Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman did not grow up to be a religious person because he never felt an affinity towards any kind of religion.
"I went to churches and synagogues, only it never caught hold. At 13, I stopped," he told Page Six. The actor said his basis for right and wrong was simply "grandma's big slap on my head," which "always pointed out when I'd done wrong."
However, after hosting the National Geographic TV series "The Story of God," which debuts on April 3, Freeman became enlightened about different kinds of religion.
"I visited 20 cities, seven countries — Jerusalem's Wailing Wall, Cairo's mosques, Guatemala's Mayan temples, India's Bodhi Tree, B.C. Neolithic Turkish settlements. I meditated with a Buddhist lama, explored afterlife hieroglyphics — all to learn faith's mysteries. Who is God? Where'd we come from?" he reflected.
Freeman noticed that the Vatican's papal academy "concludes the big bang stands alone, but does not explain Creation." For the actor, Creation cannot be explained, nor can people explain God.
"Christians talk of heart, Hindus enlightenment, Islamists paradise. Me, I'm a privatist. All of life is this planet. Life ever after is here. I don't think life exists on any other planet. If, like me, you think that it's just us, you must make a move not to kill it. Ours is a planetary problem. Trees, animals, climate, we have to stop killing it," he said.
Out of all the faiths and religions he encountered, Freeman confessed that it was Christianity that had the most impact on him and he recounted a particular experience while visiting Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston during research for the documentary.
"In a Houston megachurch I connected somewhat. Encouraged to think positive. You don't just get some things just like that! You have to go do it to get it. God's plan for us is to succeed," he said.
