Not holding back. While addressing his personal life, Chris Pratt called out the rumors that he was involved with the controversial Hillsong Church.
“I never went to Hillsong. I’ve never actually been to Hillsong. I don’t know anyone from that church,” Pratt, 43, revealed in an interview with Men’s Health that was published on Tuesday, June 28. “Religion has been oppressive as f–k 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.”
Pratt, who has been candid about his spirituality, was previously called out by Elliot Page for his involvement with Los Angeles’ Zoe Church. After the Guardians of the Galaxy actor discussed how his place of worship inspired him to go on a 21-day cleanse, Page, 35, questioned his association with the church.
“Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?” the Juno star tweeted in February 2019, in response to Pratt’s comments about the “Daniel Fast.”
At the time, Zoe Church’s pastor Chad Veach told The New York Times that he “modeled his church after Hillsong,” where he sometimes preaches. Hillsong’s former senior global pastor Brian Houston, for his part, noted in a past statement that the church was “a gay welcoming church but we are not a church that affirms a gay lifestyle.”
“Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles,” Houston, 68, wrote in 2015. “Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid. I recognize this one statement alone is upsetting to people on both sides of this discussion, which points to the complexity of the issue for churches all over the world.”
The Parks and Recreation alum later took to social media to slam claims that he was involved with a church that doesn’t support the LGBTQIA+ community. “It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which ‘hates people’ and is ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ’,” the Minnesota native wrote via Instagram. “Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.”
He continued: “Despite what the Bible says about divorce my church community was there for me every step of the way, never judging, just gracefully accompanying me on my walk. They helped me tremendously offering love and support. It is what I have seen them do for others on countless occasions regardless of sexual orientation, race or gender.”
Pratt pointed out that his values did not have to line up with his place of worship. “My faith is important to me but no church defines me or my life, and I am not a spokesman for any church or group of people,” he concluded. “My values define who I am. We need less hate in this world, not more. I am a man who believes that everyone is entitled to love who they want free from the judgement of their fellow man.”
Scroll down for the actor’s biggest revelations about the public’s misconceptions regarding his life:
"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 Critics' Choice nominee explained to the magazine. "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.” Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
During the interview, the Jurassic World actor recalled how people misinterpreted his tribute to wife Katherine Schwarzenegger and their eldest daughter, Lyla, 2. “I said something like, ‘Find someone who looks at you the way my wife looks at me.’ And then I gave her some shit in the thing and said, ‘But I love you. I’m so thankful for my wife — she gave me a beautiful, healthy daughter,’" he detailed. "And then a bunch of articles came out and said, ‘That’s so cringeworthy. I can’t believe Chris Pratt would thank her for a healthy daughter when his first child was born premature. That’s such a dig at his ex-wife.’ And I’m like, That is f--ked up. My son’s gonna read that one day. He’s nine. And it’s etched in digital stone." Pratt, who shares son Jack with ex-wife Anna Faris, struggled with the response on social media. "It really f--king bothered me, dude. I cried about it," he admitted. "I was like, I hate that these blessings in my life are — to the people close to me — a real burden.” John Salangsang/Shutterstock
“You don’t ever wanna get caught complaining or anything. Because I have so many blessings. I consider everything a blessing truly in my life. [But] why are they coming after me?” Pratt told the outlet while discussing social media trolls. Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
According to Pratt, his childhood was largely shaped by his difficult relationship with his father. “I am a sensitive person. My dad knew that when I was a youngster, and it kind of made him dislike me. Or not dislike me but act like he disliked me — because he probably grew up in a world where a guy like that could get eaten alive," he noted. "And so he wanted to put calluses on me." The Marvel actor used "humor as a self-defense mechanism" in response to his personal issues. "I developed Andy [Dwyer], really. Andy on Parks and Rec was my clown that I had honed my entire life, a guy who is affable, who’s an intelligent person playing a dumb person," Pratt said. Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
For the Everwood alum, his body transformation was "the hardest" when he first started the journey. "I was almost 300 pounds, and never really thought that I would ever be considered a candidate to play one of these sort of action hero kind of roles," he revealed. “I’ve always wanted to have the career I have right now. And a big part of that was just taking this body that I live in and tuning it up.” Pratt recalled living a "pretty unhealthy" lifestyle while filming Parks and Recreation from 2009 to 2015. "I can’t believe that I would eat 5 cheeseburgers for lunch. And that was happiness at that time," the Terminal List star added. "And now it’s the exact opposite. Now eating is boring, but the times between eating I feel great. Whereas before, eating was fun, but the times between I felt like crap.” Picture Perfect/Shutterstock
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