Brian Cox labels The Bible “one of the worst books ever”
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Succession star Brian Cox has shared his opinions on The Bible, which he believes to be “one of the worst books ever” and has caused societal damage.
Cox, who is outspoken on a wide ranging number of topics and never afraid to speak his mind, believes religion has caused a negative effect on society. However, while he understands that if fills a void within the human psyche, Cox is firm in his belief that it has caused more harm than good.
The Scottish actor made the remark during an appearance on The Starting Line Podcast, hosted by Rich Leigh. In the expansive discussion, the topic of conversation turned to religion, with Cox saying it does “hold us back” due to their reliance on their faith to rescue them during moments of hardship.
Elaborating on his stance, Cox added, “They’re not dealing with who we are, we’re dealing with, ‘Oh if God says this and God does that, and you go, ‘Well what is God?’ We’ve created that idea of God, and we’ve created it as a control issue, and it’s also a patriarchal issue … and it’s essentially patriarchal – we haven’t given enough scope to the matriarchy.”
Cox speculates that society’s obsession with the patriarchy is directly linked to The Bible, stating, “It’s Adam and Eve I mean the propaganda goes right way back – the Bible is one of the worst books ever, for me, from my point of view. Because it starts with the idea that Adam’s rib – you know that [from] Adam’s rib, this woman was created, and they’ll believe it cause they’re stupid enough.”
On the other hand, Cox does understand why spirituality is a vital part of the human existence, nevertheless, in his opinion, it should not be derived from religion. He explained: “They need it, but they don’t need to be told lies, they need some kind of truth, and that is not the truth. It is not the truth, it’s a mythology you know … it’s not really to do with what women understand more than anybody.”
The acting icon’s latest comments arrive after he recently made headlines for criticising the performance of Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. Cox said of Phoenix’s portrayal of the famous French ruler: “A truly terrible performance by Joaquin Phoenix. It really is appalling. I don’t know what he was thinking. I think it’s totally his fault and I don’t think Ridley Scott helps him”.
Phoenix has yet to respond to Cox’s scathing feedback regarding Napoleon.