How he became the face of religion in Hollywood is unclear, but in an interview with Men’s Health, Chris Pratt admits he’s not a religious man. Nor does he support many religions.
“Religion has been oppressive as f*ck for a long time,” Pratt explained to Men’s Health. “I didn’t know that I would kind of become the face of religion when really I’m not a religious person.”
Chris Pratt Has Become the Face of Religion in Hollywood But Turns Out He’s Not Religious at All
As Pratt continued, he admitted that while he believes God is very real, he choose to put stock in his personal faith rather than religions that push their own agendas.
“I think there’s a distinction between being religious — adhering to the customs created by man, oftentimes appropriating the awe reserved for who I believe is a very real God — and using it to control people, to take money from people, to abuse children, to steal land, to justify hatred. Whatever it is,” Pratt continued.
“The evil that’s in the heart of every single man has glommed onto the back of religion and come along for the ride.” Now, Pratt is hoping to clear up some of the rumors that have surrounded him for much of his career.
When looking back at his career, Pratt believes his public association with religion may have begun when he won an MTV Movie & TV Award back in 2018. In his acceptance speech, Pratt shared nine rules he lives by, one of them being, “God is real. God loves you, God wants the best for you. Believe that; I do.”
In hindsight, Pratt said, “Maybe it was hubris for me to stand up on the stage and say the things that I said. I’m not sure I touched anybody.”
While Pratt admits he puts more stock in his faith than he does religion, Pratt has confirmed that he does attend Zoe Church, run by Chad Veach an evangelical pastor. He further cleared up the rumor that he was never a member of Hillsong Church.
Several reports in the past have said Zoe Church has ties to Hillsong. Back in 2019, Pratt address the claims that he attends a church that “hates people” and is “infamously anti-LGBTQ,” saying “Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens its doors to absolutely everyone.”
Pratt, at the time, added, that he is “a man who believes that everyone is entitled to love who they want free from the judgment of their fellow man.”
Pratt admits that recently he’s found himself wondering why so many people have been coming after him. As Men’s Health reports, the actor has been “struggling to understand a disconnect between his perception of himself and who he is versus the public’s perception of him and why some corners of the Internet love to troll him.
He told Men’s Health, “You don’t ever wanna get caught complaining or anything. ’Cause I have so many blessings. I consider everything a blessing truly in my life.” But during a recent run, he tells me, he couldn’t shake this feeling: “Why are they coming after me?”
In a Hollywood made up of a lot of talent, successful, and good-looking Chrises, in the past, Pratt has been dubbed as “the worst Christ,” an infamous accolade that many who have worked with Chris argued against.
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James Gunn, the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, had this to say about Pratt and the poll that dubbed Pratt the “worst”:
“It absolutely infuriates me. Chris is unspeakably kind to people; he goes out of his way to help kids. He’s an especially loving father. And there’s a lot of stuff that people have literally just made up about him—about his politics, about who he is, about what he believes of other people, you know?”
But in the end, Pratt admits that while he had tried to be as clear about his intentions as possible, this could just be the way it will be. And although he wishes it wasn’t that way, his faith will always be important to him, and that’s that.