. For the ones who tried it, both the kids and their parents actually learned a lot about each other. All that to say, thank you for being a thought-provoker, question-asker, and notion-challenger. My question: Has the wave of "concerned parents" over the years been draining to you as an artist, or has it pushed you further in creating art?

EDIT: To those criticizing Marilyn Manson for not answering, I don't think it should reflect negatively on him. I posted the question about five minutes after the last answer he posted in this thread. It sounded like he was exhausted, and was probably just finished with the AMA. I would have loved an answer, but I really appreciate everyone who weighed in on what I shared. You're all beautiful people. (Also, insert heartfelt TY4TGold sentiment here.)

Thanks! I'm in a different part of the nonprofit world now, but it was a good time in life. It was a perpetual struggle with the bureaucracy of the religious elite, but I'd like to think that some kids out there learned that they had value as human beings, and that liking rock or being gay or smoking pot didn't make them bad people, no matter what other church people told them. I always felt like my job was just to help them survive adolescence and find out for themselves who they are and who they wanted to be. For some of them, faith helped. For others, it didn't. I cared about them regardless, and tried to get other adults to do the same.

It's all good. Some of the best ones stay the shortest amount of time, but I thought I'd give it a shot. He's definitely on my top ten list of "interesting people I'd love to meet for lunch."

I know that a lot of my Baptist friends are really worked up about it, and they are positive that America is now officially doomed. I think that, by and large, they're wasting their time, and that most of them aren't happy unless they have something to be worked up about.

I do have my own, personal beliefs about gay marriage. What those beliefs meant, for me, was that I shouldn't get gay married. End of story. I see no basis for insisting that everything that Christianity (or any religion) might label a "sin" to be illegal according to the law of the land.

As to how it would have affected my ministry... I had a few students over the years who confided to me that they were gay, lesbian, or bisexual. I felt like my job as their youth leader or youth pastor was simply to love them, and to assure them that God loves them.

God never decides to start or stop loving us because we changed something, or did something, or stopped doing something, in order to make ourselves worthy or unworthy of His love. God just loves us, always. The more we understand "how deep the Father's love for us," the more it cannot help but shape our hearts and bring about natural change in our lives. I don't need to define what that "shaping" or "changing" should look like for anyone. I just keep pointing them back to that love of God which continually shapes and refines all of us.

My 10-year old son is sitting here with me. He has been telling everyone who will listen for over three years now that he plans to major in paleontology. He would like me to ask you what types of activities or opportunities he could try to look for as a young person, especially as he heads into his teens, to try to get a head-start on educational experiences in the paleontology field, beyond simply reading books and waiting for college.