5 Celebrities Who Had a Religious Upbringing

You might not guess it from their raunchy stage outfits or risqué role choices, but these 5 celebrities all had quite religious upbringings. Some continue to be religious, while others questioned their faith or have taken their own religious path since childhood. Some of these stars have fond memories of religious holidays and occasions with their families, while others have darker thoughts on the topic and even have worries that they’re going to hell.

 

Beth Ditto

Growing up in a religious surrounding worried Beth Ditto that she might go to hell: “I was overcome by the Holy Ghost one time, but in a Baptist way. I was six or seven, and I was saved. I just cried and cried. It was joy! You live in this shadow that you’re going to burn in hell until you’re saved. And I still worry about it a little. I don’t believe in heaven, but I do still fear hell.”

Katy Perry

Katy’s Christian pastor parents can speak in tongues and Katy had a very strict upbringing: “Speaking in tongues is as normal to me as, ‘Pass the salt.’ A lot of religions use meditation or chanting. It’s a secret, direct prayer language to God. My dad speaks in tongues and my mom interprets it. That’s their gift.”

Lady Gaga

Gaga went to a Catholic school from a young age: “When I was young and I went to Catholic school – an all girls’ school – we were told to pray to God and pray to Jesus, but I always prayed to women. I guess I always worshipped a more feminine force in my life and I didn’t view God as having a particular gender. I always either prayed to Mother Mary or Mary Magdelene, or to my father’s sister Joanne who had died when he was a kid because I viewed her as an angel in the sky in the house of the Kingdom working alongside God. You know, watching over me.”

Brad Pitt

Brad grew up in a religious family which lead to him questioning: “I always had a lot of questions about the world, even in kindergarten. A big question to me was fairness. If I’d grown up in some other religion, would I get the same shot at heaven as a Christian has?” He later decided to experience things differently: “When I got untethered from the comfort of religion, it wasn’t a loss of faith for me, it was a discovery of self. I had faith that I’m capable enough to handle any situation. There’s peace in understanding that I have only one life, here and now, and I’m responsible.”

Cuba Gooding Jr

Cuba’s mother wouldn’t allow him to celebrate the darker side of Halloween because of religious customs: “We were a very religious family. We grew up Christian and my mom didn’t believe in goblins and stuff, so when we went to doors we’d come with these little afros and little bags. We’d be angels or firemen, whatever, but not anything from the ‘pen of Hell’. We’d knock on the door, and say, ‘Happy Hallelujah Day.’ She wanted Happy Hallelujah Day or she would whoop your a** for the grace of God. I was like, ‘That’s very contradictory, but okay. You’re gonna beat us in the name of the Lord? Okay…'”