The idea of Marilyn Manson has been brewing in my head, one form or another, since I was about 12 years old at a Christian high school in Canton, Ohio.

Donohue: "It is Christianity that [Manson] hates, and it is Catholicism that he hates most of all. This guy is at war with Christ." Manson: "I can't possibly be at war with Christ, because your religion killed him and what he stood for. But if you want to be at war with me, bring it on."

Anything can be misinterpreted. People can look at Christ on a cross and think, This is an image of murder, this is violent, this has sexual imagery in it. And it just - I think it's my job as an artist to be out there pushing people's buttons and making them question everything.

I used to have nightmares about the Antichrist - what would happen, where it would come from, and who it would be.

Gradually, I began to resent Christian school and doubt everything I was told. It became clear that the suffering they were praying to be released from was a suffering they had imposed on themselves—and now us. The beast they lived in fear of was really themselves: It was man, not some mythological demon, that was going to destroy man in the end. And this beast had been created out of their fear.

This is the culture you're raising your kids in. Don't be surprised if it blows up in your face.

Image and music always works together for me. I think they're equally important and I've always done things in a way that people remember them by, but I don't set out to just shock people...because that's very easy, a lot of people could do that, I just like to do things the way that makes me happy really. And sometimes that's too much for certain people, but, you know, I try to push the envelope to make the boundaries wider as far as what you can and can't do in music.