Chris Pratt claims he's "not a religious person"

30 June 2022, 13:31

Chris Pratt reacts to voicing Super Mario

By Jazmin Duribe

Elliot Page previously accused Chris of attending the "infamously anti-LGBTQ" Hillsong Church.

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Chris Pratt has claimed that he's "not a religious person" following years of backlash towards his alleged controversial views.

It's been well documented that Chris is a Christian. The Super Mario and Marvel actor has shared posts about his faith on Instagram and publicly spoken about his belief in God. In 2018, Chris even referenced his faith at the MTV Movie & TV Awards while accepting the Generation Award. He said: "God is real, God loves you, God wants the best for you. Believe that, I do."

However, Chris has now clarified his views in a new interview with Men's Health. Speaking about his MTV speech, Chris said he understood why some people may have been put off by it: "Religion has been oppressive as fuck for a long time. I didn’t know that I would kind of become the face of religion when really I’m not a religious person."

Chris Pratt claims he&squot;s "not a religious person" and denies having ever attended the controversial Hillsong Church. — Chris Pratt claims he's "not a religious person" and denies having ever attended the controversial Hillsong Church. Picture: Terence Patrick/CBS via Getty Images, @chrispratt via Instagram

He elaborated: "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. The evil that’s in the heart of every single man has glommed on to the back of religion and come along for the ride."

Chris also addressed the claims that he that he attended the controversial Hillsong Church, which has been accused of being "infamously anti-LGBTQ". In 2019, Elliot Page publicly called Chris out on Twitter for being part of the church.

He tweeted: "If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed. Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all."

At the time, Chris issued a statement denying being a part of the organisation: "It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which 'hates a certain group of people' and is 'infamously anti-LGBTQ'. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am a man who believes that everyone is entitled to love who they want free from the judgment of their fellow man."

Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too? https://t.co/meg8m69FeF
— Elliot Page (@TheElliotPage) February 8, 2019

If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed. Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all
— Elliot Page (@TheElliotPage) February 9, 2019

However, Chris now appears to have taken an even stronger stance on not being affiliated with Hillsong, claiming that he didn't say anything more back then because he didn't want to "throw a church under the bus".

He added: "I never went to Hillsong. I’ve never actually been to Hillsong. I don’t know anyone from that church."

Chris confirmed that he actually attends Zoe Church (although not exclusively), which is also popular with celebrities like Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber. Zoe Church was actually founded by Pastor Chad Veach, who used to preach at Hillsong. Chad actually executive-produced a film about people who struggled with "sexual brokenness" and this included people with "same-sex attraction".

Yikes…