My first clue about this, actually, came around 2001. I was hanging out with a group of friends, and people were discussing Madonna, and expressing the (once-trendy, possibly-untrue) opinion that, OK, Madonna was just crappy sucky pop music, but “Ray of Light” was the one album that miiiiiiiiiiiiiight be worth your time. And one of my friends was from India, and she was like, “um, you are all aware that ‘Om Shanti’ IS A PRAYER, right?”

“Huh?” I said.

“She has a dance remix of a prayer on her album. A prayer that people take pretty seriously. It’s not just some fun clubby thing that you get to take ecstasy to. It’s like… I don’t know. Marilyn Manson releasing ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ as a single.”

And she was right! Except, I would argue, it is worse! Because Marilyn Manson and the Lord’s Prayer both hail from the same powerful cultural nexus. If Marilyn Manson made a song out of it, he would have a history with it, and would share in the privilege that contributes to its being seen as sacred and not-to-be-fucked-around-with, and he would probably have a take on it that was informed by a relatively deep understanding of its implications and its place in the culture, no matter how oppositional and intentionally sacreligious his take might be. Madonna recording ‘Om Shanti’ was informed, apparently, by nothing other than the fact that she thought it sounded cool and a history of spiritual tourism and/or people thinking of India as a place where white folks go to get magically enlightened by all the inherently mystical and exotic people who live there. When Madonna takes on Catholicism and Christianity, she’s subversive in a way that betrays an understanding you can only get by growing up Catholic and/or in a culture where Christianity is privileged. When she takes on “Eastern spirituality” (huh? There’s only one of those now?) it’s less about commenting on it than claiming it for herself, whether or not she understands it at all. And she doesn’t, apparently, so it winds up an offensive mess.