What Religion Is Rihanna?
The music industry is not known for encouraging spiritual belief, but that doesn’t mean some of its biggest stars don’t hold religion close to their heart. Rihanna is a good example, although, from an outsider’s perspective, she may not seem like the most devout Christian she’s fairly open about her beliefs. What does Rihanna believe? Keep reading to find out.
Rihanna’s religious upbring
Raised in a religious household in Barbados, Rihanna has been surrounded by the Christian faith since she was little. Her mother is a devout woman who discouraged her daughter from wearing makeup. Now that Rihanna is a famous singer, we’ve got a chance to understand her mother, Monica Fenty — or Mama Fenty, as she’s called — through Instagram.
Her mother only posts two kinds of content: Bible verses from the Bible Gateway app and family photos. Fenty has posted encouraging bible verse words like: “Be kind and compassionate to one another” and “The love of Christ compels us.” Fenty also asked Rihanna to clean up her captions, when she was unhappy about the language her daughter used.
Rihanna was also taught about spiritual belief from her grandmother.
Rihanna’s religious beliefs
In a 2013 interview with Glamour, Rihanna expressed her opinion that God had prepared her for her current life. “I got teased my entire school life,” Rihanna explained. “What they were picking on I don’t even understand. It was my skin color [which was lighter than her classmates]. When I got older, it was about my breasts. But I’m not victimized- I’m grateful. I think those experiences were strategically put together by God for the preparation of being in the music industry. It’s so easy for me to deal with the bullsh*t now.”
When asked by Interview Magazine if she’s ever questioned her faith, Rihanna stated that although she’s never questioned her belief, she has felt that her relationship with God has been strained at times.
“I have been in a place where I felt like maybe I had disappointed God so much that we weren’t as close,” Rihanna said. “Actually, that happened to me while I was making Anti. That was really a hard time, but, thank God, I got through it.”
The interviewer then asked if she was now in a place where her faith couldn’t be lost, Rhianna answered:
“It wasn’t even lost then. The devil just has a way of making you feel like you’re not good enough, and that you’re not worthy of God being close to you. It’s really not the truth, but you wind up feeling like that. My grandmother was the one who started me on this. She gave me a devotion book, a physical one. It was the last thing she gave me before she passed away. It got left on a plane and stolen, so I just said, ‘You know what? Somebody else is going to gain from that.’ And then I bought the same book on my iPhone. The only sad part was that her handwriting was in it, but someone else is going to be blessed with it, so it’s fine.”
Speaking of her grandmother, Rihanna revealed to The Sun, as reported by Her, that her Egyptian Falcon tattoo was dedicated to her late grandmother, Clara, and represents God. “I have a falcon which is an Egyptian falcon and is supposed to stand for God,” Rihanna explained.
Rihanna’s religious tweets
Not afraid to express her beliefs to the public, Rihanna often takes to Twitter to express her faith and thankfulness towards God. On the nine year anniversary of her debut album, Music of the Sun, Rihanna tweeted: “To God be the Glory #MusicOfTheSun. Thanks to all of you who’ve supported me throughout the years! I can’t believe, already 9 yrs! I owe it to you man.”
Rihanna has also been known to tweet bible verses, just like her mother. In 2014, she posted a tweet that featured Mark 9:28. She wrote: “When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, ‘do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord,'”
The music superstar has also used Twitter to express her support of Christian minister and author Joyce Meyer, tweeting: “@JoyceMeyer you’re awesome.”
However, in a tweet that left fans confused and concerned, Rihanna changed her tone and tweeted directly to Satan: “F—- YOU SATAN. F—- right off!!!” The tweet had fans so concerned that her producer, Chuck Harmony, took to Twitter to confirm that Satan did not influence her music. But some still weren’t happy, and questioned the stars spiritual beliefs. Rihanna was able to quiet the rumors to some extent when she later tweeted the simple message, “God is Love.”
