Despite coming off as one of the most likable people working in the industry today, Chris Pratt has occasionally found himself on the wrong side of social media criticism, and a lot of this has been due to the “outrage” connected to his religious beliefs. But the actor is now addressing the matter, and wants to make it clear that he doesn’t perceive himself as being very religious at all.
During a recent interview for Men’s Health Magazine, the actor found himself asking out loud, “why are they coming after me??” This is in reference to social media users who continue to follow his every move in a more negative light. When asked if he knew where this all stemmed from, specifically why he was labeled “the worst Chris” among other famous Chris’s like Hemsworth, Evans, and Pine, he traces it back to a misconception about his religious beliefs that began following a speech he gave at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards. That night, the actor was given the ceremony’s life achievement honor called the Generation Award. During his acceptance speech, he said “God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you.” He suspects this is when the tide began to turn on him a bit:
“I didn’t know that I would kind of become the face of religion when really I’m not a religious person. 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.”
The backlash against Pratt and his religious beliefs hit a fever pitch due to his involvement with the Hillsong Church, which has been accused of being anti-LGBTQ. Elliot Page was one of the actors that apparently slammed Pratt on social media after he brought up religion during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. At the time Page wrote, “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 originally responded at the time by saying, “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.”
During his Men’s Health interview, Pratty doubled down on not belonging to Hillsong. The actor, “I never went to Hillsong. I’ve never actually been to Hillsong. I don’t know anyone from that church.” He was asked why he has never outright denied belonging to Hillsong before this current interview and he responded by saying, “I’m gonna, like, throw a church under the bus? If it’s like the Westboro Baptist Church, that’s different.” Pratt revealed that he actually attends Zoe Church in Los Angeles but does not exclusively. For example, he says he and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger baptized one of their children at a Catholic church in Santa Monica where she worshiped as a child.
Chris Pratt does have a solid support system and one that constantly vouches for his character. Director James Gunn, who has worked with Pratt across three Guardians of the Galaxy films, spoke up in support of the actor by saying, “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?”
I think a lot of this is a public that perceives to know everything there is to know about Chris Pratt and his religious convictions, all without even knowing him. He recently came under attack on social media over the films he was choosing to show his nine-year-old son on a camping trip. Some of them are rated R and some people felt the need to call Chris Pratt out about it. I think this is a case of people looking for things to come at the actor about and I hope he has come to the point where a lot of this should just go in one ear and out the other.
Do YOU think social media is too hard on Chris Pratt over his religious beliefs?