 When asked if religion plays a part in her life in 2009 , Streep replied : " I follow no doctrine . I don 't belong to a church or a temple or a synagogue or an ashram . " In an interview in December 2008 , she also alluded to her lack of religious belief when she said : " So I 've always been really , deeply interested , because I think I can understand the solace that 's available in the whole construct of religion . But I really don 't believe in the power of prayer , or things would have been avoided that have happened , that are awful . So it 's a horrible position as an intelligent , emotional , yearning human being to sit outside of the available comfort there . But I just can 't go there . " 
