Comedian Rob Schneider Calls Christianity ‘A Beautiful Way to Go Through Life’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Comedian, actor and newly reformed Catholic Rob Schneider is learning about the beauty of love and forgiveness.
“Jesus only lets you stray so much. I think at a certain point he [God] grabbed me again and hugged me,” the comedian told CBN, “and I think it’s important to the feeling that I had in that foundation to for whatever silly movies I’ve made and for whatever reason people seem to think anything I say is interesting or funny…[I] wanted…to [say] if you are thinking about looking for something in life, a foundation that… isn’t in sand where it could be blown away, and if you have a family, then…you [can] have that foundation in something beautiful and something like Christian[ity].”
He notes that there are a lot of religions that don’t have themes of love and selflessness.
“We have a religion that says love your enemy. Love thy neighbor as thyself. I think that [loving] others…what a beautiful way to go through life,” the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE writer said. “Christianity, it’s welcoming everyone.”
“There’s no exclusion. It’s not like, well, green-eyed people aren’t allowed,” he said.
Schneider explained that a while ago, another actor excluded people from his Broadway show, and it upset him. But he realized that his response needed to be forgiveness.
“If I am going to lead my life and be an example as Christ compels us to do, then I have to do it even if it hurts,” he realized. “Even if it stretches how I used to feel…and once you forgive, the beautiful thing about forgiveness is that it isn’t the person, it’s you. You end up feeling better.”
He said in October of last year, the same month he converted to Catholicism, “It is forgiveness itself that is the gift that we give ourselves because it frees us, as The Christ intends for all of us to be free. For His gift of ultimate and unlimited forgiveness is indeed the gift for all humanity.”
Movieguide® previously reported how, as a former Christian, Schneider came back to faith:
“I did—like many Christians do—stray,” Schneider said, explaining that he was a devout Christian as a teenager but left his faith.
He continued, “But there was a continuing pull back, knowing where I needed to be and to be home. And then [a] very, very strange confluence of things. I married a Catholic, and she was very patient with me, and she’s been the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Schneider shared his rediscovered faith in a series of social media posts in October 2023.
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