The Religion and Political Views of Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga's parents, Cynthia and Joseph Germanotta, were active members of the Roman Catholic Church in New York City. In fact, Ms. Gaga, before her foray into international pop stardom—and meat suits, attended a private girls-only Catholic school in Manhattan called Covenant of the Sacred Heart[1].

Hookers and Jesus

Catholicism has emerged in Lady Gaga's music in songs like "Judas," a song about, as Gaga puts it, being in love with someone who betrayed her. However, the music video features much Catholic and Christian imagery and seems to tell the story of Mary Magdalene (a suspected prostitute) caught in a love triangle with Jesus and his betrayer, Judas.

Despite her upbringing, Gaga has expressed some contempt for organized religion in general, putting it in a socio-political context and decrying its negative influence on social and political values, saying:

The influence of institutionalized religion on government is vast. So religion then begins to affect social values and that in turn affects self-esteem, bullying in school, teen suicides, all those things.[2]

Everybody is their own god

It seems unlikely—though perhaps we don't give this dance-pop crooner enough credit—that Lady Gaga understands the roots and intellectual underpinnings of selfism[3], but seems to express at least its one core principle when she says:

It's more self-worship, I think, not of me. I'm teaching people to worship themselves.[4]

The power of pop

Lady Gaga has a lot of influence with 12 million followers on Twitter and 36 million Facebook fans.[5] She's used her celebrity to push various social issues, mostly relating to gay rights. One journalist even called her a "political tsunami," after she was ranked in the Forbes most powerful women list in 2011.[6]

She has not specifically claimed any political ideological territory (Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative) but one could assume that she is quite socially liberal.

Lady Gaga has even appeared and spoken at a political rally to repeal the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gay service members.[7] Though no proof exists that Gaga's impassioned speech made any impact, the policy was later repealed by the Obama administration.[8] She said:

Equality is the prime rib of America. Shouldn't everyone deserve the right to wear the same meat dress that I do?[9]