Jew-DAHHHH (Ga-ga?) May 18, 2011

Every time Lady Gaga says words stuff gets crazy, and her new single and music video, Judas, is not an exception. I heard about the subject-matter of the song and felt the Father’s Call, as a Christian, to give it a listen. Disciples should be educated on what Satan or sin is up to, so we can recognize it when we do see it. The following is my opinion.

Let’s start out with just the song, ignoring the video for the time being. The basic concept, is Judas girlfriend, lover, wife, or whatever, (Gaga) still loves him after he betrays Jesus. This is entirely possible. Today, many people leave the church because their spouse or significant other do. If the songwriter was trying to create a Christian impact, they would probably of tied it all up the end with something or other about this not being the one straight path.

The song also discusses some topics, such as Judas and Gaga being unforgivable, which is entirely wrong – JESUS WANTS TO FORGIVE US ALL, AND WE ALL NEED FORGIVENESS, EVEN THOUGH NONE OF US DESERVE IT.

The song’s chorus starts with “I’m just a Holy fool, oh baby he’s so cruel, but I’m still in love with Judas, baby.” Excuse me? Can you say that again, Gaga? (And I’m not just asking you to repeat it because it’s the catchiest part of the song, I’m asking you to repeat it because IT’S ENTIRELY WRONG.) It’s backwards! Jesus is not cruel. He came to Earth to die for us. He is the OPPOSITE of cruel, he’s self-sacrificing. It is possible, the song isn’t clear, that this line “he’s so cruel,” refers to Judas. In which case, the line not only has awful grammar, but is also wrong. Judas was not cruel, but at the time of the betrayal he was self-serving. (The opposite of Jesus!)

Now, what about that “main topic,” is it okay to still love Judas, even though he betrayed the Lord? In the song, Gaga claims to be a follower of Christ. (“Jesus is my virtue…”) Everything we are unwilling to give up is an idol, and idolatry is the root of all sin. However, we should still love him – JUST NOT IN THAT WAY. Judas is a creation of the Lord, and because of that, we should love him.

However, should we/she engage in a romantic relationship with him? Judas, still a follower of Christ, went through quite a hard time after the Death of the Lord. (He killed himself, if you’ve forgotten.) Maybe he needed fellowship in Christ during that hard time. Maybe that would have stopped him from taking his own life? But regardless, the focus of the relationship of Gaga and Judas should be on Christ. (Because based on Lady Gaga’s other music, I am not led to believe she’s referring to the kind of love the Bible describes in 1 Corinthians 13.)

Musically, the song is stupid. It is comprised of several parts (Verse, chorus, bridge) that really don’t even fit together at all. They’re thrown together. Songwriters should never do something like that because it takes you out of the immersive experience of listening. As a filmmaker, I could appreciate some of the cinematic elements of the video, but I was not pleased.

The sexual and feminized versions of the Passion of our Lord presented in the video are absolutely disgusting. Such as Christ’s crown of thorns being a dainty tiara held in place by dreadlocks or braids, or Christ sitting in a hottub with Gaga, being licked, enrage me, because I know that the suffering that the Lord went through was extreme, and should never be undermined, because that was His gift to us. The crown of thorns was not a hat of leaves. It was a wreath of nails. Those dug inches into Christ’s brain.

Some of the other images with the song are quite distasteful, such as the single’s album art, a cross with a heart in it. That “heart,” does not belong on the cross until you’re ready to nail it there and sacrifice it – kill it.

If I were a parent, this is certainly not the song I would want my child singing along to, and knowing all the words of. Children do not think about deep meanings of songs, generally. If a child hears this song now, they’ll accept it without question – because they don’t know what it is about. As they grow older, that song might stay on their iPod for a few years. They might hear it again when they’re eighteen, thinking about ending an unhealthy relationship, and just might not, because Gaga didn’t do it. They might not end an unholy relationship because of this either. Outside of the scope of relationships too – they might not kick a bad habit that might be their “Judas.”

Recently, I’ve been doing quite a bit of thinking about where I’m called to serve Christ, and although I often say how clear I am of His Will, I’ve been questioning lately. I’ve been hearing other whispers, and not known where they came from; God, Doug, or Satan? But every time I hear a song like this, or I see a boy wear a skirt on the Disney Channel, or I hear Elle say “Oh my god!” in Legally Blonde, I feel the burden of the moral decline that comes from media. I feel that burden, and I feel the call to make my own little dent in that moral decline. Bring it up a bit. Right now, I’m more clear then ever in what God calls me to. (I don’t know if I can make a music video as weird as some of Gaga’s stuff, and I don’t know if Gaga has God with her; but I know that I do, so whatever I do will turn out exactly the way it is supposed to.)