Elon Musk has raised eyebrows after encouraging his followers to attend church.
The billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX, and chief executive of the social media platform X, previously identified as an atheist but now describes himself as a “cultural Christian.”
He caused a stir on Sunday after reposting a message from Erika Kirk, the recent widow turned chief executive of Turning Point USA, who had simply posted: “Go to church.”
In 2022, Musk made headlines when he replied to an X user who urged him to confess to a Creator before his last heartbeat, after he had tweeted a series of disturbing messages about dying under “mysterious circumstances.”
“Thank you for the blessing, but I’m OK with going to hell, if that is indeed my destination, since the vast majority of all humans ever born will be there,” Musk said at the time.
As The Christian Post reports, Musk later told psychologist Jordan Peterson: “While I’m not a particularly religious person, I do believe that the teachings of Jesus are good and wise and that there’s tremendous wisdom in turning the other cheek.”
His latest repost, however, has drawn criticism. Some argued that his shift towards Christianity is little more than a political manoeuvre to appeal to America’s conservative base.
“A cigarette in a hand doesn’t make a sinner, just like a Bible in a hand doesn’t make a saint,” one X user replied. Another commented: “The five stages of grift.”
The repost came just days after a gunman crashed a car into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township before opening fire and setting the building alight with petrol. Four people were killed and others wounded. Investigators said the suspect harboured hatred towards the Mormon faith.
On 10th September, another gunman assassinated Charlie Kirk while he was speaking at the first stop of his American Comeback College Tour.