Joaquin Phoenix

American actor, parents were members of the Children of God religious organization in it's early years, but quickly became disillusioned with it and left (Children of God have been accused of sexual abuse, and have received vast media attention due to this - Primetime Live (U.S.) has covered it, among other programs) Joaquin claims that he doesn't remember anything of the sort happening to him, though his parents left the group when he was very little.

"To Die For" Sunday Times (UK), April 1999 By Marianne Gray

"I'm not into organised religion," Phoenix says. "But at the same time, I've seen people who were completely messed up who then found God and now go to church, don't drink, don't do nasty drugs. That's great. You have to do whatever it takes to make it through. For me, I believe in a God of whatever my own thing is." (In his case it could be god of the trumpet, his current favourite pastime, or god of the yellow '72 Le Mans car, his passion.)

"Signs Of Substance" Galaxie magazine (Malaysia), September 16-30 2002 pp. 12-13 By Philip Berk

Q: Are you spiritual? JP: I certainly was raised with a sense of spirituality, but we didn't follow rules in terms of belief, religion or anything. It was left up to each of us to come to terms with our own understanding of fundamental questions. I just grabbed the best aspects of all religions.

"I don't believe in god. I don't believe in an afterlife. I don't believe in soul. I don't believe in anything. I think it's totally right for people to have their own beliefs if it makes them happy, but to me it's a pretty preposterous idea." -Joaquin Phoenix, Nylon Guys magazine, Winter 2008