Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has posted the following on Instagram:
I was raised Catholic, and when you tell people that in modern America it becomes ‘guilt by association’. Where the sins of the church, and they are legion, become of you. Yet many are surprised to hear that I rejected the church at age 8, and that is no lie. Now, I’m no theologian, but to my knowledge Jesus the Christ never spoke of forming a church headed by an anointed Pope. Yet he did muse how communion with one another, or with Mother Nature would help you find salvation. And so in that I did accept Jesus as my guide, and light out of the darkness. Which if you are looking for classification makes me more of a gnostic or pagan than a Christian.
Why share all this? Because it forms a certain kind of lens by which I can demonstrate for you how I have (thus far) survived the storms of crippling self-doubt, weaponized negativity, suicidal impulses, and what I perceive as the enemy (or, that which stands against me; be it real, phantom, or ghost). So if you can get behind the dogma (let’s call it ‘my religion’) and my story (which we are all entitled to as a story wholly our own), there might be something valuable for you in the ruins of my mind.
And again, and I must say this, I am no victim, nor do I want anyone’s sympathy. Empathy I’ll take, for that is human kindness (to care). So my story is like a cartoon we can slow down and run in reverse. But it is no more important, nor will it ever be, than YOUR story. And claiming your own story is critical to this equation I’d like to lay out for you over time.
So here’s the jumping off point: the person you know as ‘Billy Corgan’ isn’t real. But you are speaking to his author.
Lastly, the messages keep pouring in of those touched by these more reflective posts. Each one I’ve read makes me want to praise whomever runs this Universe for choosing this warbly singer as their instrument for healing. It truly is humbling.
So if you’re ailing, I pray for you to find peace. Rich or impoverished, famous or hidden, each deserve’s God’s Love. For man (in the biblical use of the word) is a piss poor judge.
