'Succession' actor bashes the Bible, calls religion a bad influence on humanity: 'People are so stupid'
The Scottish actor, who is an atheist, tied religion's harmful impact to the war in Gaza
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Succession" actor Brian Cox gave a harsh assessment of religion and its impact on the world in a new wide-ranging interview out this week.
In a new episode of The Starting Line podcast, the Scottish actor, who is a self-professed atheist and socialist, argued that religion has sold humans a false story about reality and contributed to their own "stupidity."
"Human beings are so f—d, basically… because they're so stupid," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Religion has "led us into all kinds of horror," he went on to say, referencing the Holocaust and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. "The same things are being repeated again and again in belief systems which do not serve," he said.
Scottish actor Brian Cox was blunt about his negative views on religion in a new podcast appearance. (Photo by LISA OCONNOR/AFP via Getty Images)
The actor claimed the conflict in the Middle East is "never going to go away," because it is fueled by these faulty systems which hurt both Muslims and Jews.
Lamenting the lives lost in the conflict, he added, "People are so stupid… and they cannot see the writing on the wall."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The problem with religion is that it shields humans from examining how they are contributing to society's problems, he argued.
"It's all about this notion of God, the idea that there’s a God that takes care of us all. There’s no such thing, doesn’t happen, that’s not what it’s about. It’s about us, and we don’t examine ourselves nearly enough. We don’t look at who we are. We’re always looking outside of ourselves, instead of looking inside ourselves," he explained of humanity's relationship with religion.
He also criticized the Bible as "one of the worst books ever."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Bible is ‘one of the worst books ever,’ atheist actor Brian Cox said in a new interview. (iStock)
He pointed to the creation account of Adam and Eve in scripture to complain that "propaganda" from the religious text has contributed to a "patriarchal" society.
"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 because they’re stupid enough."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It is not the truth, it's a mythology," he continued. "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."
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"Succession" actor Brian Cox lamented religion's influence on society in a new interview. (iStock)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Humans simply haven't "evolved" to the point where we look inside ourselves to deal with our problems rather than trying to solve our problems with religion, he argued.
The "Succession" star explained how he's found more answers to life's questions through acting. He explained that he believes the "one true church" to be the theater because it "is the church of humanity."
"It's people dealing with… those false gods we create for ourselves and the notion of the word God anyway, is a conceit. It's a terrible conceit that we don't really acknowledge."