Mary J. Blige Says You Can Be A Christian & Believe In Same Sex Marriage

All dolled-up, with a million places to go, the soulful Mary J. Blige is covering the latest issue of LA Confidential. The 42-year-old New York native opens up about her newest leading role (in Betty and Coretta), why she had to quit alcohol cold turkey and why she is a Christian who believes in same sex marriage. Peep a few excerpts.

KS: You’ve spoken openly about your addictions as well.

MJB: What I did was I chose to learn how to drink socially and it didn’t work. The test comes when you have to decide whether you’re drinking to be social or drinking to cover up something again. To cover up depression. To cover up guilt. Shame. Abandonment. All of that, man. Once I realized, “There you go again,” I had to stop. Whitney Houston’s death really affected me. Her death is another reason I stopped. I really do think I’m done. I looked at how that woman could not perform anymore.

KS: Were you afraid to do a more structured program of recovery because of your fame?

MJB: I don’t know why. But I didn’t want to go to rehab. I believe that anything man himself can do for me, God can do for me in a greater way. I decided to pray and to seek God on my own. I just stayed in The Word. And it worked.

KS: You’ve spoken openly about your addictions as well.

MJB: What I did was I chose to learn how to drink socially and it didn’t work. The test comes when you have to decide whether you’re drinking to be social or drinking to cover up something again. To cover up depression. To cover up guilt. Shame. Abandonment. All of that, man. Once I realized, “There you go again,” I had to stop. Whitney Houston’s death really affected me. Her death is another reason I stopped. I really do think I’m done. I looked at how that woman could not perform anymore.

KS: Were you afraid to do a more structured program of recovery because of your fame?

MJB: I don’t know why. But I didn’t want to go to rehab. I believe that anything man himself can do for me, God can do for me in a greater way. I decided to pray and to seek God on my own. I just stayed in The Word. And it worked.

KS: Do you consider yourself a born-again Christian?

MJB: Yes.

KS: And yet you’ve come out in favor of same-sex marriage. A lot of people would say that is not compatible with your born-again Christianity.

MJB: I would say this to those people: I’m not God. God said not to judge anyone lest you be judged. That’s it. Who am I to point my finger? You’ve got to walk in love. To say you do not want people to be happy is so mean, so not me.

KS: And yet people do have some good reasons, as you have had, for not being happy. Poverty. Molestation. How old were you when you were molested?

MJB: I was 5. Mmmm … yes. I was 5. I don’t want to go into the details. It’s something that hurt me really bad. I’m still the same way. When I open up to trust you, I trust you wholeheartedly. And then when you betray that trust, it closes me up.

What do you think of MJB’s comments about same sex marriage and Christianity? Is there room for both or must religious/spiritual folk pick one or the other?