Take Me to Church, or Not

So this dude Hozier has been rustling a lot of jimmies with his song, "Take Me to Church."

Kinda like this

I didn't even know it was controversial until I tried googling the lyrics when I couldn't really hear him that well on the radio. The song has a nice sound to it, and I was curious if it was a Christian song, or a guy obsessed with his lady, or what.

For starter's, here's the lyrics:

My lover's got humour
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval
I should've worshipped her sooner

If the heavens ever did speak
She's the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week

'We were born sick, ' you heard them say it

My Church offers no absolutes
She tells me, 'Worship in the bedroom.'
The only heaven I'll be sent to
Is when I'm alone with you—

I was born sick,
But I love it
Command me to be well
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[Chorus 2x:]
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice

Drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
Something meaty for the main course
That's a fine looking high horse
What you got in the stable?
We've a lot of starving faithful

That looks tasty
That looks plenty
This is hungry work

[Chorus 2x:]
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife
Offer me my deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

No Masters or Kings
When the Ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin

In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am Human
Only then I am Clean
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[Chorus 2x:]
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

To each his own here, as this is art full of metaphors and lends itself to opinion.
Initially, when I was having a little trouble hearing and even after my first read-through of the lyrics, I took this as a guy who is ridiculously thirsty for his woman and used religion as a hyperbolic metaphor for his obsession with her and their love. "Worship like a dog," is a pretty strong simile for unconditional love.

My final opinion, however, after sharing this with Husband and breaking it down, is that the protagonist in the story of this song is not only obsessed with this woman, but due to their relationship has been falling away from his church.
With the terminology in here, it's pretty clear he is referring to Christianity of some sort, starting off with, "We were born sick," referencing original sin. He then seems to be referencing his new religion, this woman, by detailing how it's "better" per-se, than the community he was once in - "If the heavens ever did speak, she's the last true mouthpiece," "My Church offers no absolutes," "Keep the Goddess on my side."
More specifically, he explains his rejection of the current church he is leaving. He mentions "every Sunday getting more bleak," potentially meaning he's lost interest, but then says, "a fresh poison each week," pretty much nailing down that he thinks this church's teachings are actually bad.

"If I'm a pagan of the good times My lover's the sunlight," tells me that the relationship he has with her is probably frowned on in his old church, which has made him choose between the two. She obviously won.

We then delve into church hypocrisy with his combative sounding line, "That's a fine looking high horse," accusing his old community of being judgemental, maybe in connection with his love or other matters.

Is that combative enough? Nah. Let's take a jab at faith practices, "What you got in the stable? We've a lot of starving faithful." Is he still calling the old church hypocrites for not being Christian and helping others instead of spending time judging? Is he saying faith is not enough, or unfilling? I say both!

Both meanings can apply, because then we get back to his lady, his church, "That looks tasty That looks plenty," saying she is enough for him.

He seems to take issue with classic church hierarchy, pointing out that he and his lover are equals in their church - "No Masters or Kings." I would assume the usual argument about priestly vocation is what he is referring to.

In his final blows against the old church vs. new, he tackles sin directly by questioning what could be wrong in their love/love making - "There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin." I have my own opinions on sex, sexuality, and choice in relation to religion, but that would be an entire post on it's own.

To him, the only source of spiritual forgiveness is in his death, "In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene Only then I am Human Only then I am Clean," which seems to be the common rebuttal to Christian arguments about the afterlife. He's gonna deal with it when he gets there.

Do I think he's badmouthing? No. 

He comes off as simply finding himself questioning his faith, maybe feeling conflicted between his lover and his religion, and ultimately having some sort of epiphany about why this church was wrong for him.

Husband seems to think the woman plays a bigger role in his enlightenment, like a sort of antagonist consciously creating the conflict. I see no signs of that in the song. All of his reasoning stems from his obsession with her and the relationship itself posing as the question.

How did this song come off to you nice people? Were you offended, in agreement, indifferent?