Cross my Heart: Justin Bieber Album Cover Banned

By Derek Welch --
16 Oct 2015 --

By Buket Biebs (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Justin Bieber’s new album has been banned in the Middle East due to its offensive cover artwork.

Pop sensation Justin Bieber finds his latest album, Purpose, being banned ahead of its release in the Middle East. The objections are not to the lyrics, but to the album cover art, which features him shirtless, showing his tattoo of a cross on his chest along with work from American artist RETNA.

Cross my Heart: Justin Bieber Album Cover Banned[/tweetthis]

Apart from the Middle East, Indonesia, which has the largest population of Muslims in the world, too has taken steps along the same lines and the Bieber's team is said to be working on a less-offensive cover so that the album can release on schedule.

Born to unmarried parents, the Canadian singer-songwriter has been more forthcoming about his personal faith in recent times. He is reported to have admitted that he is not very religious, “I, personally, love Jesus” and sees that as his salvation. Bieber adds that he wanted to share what he was going through and spoke out against censure of such expression. In fact, he is in favor of everyone sharing what they were doing and reflecting on where their journey was headed. Having a set a rules to abide by is actually more liberating when knowing what can be done and what cannot, says the 21-year-old who wants to use his voice for a reason other than it just being heard.

Justin Bieber Banned for Pushing Jesus in Middle East http://t.co/PUoDHimTxA What do you think of his album cover?
— Harvey Levin (@HarveyLevinTMZ) October 13, 2015

I love the album cover but i dont want the album to be banned in middle east country so maybe shoot another one @justinbieber @scooterbraun
— Shamine Dawinaa (@dawinabieber) October 13, 2015

Opening up, he reveals; "I just wanna honestly live like Jesus…He created a pretty awesome template of how to love people and how to be gracious and kind. If you believe it, he died for our sins."

He does not want to push his faith on anyone, though. He counts French-Canadian, English, Irish, German and Aboriginal Canadian ancestry in his blood and maintains that Jesus showed how to be loving, kind, gracious and welcoming of other people. Determined not to “hold it in” any longer, he personally believes that the greatest healer of all is Jesus Christ and He really heals, urging everyone else to share what they believe.

He also says that we are all imperfect, and so should turn to God for help. It is only a fallacy to think you are weak if you are unable to “handle it,” the much-renowned singer saying that none of us are equipped to handle the world, which in his opinion is “eating us alive”

Justin Bieber, who made his debut in 2008-09, has been vocal against abortion. He attended a Catholic school in Ontario, where he graduated with a 4.0 GPA. He is currently in Los Angeles readying for the album's release.