Virtually from day 1 P has always mentioned God and as we well know over the years he has become incredibly vocal on a subject that is clearly very close to his heart. I suspect over the years his message has resonated with you at differing levels i.e. Lovesexy through to TRC and all points in between but has he at any point influenced you directly to think about religion in a serious way and perhaps influence you. That can be in many forms whether it be to just pray more or join an 'organised' religion.

From a personal point of view I can honestly say that being a hard core fan since '83 and not being either way inclined before, he has actually been a great source of me questioning all things religious. That's not to say that I have become a JW , far from it, but more from general reading around the subject in some depth and learning on my own personal journey. Still don't know where that journey will take me but lets say he helped me buy the ticket!.

My I also say that I have the upmost respect for his own beliefs and wish him well on his own quest to learn.

he hasnt directly affected me no, but i was always intrigued by some of his lyrics. i used to think he was spiritually superior to most people, but not so much anymore.

for me its his music that makes him superior, and i also believe that a musician's music is their religion, or at the very least a very direct reflection of their natural connection to their creator, or the divine, or whatever you want to call it.

prince is a superb musician, so i always figured he was hooked up to the big throne room.

i agreed with his beliefs and the ideas he sang about early on in his career more so than when he became a Jehovah's Witness, but i do thank him for all the great music which was a great way to go to church.

P doesn't follow a church, he follows a cult. So God has nothing to do with it. He needs to follow the real Christ before he loses his soul.

It's weird.

I was firm in my faith and wasn't wavering from it when I was listening to Prince. He started to mention God more probably around 1981 and forward. I was probably more dogmatic in my belief as a teenager and into my 20's than Prince was in his 20's and 30's.

However, it seems that when he started to hone in on the JW cult faith, I started to loosen up on mine. The basics of what I believe are there, but over time I have dropped the man-made traditions and pretentiousness of Christianity. I've reexamined a lot of things I thought I believed, and realized - some church or group made "that part" or "this part" up to try and compliment what was already there, and what was already perfect.

I found myself in conversations w/ folks constantly saying, "but that's not what God said in the Bible". I realized thing were changing for me. I realized that "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there [at that place] is liberty". I'd never felt liberty like I feel now in following God. I feel like Prince is the opposite of that now. He comes across very hindered, shackled and in submission to religion, not God. Of course you can't be in bondage to something you didn't submit to.

So did P effect my view of God? No! It's just an interesting view when I look at it with 20/20 hindsight, and see that we switched sides of the extreme.

If anything, P has taught me never to let my religion interfere with my music.

Prince is a musician not a lifestyle.

Not really. I appreciated P's earlier metaphorical lyrics which spoke of religious generalities. Love God, love each other etc. The more specific, and in my opinion, judgemental lyrics that have surfaced since his conversion are a little too familiar given my own religious upbringing and well, sometimes rub me the wrong way.

Prince has tremendous street cred with me as a musician, songwriter and performer - that is all I need from him. His own spiritual journey is just that and I wish him the very best.

ernestsewell said:

It's weird.

I was firm in my faith and wasn't wavering from it when I was listening to Prince. He started to mention God more probably around 1981 and forward. I was probably more dogmatic in my belief as a teenager and into my 20's than Prince was in his 20's and 30's.

However, it seems that when he started to hone in on the JW cult faith, I started to loosen up on mine. The basics of what I believe are there, but over time I have dropped the man-made traditions and pretentiousness of Christianity. I've reexamined a lot of things I thought I believed, and realized - some church or group made "that part" or "this part" up to try and compliment what was already there, and what was already perfect.

I found myself in conversations w/ folks constantly saying, "but that's not what God said in the Bible". I realized thing were changing for me. I realized that "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there [at that place] is liberty". I'd never felt liberty like I feel now in following God. I feel like Prince is the opposite of that now. He comes across very hindered, shackled and in submission to religion, not God. Of course you can't be in bondage to something you didn't submit to.

So did P effect my view of God? No! It's just an interesting view when I look at it with 20/20 hindsight, and see that we switched sides of the extreme.

When I was religious, sometimes his lyrics about god, love, etc. were inspiring and encouraged me to deepen my relationship with the god I worshipped at that time.

At this point in my life, I no longer subscribe to any religious views, nor do I believe in god(s), so I can't say Prince has influenced me in any way in that regard.

However songs like The Word, Holy River, and even Lovesexy will always be special to me, regardless of my atheism.

2freaky4church1 said:

P doesn't follow a church, he follows a cult. So God has nothing to do with it. He needs to follow the real Christ before he loses his soul.

Christianity is just a larger cult. "The real Christ" is all in your mind dear...

No, not at all. Religion is bullshit and he won't change that with his music. I love the music, regardless what his inspiration was.

[Edited 8/16/10 10:34am]

Nope

Nah.

No.

teiemka said:

Prince is a musician not a lifestyle.

He has only in that I study more than I used to. I don't belong to any "religion" But I do believe in God and Prince's views have made me look into things more.

Timmy84 said:

teiemka said:

Prince is a musician not a lifestyle.

Prince once said "this is not music, this is a trip". Then prince is not a musician, he's a tripper.

ludwig said:

Timmy84 said:

Prince once said "this is not music, this is a trip". Then prince is not a musician, he's a tripper.

I don't take all his lyrics seriously.

During certain moments in Princes music (particualry earlier stuff) I feel that a higher power must exist. Not that Prince is a god or even a catalyst for a god. Just occasionally he plays something so beautiful that it hits me so deep inside that i feel there must be reason for human existence - the guitar solo on the 90's 'Empty room' for instance. I sometimes feel it with Marvin Gayes music, too. That perhaps sounds stupid to many but i think these rare occurences in art are extremely profound.

Do i believe in god any other time? No, not at all.

PRNelson said:

During certain moments in Princes music (particualry earlier stuff) I feel that a higher power must exist. Not that Prince is a god or even a catalyst for a god. Just occasionally he plays something so beautiful that it hits me so deep inside that i feel there must be reason for human existence - the guitar solo on the 90's 'Empty room' for instance. I sometimes feel it with Marvin Gayes music, too. That perhaps sounds stupid to many but i think these rare occurences in art are extremely profound.

Do i believe in god any other time? No, not at all.

Well something about their music IS spiritual anyway, how can't you not be touched? You know? It's gonna be profound.

No, he hasn't. But what he has done is inspire me to believe God can not only create but use a dynamic artist to convey His message to all sorts of crowds.

We are the hands, the voice, the body of Christ. Utilizing our talents for Him is something I, and Prince aswell, strive to do.

So it's incredible to me the way Prince planted so many righteous seeds- ESPECIALLY since his fan base isn't quite the Christian crowd Heck many people didn't even know the Lord's Prayer as we saw in a thread since they listened to Controversy! It truely is remarkable

2funkE said:

Not really. I appreciated P's earlier metaphorical lyrics which spoke of religious generalities. Love God, love each other etc. The more specific, and in my opinion, judgemental lyrics that have surfaced since his conversion are a little too familiar given my own religious upbringing and well, sometimes rub me the wrong way.

Prince has tremendous street cred with me as a musician, songwriter and performer - that is all I need from him. His own spiritual journey is just that and I wish him the very best.

I think that sums it up quite nicely

BTW, 2funkE is 2Cute! LOL

Nah still an athiest through choice.

Absolutely not!

I'm a convinced atheist and nothing and no one can change that.

2freaky4church1 said:

muirdo said:

Nah still an athiest through choice.

Same for me, but with agnosticism.

No. If anything he helped me not to cling to the exact opinion of the church ('80), but I would have figured it out myself anyway.

No. God was in Prince long before he became a JW. God was in me long before I started listening to P in 78. When he praises God I'm wit it. My grandparents were devout baptists and it was instilled in us from birth. Same w/ most of my community. I respect his religious beliefs and he knows whats best for him. I dont know alot about the JW but they were right there in our community as long as I can remember too. What I dont get is folx who are conscious and dont belive theres a power greater than their ability to comprehend.

I know this is gonna be controversial, but I have to say it anyway:

his conversion to JW's stuff made me think that he's just one of those black celebrities who are just not comfortable following the religion of the white majority, Christianity...And them came "Avalanche" which more or less confirms my theory...

Perhaps this is pure bullshit, but I've said I just needed to say it...

why a convinced Christian (black, white, red, yellow or whatever) should leave Jesus to embrace JW's jimbo-jambo is beyond me...

[Edited 8/16/10 16:08pm]

JonnyApplesauce said:

What I dont get is folx who are conscious and dont belive theres a power greater than their ability to comprehend.

How can you believe in something that no one can comprehend? Im sorry, but you religious folks don't make sense. Why can't you just accept that no one has an explanation what this life is all about?