Meg Ryan, whose real name is Margaret Hyra, was born and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut.
It appears as though Ryan was raised Catholic and may have even completed her confirmation,[1] although I couldn't find a completely reliable source cited for that claim. If she was Catholic back then, she's not talking about it too much these days.
The only reliable information I could find about Ryan's spirituality was that it is based in Buddhism more than anything else. She is greatly influenced by Eckhart Tolle,[2] an author of several books on spirituality that are influenced by several religions, but based in no one in particular. She said,
I'm a seeker with a capital 'S.' Eckhart has a philosophy that feeds my other interests and is all about presence and expanding your life by embracing the entirety of 'right now.' It's a simple philosophy but it goes with a lot of other Hindu and Buddhist philosophy I study.[3]
I couldn't find much else on Ryan's spiritual path, except that it led her to a group of Buddhist monks to bless some traditional robes that she would later wrap around trees, making the trees sacred.[4]
Just a Nice Liberal
As her spiritual leanings might suggest, Meg Ryan's political philosophy is definitely liberal. She doesn't talk about politics all that much; she gets involved. She has donated over $9,000 to Democratic politicians including Al Franken, John Kerry, and Barack Obama.[5]
She filmed a documentary in the PBS series Nature to draw attention to white elephants in Thailand, an endangered species.[6] She boycotted an Israeli film festival to protest Israeli policies towards Palestinians.[7]
And she's shown her support for women's rights by donating to the Hollywood Women's Political Committee[8] and supporting the organization Equality Now[9] which advocates for the rights of women across the globe.
I didn't find any passionate quotes from her about specific issues or politicians, except for this one about former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin:
I guess we have to root for her in that her son just went off to Iraq, that's gotta be really, really tough. But she doesn't represent my politics at all.[10]
Okay, so that was one of the least passionate things I've ever heard a liberal say about Sarah Palin. But maybe she just doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
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