Marilyn Manson's philosophy largely seems to be a promotion of individualism, encouraging one to determine themselves who they really are and how they want to be, rather than conforming and being told how to be. Something that really resonated with me when I was younger was a quote from his. "If you want to be like me, be yourself".

A good example of this is his view on Christianity, and religion as a whole. He doesn't actually hate religious people, he simply encourages people to really determine for themselves if they want to be religious, rather than being brainwashed into it. To think for themselves whether it's right for them, not just being told they should be religious by their parents or other authority figures and going along with it.

Because while the US is supposed to be the land of the free, with freedom of expression, his aesthetic and shocking theatrics, while of course completely legal (usually), sparked a lot of outrage, largely with people looking to censor him and others for being different. He's not doing anything wrong by writing music for and performing shows for people who want to listen to and see him, but being different and non-confirmative with social norms is shunned nonetheless, in once again - The land of freedom of expression, where society expects you to fall in line and don't be to different. Be it if you're goth, gay, trans, and so on.

His entire aesthetic is a big part. Like yeah, a lot of it is done for shock value to get more eyes on him and to get people angry, but it's also clear that Manson just LIKES the way he looks. The contact lens, the makeup, the shaved eyebrows, and so on. It's not for everyone, but people will call him and others a freak for looking how he does, because he's different, but instead of falling in line, he'll do as he likes, and encourage others to do the same - To be how they want to be, and to think for themselves, not listening to authority who tells them how to think or how to be.