As a fashion and culture writer, I come across things daily that make me cringe. There are so many amazing and inspiring people in this world and there are equally as many who seem out to destroy any semblance of values.

When I started reading the articles and blog posts earlier this week about Lady Gaga’s newest video, Alejandro, I was skeptical. Bloggers lauded her ability to tackle such sticky matters like religion and homosexuality. They said she was the voice of the oppressed and a true genius. But Lady Gaga is one to put on a show… actually she is all about putting on a spectacle. Every performance is about making a statement, getting a message across; and in that way she is a real artist. To be honest, creativity must ooze out of her every pore because nothing she ever does is low-key, routine, mundane or expected. She’s all about pushing the envelope.

I watched the video and could possibly be scarred for life. To put it mildly, the video is soft-core pornography and anti-religion. (I’m not even going to put a link in this article because I don’t think anyone needs to see it – ever.) Sure, the costumes are creative. The dance steps are fun. The cinematography is probably award winning. But why couldn’t all of that have been bottled up with less offending images?

I’m not the only one who took offense at the video. Even Katy Perry (who does not steer clear of controversial topics, such as her song ‘I Kissed a Girl’) said using blasphemy as entertainment is cheap.

Why does religion have to be beaten down in order to make a point? Depicting a nun dressed all in red eating a rosary, and that same nun being man-handled by nearly naked men, is tasteless.

And why does the sexual act need to be trivialized in the name of art?

The scariest part of this to me is the fact that the average teenager and young adult will probably see this video dozens of times thanks to MTV, YouTube and other music video sites and stations. They will have it on in the mornings as they get ready for school, and before going to a dance. They will see it and not even realize they are watching it and taking it all in.