I never would have guessed that the artist once again known as Prince was a religious guy. But seven years ago he became a Jehovah’s Witness and this past spring took a greater leap of faith—moving to Los Angeles to be a minor missionary to music executives.
“I wanted to be around people, connected to people, for work,” Prince told sometimes religion writer Claire Hoffman. “You know, it’s all about religion. That’s what unites people here. They all have the same religion, so I wanted to sit down with them, to understand the way they see things, how they read Scripture.”
He continued: “I don’t see it really as a conversion,” he said. “More, you know, it’s a realization. It’s like Morpheus and Neo in ‘The Matrix.’ ” He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall, and, like his fellow-witnesses, he leaves his gated community from time to time to knock on doors and proselytize. “Sometimes people act surprised, but mostly they’re really cool about it.”
More interesting, though, is Prince’s reference to the biblical debauchery and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah:
When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’”
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