{"id":35228,"date":"2024-05-07T12:13:07","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T16:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=35228"},"modified":"2024-05-07T12:13:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T16:13:07","slug":"according-to-actor-brian-cox-stupid-people-believe-in-the-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/05\/according-to-actor-brian-cox-stupid-people-believe-in-the-bible.html","title":{"rendered":"According to Actor Brian Cox, \u201cStupid\u201d People Believe in the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"
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John Gomez \/ Shutterstock.com | Inset: Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Actor Brian Cox, known for roles in \u201cSuccession,\u201d \u201cThe Bourne Identity,\u201d and \u201cBraveheart,\u201d had some harsh words against faith and the Bible while on \u201cThe Starting Line<\/a>\u201d Podcast. \u201cReligion does hold us back because it\u2019s belief systems which are outside ourselves. They\u2019re not dealing with who we are. We\u2019re dealing with, \u2018Oh if God says this and God does that,\u2019 and you go, \u2018Well what is God?\u2019 We\u2019ve created that idea of God, and we\u2019ve created it as a control issue, and it\u2019s also a patriarchal issue,\u201d he said. He pointed to mistreatment against women going all the way back to Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve. \u201cWe have to honor [women], and we have to give them their place and we\u2019re resistant to that because it\u2019s 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 out of Adam\u2019s rib, this woman was created, and [people will] believe it cause they\u2019re stupid enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said people need religion but that it\u2019s not truth. \u201cIt\u2019s mythology,\u201d he said. He appeared to believe that belief systems would keep peace from ever being achieved in the Israel-Hamas war. \u201cIt\u2019s all about this notion of God, the idea that there\u2019s a God that takes care of us all. There\u2019s no such thing. It\u2019s about us, and we don\u2019t examine ourselves nearly enough. We don\u2019t look at who we are. We\u2019re always looking outside of ourselves, instead of looking inside ourselves.\u201d He attributed \u201call kinds of horrors\u201d to religion, including the Holocaust and the war in Ukraine. \u201cPeople are so stupid\u2026 and they cannot see the writing on the wall,\u201d he said. Oddly enough, \u201cwriting on the wall\u201d is a phrase attributed to the Biblical story of Daniel when mysterious writing appears on a wall as an omen in chapter 5.<\/p>\n

Cox\u2019s comments were met with backlash. Conservative commentator Dick Delingpole posted the interview with Cox, writing<\/a> \u201cIt’s almost as if we shouldn’t look to actors for their towering intellect and insight.\u201d The Media Research Center said Cox\u2019s statement \u201cdoes what a portion of Atheists do- crap on those that do have faith, because they\u2019re too \u2018stupid\u2019 to have a comprehension of something bigger than themselves.\u201d The Washington Times<\/em><\/a> reached out to McDonald\u2019s for a comment on Cox\u2019s words. Cox has been the spokesman for McDonalds some time, however to date the burger giant has not responded to any questions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actor Brian Cox, known for roles in \u201cSuccession,\u201d \u201cThe Bourne Identity,\u201d and \u201cBraveheart,\u201d had some harsh words against faith and the Bible while on \u201cThe Starting Line\u201d Podcast. \u201cReligion does hold us back because it\u2019s belief systems which are outside ourselves. They\u2019re not dealing with who we are. We\u2019re dealing with, \u2018Oh if God says…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":35234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nAccording to Actor Brian Cox, \u201cStupid\u201d People Believe in the Bible<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Brian Cox had some harsh words against faith and the Bible while on \u201cThe Starting Line\u201d Podcast.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/05\/according-to-actor-brian-cox-stupid-people-believe-in-the-bible.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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