Alan Ritchson, a vocal Christian and star of “Reacher” on Amazon Prime, urged Christians to make space for people outside their “tribe.” Ritchson shared his thoughts in a video on his channel, InstaChurch, where he often gives his thoughts on certain topics related to the Christian faith.
“We can debate all day long. I think truth always finds its way to the top of an argument,” Ritchson said, “and the truth is always rooted in love, so I think that’s why it prevails. But this world that we’re living in where people tell other people what they’re allowed to do or say or think or be, I don’t get.”
“People that maybe don’t adhere to my religion absolutely deserve to be heard and seen,” said Ritchson, calling this view “the backbone of my political reasoning.”
Alan Ritchson: How Christians Treat One Another Is ‘Wild’
Alan Ritchson is an actor whose credits include “Fast X” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” His 2024 films include starring roles alongside Hilary Swank in “Ordinary Angels” and alongside Henry Cavill in Guy Ritchie’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.”
Ritchson sometimes engages with non-Christians on social media, such as last year when he responded to a Satanist who accused God of being evil.
RELATED: ‘Reacher’ Star Defends Christianity Against Satanist Who Claims ‘Your God Is Evil’
The actor began his video, titled “Should Christians create safe spaces?,” with a “thought experiment” in which he compared repeatedly telling “somebody to shut up, stop talking, stick to their day job” to murder, which if committed, would literally “silence that person on a permanent basis, forever.”
“So if I tell somebody to shut up, am I committing murder in a metaphorical way?” he asked. “I think so. I don’t think I have it within me to tell somebody to shut up and stick to their job.”
“Am I making room for somebody who maybe doesn’t think like I do, believe like I do? We must,” Ritchson emphasized. He explained that he used to not think this way, saying that he voted straight Republican in his 20s and he grew up in a strict Catholic home “where everything was black and white and binary, and we were safeguarded by rituals.”
“I saw enemies made,” Ritchson said. “Anybody outside the tribe of Catholicism or conservativism was an enemy.”
Greater life experience broadened Ritchson’s perspective. “At some point, after much travel and experience of different socioeconomic conditions and demographics and cultural realities, I came to realize, man, this is anything but black and white,” he said. “And it’s essential that as a Christian, I find ways to, via thought and politics, if necessary, help reshape the world in a more Christ-like way.”
Ritchson argues that there are “so many examples of Jesus not coming with a fist of righteous fury and immediate retributive justice, but with patience, peace and love.” However, Ritchson believes that many Christians, many of whom are also Republicans, live in a way that is the opposite of the example of Jesus.
“He created a space of generosity around him towards those who did not deserve it,” said the actor, “and, conversely, created a space of complete and utter self-sacrifice by dying on a cross.”
“It’s wild who we are to each other today, especially those who claim to be Christians,” he continued, stating that the Christians he observes exhibiting hateful behavior often happen to be political conservatives.
