Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie • Page 222

I don't know why I keep reading comments sections of anything, all it does is reconvince me that humanity was a mistake.

 

The Guardians crew seems to be much closer than the typical group of actors. From Bautista defending Gunn, Gunn defending Pratt, and most of them saying they will go if one goes. They all just seem to genuinely care about each other.

Which is probably why their characters have such great chemistry on screen.

 

I actually really went down the rabbit hole on Chris and his alleged church the other day cause Gunn poster again saying he knows Chris’s church but the person he tweeted at doesn’t.

So I wanted to research myself. Probably good to know that I was heavily into Christianity between 2003 and 2013 or so, so far as to go to a Christian College and take many classes on the Bible. I don’t know what I am today. That’s a whole other story. But needless to say I was curious about the church and what they actually believed and practiced.

while many sites report that Pratt goes to a Zoe church in LA, I can’t find any actually proof. He has never named his church and there aren’t any photos of him actually going. There was one report that cited another as the source but it’s behind a paywall, so fuck that. So let’s just assume for the sake of argument that they are correct that he goes there.

If he does go there what do they believe and what are there practices? Unfortunately the website for the church is laughably lacking in any sort of information that defines what they believe. There is nothing really there for anything they believe or their policies on any topic. Not even anything general. So in terms of what they themselves say is a goose egg.

a website that reviews church beliefs and policies on women and lgbtq+ also found nothing on the site. but referenced a couple things with the context that they should not be seen as official as they are unconfirmed quotes or not necessarily indicative of the church. First one of the pastors was an executive producer on a film that described same sex attraction as sexual brokenness. Then this

He has also stated in an article that he does not like to talk about controversial issues like "lifestyle stuff" because they are a distraction from the message of Jesus.

So their lack of information seems to be purposeful but I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on why he feels that way because no reason was really given from a biblical belief stand point.

second, somebody claimed to email the church and asked about their stance on lgbtq+ and claimed to receive a message with a pdf about their doctrine and this was the only thing that was relevant to the topic at hand.

We believe in the sanctity of marriage as established by the Holy Scriptures, that God created marriage, and that the only legitimate marriage is the joining of one man and one woman

they reached out to the same email trying to confirm it was indeed from them but never got a response.

Pratt has said his church welcomes everyone and cited them welcoming him despite his recent divorce. Which, while good for him that he felt welcomed, isn’t really that great of an example as far as marginalized by church groups go. There are biblical grounds for divorce so it’s not always seen as a sin. And even in the case where the divorce doesn’t meet that criteria, it’s basically become an acceptable sin at this point. While Pratt may have felt bad about it and was genuinely surprised at being welcomed, in the big picture I don’t see this as some gracious welcoming. It’s pretty standard at this point. But again, no actual points about what the church believes or practices, only that anyone would be welcomed.

so nothing confirmed about the church’s stance. But from unconfirmed info, it’s likely they view it all as sin. But how they explain their take or how they treat such people is unknown. So based on the closest info to facts that can be found online, it’s hard to say Chris is apart of a problematic church or that they actively cause problems for those in that community.

what caused some confusion is that during an interview with Colbert, Pratt mentions a quote by Christine Cain. She’s a pastor over in Europe who is a part of several churches that coincidently also go by the name of Zoe. But as far as I can tell her Zoe is strictly a Europe mission and does not connect with the Zoe in LA. Neither mention each other on their respective sites. So I don’t see that they connect in any way beyond being Christian churches.

this is where some go way off the beaten path to facts and use information about Cain to say Pratt supports his church that supports and is associated with a church that supports conversion therapy and has fired a lgbtq+ employee for being so. That church is Hillsong. The founding pastor has been quoted of saying they welcome everyone but do not affirm all lifestyles. Cain grew up within Hillsong and is still associated with them and her churches seemingly are influenced by them. So people seem to connect Hillsong’s outright hate and discrimination with Caine, who is part of a Zoe church, to then the Zoe church in LA (despite finding no info that they connect in any way) to then Pratt for allegedly going to that Zoe church.

So it’s all kind of a mess of assumptions and connecting things that aren’t connected.

So what’s my best guess? Pratt goes to a church. Safe to assume a Bible believing church. If they follow the Bible they would view the lgbtq+ as sin and sinners. They would not approve of gay marriage. They would not allow them to be leaders in the church or be a pastor. That’s what the Bible teaches. Of course there are some churches who still believe the Bible but have rejected that aspect of the Bible or simply claim it was only meant for that time. That’s an entirely different issue that I’m not going into here. So it’s possible his church is one of those. We just don’t know. Most churches that view it as sin don’t really support conversion therapy as far as I know so it doesn’t make sense to assume they support it no matter their general view on lgbtq+. The Bible would say it’s a sin, but the Bible doesn’t make it some special sin that’s unforgivable or worse than other sins despite what a lot of church’s act like.

As an aside to this ridiculously long post. Biblically speaking, if it’s just another sin, it shouldn’t be scandalized while others are seen as more acceptable. Biblically, they are all damnable offenses that need repented of for forgiveness. Sexual impurity is often called out within a list of various sins, yet it’s often called out as a greater sin. I’ve never understood that. Why are so many harsher than the Bible on it? I saw a video on Reddit earlier where someone came out to their family and the mother/sister (it wasn’t clear, only that it was a female) claimed she had to cast them out because the Bible says it’s a choice to be gay. Which isn’t really true. If anything it argues it happens at conception. That god knows is from that point and that we are seen as fallen and sinful even then. Again, a whoooole other discussion there that I’m gonna skip. The Bible tells us we are born fallen and in sin and doesn’t really make any distinctions of which sins we are born with. So it only makes sense that if homosexuality is a sin, then people can be born that way. The active sinful choice would be to act on those feelings, but having those feelings likely does come from birth.

so most likely he goes to a church that views it as sin but doesn’t do anything overly heinous. The same could be said for tons of churches, so singling him out seems odd.

I saw that other people posted while I was typing this all up. Hopefully I didn’t post this in the middle in another discussion. And god bless anyone who actually read this fucking essay I spilled all over this thread. Unless something confirmed comes out I am done with the whole Pratt thing.

 

God damn dude

 

Whatever Pratt’s exact beliefs are he doesn’t speak about it nor expect others to live by it. I can’t imagine the Guardians actors being okay with him if he was spewing anti-LGBT rhetoric and there haven’t been any rumors or hearsay that he does. He may not even be so evangelical on set.

I don’t know Pratt’s exact stance and I’m not sure anyone will.

 

Yeah….I don’t think the issue is necessarily that he goes to a church so much as he doesn’t exactly come out and say something like “Yeah I’m religious but I fully support the LGBTQ community” when given the chance to clarify his personal beliefs.

 

I feel like Chris Pratt is likely the standard American conservative Christian who genuinely means well and has a big heart, with no idea how terribly destructive the implications of some of his assumptions about the world really are.

Which, if that genre of person is too triggering for someone, I get that being a disqualifying attribute for tolerating an actor, even if that actor decides not to speak publicly about any of that stuff. A lot of irreversible damage has been done by good, well meaning people. It’s some weighty shit that people with no connection to it don’t necessarily get. But, with what I’m presently aware of about Chris, and what my real life existence is like… I’m personally too numb to that kind of person to not watch movies I love a ton because of him.

 

Perhaps. But the vast majority of articles I read seem more angry at what his church is associated with than his personal beliefs. But undoubtedly there are people who want him to be more vocal. And it is odd that despite all the drama he hasn’t flat out clarified his view. But even Gunn’s response to it is that we don’t even know what church he goes to, so to cancel Pratt over things that a different church believes and practices is absurd.

This topic popped up on Reddit and I found a new fact. I actually have now found out that the pastor of his alleged church actually was a part of Hillsong who are the ones accused of the firing of staff and pro conversion therapy stance. That the Zoe LA church was modeled after Hillsong. But even with that connection, it doesn’t mean they believe or support the exact same things. There are many ways to model a church after another and yet still have very different stances on various topics. While they are connected in that way, they are not officially connected in any way. Zoe isn’t a part of their network of churches or a plant of theirs. It’s an independent church.

 

Hell yea

 

You love to see it

 

I'm glad the parting is amicable and that it's just about him taking some time away to breathe, especially since it sounds like he'll be continuing with the Spider-Man franchise.

I am curious who they'll get to take over.

 

He's continuing the Spiderman franchise? Fuuuck. I was so excited for another director to take a shot at it

 

You hate to see it

 

We're never getting web swinging as good as the TASM films ever again

Not sure how much of that is a directorial decision lmao but it bugs me dammit

 

Still the best looking Spider-Man scene

 

Absolutely!!

 

If they continue to use Watts for Spider-Man 4 then whatever. I’d like to see a new face handle the next trilogy though.

 

Eh, this article says Sony wants him to. But nothing is confirmed that he will return to marvel at all

 

Get Scorsese to direct F4

 

Fake supporting Justin Lin for the sake of an "it's all about family" joke.

 

Justin Lin would be a great choice honestly

 

Didn’t Justin Lin also do a Star Trek? ‘Cause that’s kinda the right vibe for the Four, tbh.

He might’ve been mentioned as a joke, but I think he’s now my top pick.

 

Yes he did Star Trek Beyond and it was pretty good