Katy Perry Has Betrayed Christian Roots, Her Parents Urge Public To ‘Pray For Her’

One might think that the parents of a hugely successful popstar like Katy Perry would be proud of her accomplishments, but Perry’s parents recently reminded the world that they are not. In fact, reports Gospel Herald, Perry’s parents expressed remorse over how far Katy has drifted from her Christian faith and felt the need to ask the world to “pray for her.”

“I want you to pray for my daughter,” Perry’s minister father, Keith, told his congregation. “Don’t judge her, pray for her.”

Both of Katy Perry's parents are pastors pic.twitter.com/za71qIDyQ0

— ViRaL NoVa (@viraln0va) March 5, 2016

Some readers may be unaware that Katy Perry actually began her career as a Christian gospel singer going by her given name, Katy Hudson. Her parents, who are both ministers, very much approved.

Katy’s gospel music career was not exactly successful, though. In fact, according to a biography of the singer by Kimberly Dillon Summers, her first and only album as Katy Hudson sold less than 200 copies in 2001, its year of release. Katy was only 17 years old at the time.

After her lackluster debut, Katy took a step back from the gospel music scene and began reinventing herself in a way that would distance her from the explicitly Christian demographic and make her music more appealing to the masses. In other words, she began transforming herself into the Katy Perry much of pop culture knows and loves today. To do so, Katy had to turn her back on many of the Christian ideals she had been raised with in order to become more edgy.

It was not until 2008 that Katy Perry made her musical debut with her album One of the Boys, and it was obvious she was born completely anew. Katy had completely eschewed the reverent tone of songs like “Trust In Me” and “Faith Won’t Fail” in favor of poppy and often sexually provocative tunes like “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot n Cold.”

Since then, Perry has only become more popular by continuing to embrace pop culture trends and explicit imagery in both her music and her public image. Take Perry’s image on the cover of GQ‘s October 2014 issue, for example. Not exactly NSFW, but certainly not something you would find on the cover of a church’s monthly newsletter.

Fall in love con Katy Perry en el cover de GQ pic.twitter.com/bOAHyr6LxV

— Angel Matute (@ElMatutino) September 26, 2014

Katy Perry’s parents see she has sold out her faith, and they say they are saddened by her decision.

They are not condemning their daughter, though. They realize that people do things, especially in their youth, that are not always well-advised, and Keith Hudson says that a parent should not get upset if their own views differ with those of their child.

“If you are a parent who agrees with everything your son or daughter does, stand up, we’ll shoot you, get rid of you now because you’ve been walking in a lie.”

Katy Perry herself has said that, while she may not choose to embrace Christianity as her parents have done, she is still a very spiritual person and definitely believes in a higher power.

“I’m not Buddhist, I’m not Hindu, I’m not Christian, but I still feel like I have a deep connection with God. I pray all the time — for self-control, for humility. There’s a lot of gratitude in it. Just saying ‘thank you’ sometimes is better than asking for things,” Perry said during a 2013 interview with Marie Claire.

“I don’t believe in a Heaven or a Hell, or an old man sitting on a throne. I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable,” Katy continued.

As her words suggested, Perry’s career, while not going back to gospel, is moving more towards uplifting, spiritually empowering music. One example is Katy Perry’s 2013 smash hit “Roar,” and perhaps an even better one is “Rise,” the song Perry will perform at the Olympics this year and which was recently teased on YouTube for an August 4 release.

[Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]