Miley Cyrus Reveals Why She Left the Church
Miley Cyrus explained her decision to leave the church to Hailey Baldwin-Bieber.
Bieber was on Cyrus’ Brightminded Instagram Live show on Friday (March 20) when the subject of religion came up. The 27-year-old shared how her views on religion changed once she found her sexual identity. The "Slide Away" singer came out as pansexual in 2015.
"I was also brought up in the church in Tennessee at a time in the '90s, so it was a less accepting time with all that," Cyrus told Baldwin-Bieber. "I had some gay friends in school, that is the reason why ... I left my church [because] they weren’t being accepted. They were being sent to conversion therapies. And I had a really hard time with that and I had a hard time with me finding my sexuality too."
Bieber then shared her point of view, explaining, “I think there’s a difference between being raised in the church and then being an adult and having your own relationship with God. I feel like I’ve found my footing with spirituality and faith and church. I’ve found a church community that works for me where I feel supported and loved and accepted."
"I was raised going to church as a believer, and that was a really important part of my life," Cyrus responded. "And I kind of fell off that path a little bit because I think I had a hard time finding a relationship with God that worked for me as an adult."
"I think what I just took away from you is I’m allowed to decide what my relationship is with spirituality as an adult, that doesn’t have to be aligned with the way it was when I was brought up," Cyrus continued.
The singer shared that she feels as though she's in a "quadruple-thruple relationship with God" and her parents. "If I could remove them and it can become my relationship with the higher power... now that feels way less intimidating and I can just talk to God directly rather than it being me and my parents having a conversation," she concluded.
Watch the episode, below.