Pop culture always has some new beacon that glorifies "edgy rebellion."
I grew up during the Madonna era (the singer, not the mother of Christ,) and I remember the churches being in a big tizzy over her work, too ("Papa Don't Preach," about an unmarried teen deciding to keep her baby, when single parenthood was seen as the ultimate moral failure,) and "Like a Prayer," (with burning crosses and a black "Jesus" figure, whom she kisses.)
One of the pastors who at my Lutheran high school told us, "Hell will be hot for Madonna."
But no one ever talked about Madonna's "Oh Father" video, in which she re-enacts a bit of her own life, including her mother dying of cancer when she was 8 -- and seeing the stitched-together lips of her mother's body at the funeral -- along with her father's rages over being left to now raise 8 kids on his own. Behind all the performances, there is still a person. I can't imagine what kind of effect that would have had on me as a child, seeing my mother's stitched-together corpse.
I've also read reviews in which Madonna talked about her earliest impressions of what she was taught was the church, seeing her devoutly Catholic mother kneel on uncooked rice and sleeping on wire hangers to punish herself for her sins. To her, God is someone you have to constantly hurt yourself in order to please, and she strongly disagreed with that.
And now some of Lady Gaga's performances almost make Madonna's early material look like Mother Teresa in comparison. Evil only gets worse over time.
I've read interviews with both women talking about the sexual abuses they went through, and other various traumas -- which are now all being acted out for the world to see.
An older Christian mentor I had in my hometown taught me to pray for people like this, and I've prayed for Madonna all my life (I now pray for Lady Gaga as well.)
I just see them as people who, like so many others, are probably dealing with a lot of terrible things, and making even worse choices along the way.
I know a lot of people like this in real life as well -- the only real difference to me is that celebrities have a much larger audience.
I know my prayers might not do any good, but I still pray for a lot of everyday people I know who are making awful choices, so I just add some of these high-profile people to my list.