Aaron Rodgers had some interesting things to say about religion to Danica Patrick when he was on her podcast this past December. Patrick, who has been dating the Green Bay Packers quarterback for two years now, posted a YouTube video of her and Rodgers talking about religion on the Pretty Intense podcast, where he revealed how he was raised in a Christian household. However, Rodgers also said he had trouble connecting with his religion at the time, which ultimately led to him questioning his belief in God.
“I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell,” he said, according to PEOPLE. “What type of loving, sensitive, omnipresent, omnipotent being wants to condemn his beautiful creation to a fiery hell at the end of all this?”
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Rodgers did say that when he was in YoungLife, he felt a connection because of the work they were doing while in Mexico. It was something he didn’t experience when attending mass on Sundays.
“We went to Mexico during two spring breaks and built houses,” he said of volunteering with the program. “We put together homes for these folks who were living [with] garage door sides thrown together and stuff, that was meaningful. That was really meaningful work.”
As Rodgers got older, he was exposed to other religions and that was when he started to question what was taught to him. He said: “I had some good friendships along the way that helped me to figure out exactly what I wanted to believe in. Ultimately, it was that rules and regulations and binary systems don’t really resonate with me.”
The video of Rodgers comes on the heels of the Packers falling short of reaching the Super Bowl. This past Sunday, Green Bay lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game and Rodgers, who led the Packers to a Super Bowl win in 2010, has now lost three consecutive conference championship appearances.
“Yeah, it’s a little raw right now, for sure, but it definitely hurts a little more than early in the career, just because you realize just how difficult it is to get to this spot,” Rodgers said after the loss according to Forbes. “You realize I don’t have the same number of years ahead of me as I do behind me, so it’s slightly more disappointing.”
