I remember Prince for his risque lyrics and videos back in my middle school and teen years, when “Purple Rain” was his claim to fame. My mother forbid me to see the movie and listen to his music, at least while she was around to stop me.

Times have changed for this miniscule musician, it seems, and so have his views about sex and religion–at least according to Claire Hoffman’s recent, controversial New Yorker article, “Soup with Prince,” that’s taking the gossip columns and blogs by storm. Hoffman’s feature spills a good deal of ink on Prince’s faith life (he’s now a Jehovah’s Witness)–and this “Artist Formerly Known As” does not come across as very, well, sympathetic. In fact, he sounds rather idiotic:

“Seven years ago, he became a Jehovah’s Witness,” writes Hoffman. “He said that he had moved to L.A. so that he could understand the hearts and minds of the music moguls. “I wanted to be around people, connected to people, for work,” he said. “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.”

(My commentary: Um, so Prince thinks religion is what unites people in LA. Huh? Since when is everyone a Jehovah’s Witness in L.A.? I must have missed that bulletin….)

Here is where Prince’s comments have gotten him some seriously bad press–and I can’t say that I’m surprised by the negative reaction:

“So here’s how it is: you’ve got the Republicans, and basically they want to live according to this.” He pointed to a Bible. “But there’s the problem of interpretation, and you’ve got some churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from here, but it doesn’t. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you’ve got blue, you’ve got the Democrats, and they’re, like, ‘You can do whatever you want.’ Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right.” 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.’ ”

Fans of The Artist are shocked by what looks like his anti-gay marriage stance, and the blogosphere is abuzz about his apparent door-to-door “spreading the word” activities of late. Everyone from The New York Post to Perez Hilton has picked up the story.

What would you do if Prince came by a-knocking? Would you hear him out? Slam the door on his alleged anti-gay-marriage opinion? Or just pull out your old copy of “Purple Rain” and ask for an autograph?