Chris Pratt has been under fire for some time for his association with the Hillsong Church, a megachurch known for its anti-LGBTQ views, but, in a new interview with Men’s Health, Pratt claims he’s never attended Hillsong and doesn’t know anyone who does.
“Religion has been oppressive as f*** for a long time. I didn’t know that I would become the face of religion when I’m not really a religious person,” Pratt said. “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.”
“I never went to Hillsong. I’ve never actually been to Hillsong. I don’t know anyone from that church,” Pratt added.
The whole thing goes back, Pratt says, to a line from his 2018 acceptance speech at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards, in which he quoted, “God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you.”
“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,” Pratt said.
Actor Elliot Page called Pratt out on social media after he spoke about religion on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, saying that “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.”
Pratt responded at the time with a rather vague statement that read “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.”
So why the three-plus-year wait for a clear statement?
“I’m gonna, like, throw a church under the bus? If it’s like the Westboro Baptist Church, that’s different,” Pratt said. Pratt did confirm to Men’s Health, though, that he attends Zoe Church in Los Angeles. Zoe has remained relatively quiet on LGTBQ issues, but reportedly has ties to Hillsong, including listing pastor Chad Veach as a contributor on the Hillsong website.
Pratt’s upcoming Prime Video series Terminal List premieres on July 1, and he reprises his role as Marvel’s Peter ‘Star-Lord’ Quill in Thor: Love and Thunder, which hits theaters on July 8.
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