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On Tuesday, June 28, Men’s Health magazine published their latest cover story featuring Jurassic World: Dominion star Chris Pratt. The actor, whose religious and political views have given birth to many rumors over the years, opened up to the publication about the same.
Contrary to the rumors, Pratt criticized the concept of religion. The 43-year-old actor also addressed the allegations of his association with Hillsong Church, which has long been criticized for being regressive and oppressive when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community.
Pratt disclosed that he had never attended the aforementioned church and was not associated with them in any way. The star further claimed that he did not know anyone from that church.
Chris Pratt addresses his rumored association with Hillsong Church
While speaking to Mickey Rapkin of Men’s Health magazine, Pratt responded to the allegations which originated since 2019. Pratt said:
“I never went to Hillsong. I’ve never actually been to Hillsong. I don’t know anyone from that church.”
When asked why he never mentioned this earlier, Chris Pratt reasoned that he had not wanted to “throw the church under the bus.”
Chris Pratt claims he is not religious, but that may not be the truth
In his interview with Men’s Health magazine, Chris Pratt slammed organized religion and said:
“Religion has been oppressive as f**k for a long time.”
The Guardians of the Galaxy star also said that he never thought he would become a representative of religion since he was not a religious person in real life. Pratt further slammed religions for soliciting money and land while justifying hate-mongering in the name of God. He insinuated that men’s evil had “glommed on to the back of religion and come along for the ride.”
While Chris Pratt claims that he is not religious, he reportedly told Rapkin that he attended Zoe Church. The actor mentioned that his one-year-old daughter with Katherine Schwarzenegger, Layla, was baptized at a typical Santa Monica catholic church, as per his wife’s choice. There is a chance that Pratt may be religious after all despite his claims. However, the other possibility is that Pratt and Schwarzenegger’s children are being raised as Catholic even though the actor himself is not that religious.
How did Chris Pratt become associated with Hillsong Church?
In 2019, the actor appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and spoke about his religious and spiritual side. Following the episode, The Umbrella Academy actor Elliot Paige called Pratt out in a tweet and referenced his church. In the tweet, Paige mentioned:
“Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?”
Pratt later took to his Instagram story to respond to Paige’s claim. He wrote:
“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…”
However, prior to Elliot Paige’s dig at Pratt, Entertainment Tonight (ET) reported in 2017 that the actor had been spotted at an evening service in Los Angeles which was allegedly hosted by the Hillsong Church. The publication also reported that Justin Bieber had been present at the service as well.
