Because Chris Pratt has openly expressed his religious beliefs in the past, he’s received plenty of backlash for doing so. Now, asThor: Love and Thundernears its release date, Pratt himself finally decided to open up about his religious views and religion himself.
A lot has gone right forThor: Love and Thunderstar Pratt over the past decade or so. From catching his first big break onPark and Recreationto starring in two popular moviefranchises likeGuardians of the GalaxyandJurassic World, he’s gained a lot of fans as well as detractors who question his religious stance, particularly when it comes to anti-LGBTQ+ church he allegedly attended.
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In an interview with Men’s Health Magazine, Pratt confirmed that he does believe in God, but he does not affiliate with and very much opposes man-made Christian religions, denying he ever attended the controversial Hillsong church. “Religion has been oppressive as f*** for a long time,” Pratt said in the interview. Pratt added that he had no intention of being the face of all Christians when he first expressed his Christian beliefs to the public. “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 beingreligious—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.”
In other words, Pratt is a non-denominational Christian. He believes in God but does not have any specific religious affiliation, and he explains in clear and concise detail why. Organized Christian religions have a history of abusing their power all in the name of doing what’s right according to their religious beliefs, which is why many were quick to initially come after Pratt when he first openly expressed his Christian beliefs. TheGuardians of the Galaxystaris well within his right to believe in God just as he’s well within his right to not specifically affiliate himself with any particular Christian denomination.
Pratt’s distinction here is very important because while being a Christian isn’t wrong, committing horrible deeds while citing religious beliefs as the reason certainly is. There is no religious justification for damaging someone else internally or externally. More importantly, just because previous Christian followers have done these deeds in the past does not represent everyone in that denomination. The same goes for other religions. Radicalized Muslims believed that hijacking planes and killing innocent civilians on 9/11 was the right choice because of their religion, but that does not mean the Islamic religion teaches anything like that to its followers. To think otherwise isn’t fair to Muslims. Just like committing horrible actions in the name of religion is wrong, so is generalizing followers of religious denominations because of some of its followers' actions.
Getting back to Pratt, many people have turned against him forexpressing his Christian beliefs, even though he hasn’t done anything to warrant backlash. Saying he believes in God is not wrong. Committing violent acts or expressing hatred because of his belief in God would be, but he hasn’t done anything close to that. So, until he does, he doesn’t deserve this negative press. If he does something to that effect, he deserves to lose his career, but until then, can we please leave this guy’s beliefs alone?
Thor: Love and Thunderwill be released in theaters on June 29, 2025.
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