The vocalist of Nightwish, Floor Jansen, has expressed her views on organized religion, stating that she finds certain aspects of Christianity’s backstory “disgusting.”
This topic arose during a broader discussion with Brocade (seen below) about the possibility of a higher power overseeing our lives that we may not fully comprehend.
What Concerns Does Floor Jansen Have With Christianity?
While she does not explicitly mention Christianity, her criticisms align closely with its fundamental principles.
She explains that religion has been a significant part of her life, yet she has encountered “much contradiction” within it.
“On one hand, they say that God is about love, and you enter a church to see a dead man nailed to a cross who has suffered immensely,” she elaborates. “If that isn’t horrific enough, it’s done because of your sins. So you’re expected to feel guilty for it. I’m sorry — where is this love? Then I need to eat his body and drink his blood. I find that absolutely disgusting — pardon my French.”
Jansen also points out issues stemming from interpretations. She shares, “I think I took the whole thing far too literally because the entire narrative was so distant from the image of that man and the sins and the horror of Hell and the constant threat you must believe in. The more I learned about religion, the more I felt like we are basing certain wisdom on a book written by someone thousands of years ago, [with] with interpretation after interpretation, leading some people to take it completely literally, resulting in all sorts of trouble.”
She adds, “Not to mention organized religion, which has caused some of the worst genocides and most horrific situations in human history.”
“There is no love. And if that is the higher power, then I believe it’s perhaps a manmade desire to control,” Floor continued. “This has nothing to do with our previous conversation about a power we do not fully understand yet. However, I think we generally have a tendency to want to believe there’s something greater than ourselves. Where that desire originates from remains unanswered for me, but I do believe there is something out there that we simply haven’t grasped yet.”
“The interpretations of organized religion have only terrified me thus far.”
What Other Issues Does Floor Jansen Find With Organized Religion?
The Nightwish singer further explains that she sees religion as a means for “social control.”
She adds, “It’s wonderful if you feel connected to something. As a species, we desperately need that. But that doesn’t mean you should be dominated by it. So why should thinking for yourself be something you shouldn’t do?”
Jansen continues, “And [there’s] the fact that women have always held a lower status in many organized religions since they are manmade; I struggle with that as well. In this sense, it has nothing to do with love. It has nothing to do with a higher being who is there for everyone on Earth — except when you’re a woman, of course.”
Nightwish’s Floor Jansen Shares Her Thoughts on Religion With Brocade
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