Succession's Brian Cox says the Bible is 'one of the worst books ever'

Succession star Brian Cox isn’t afraid to speak his mind – even when it comes to criticising the Bible and pouring scorn on all organised religion.

The actor is known for his occasional outspoken views and indifference to certain areas of pop culture, and he’s now spoken about faith around the world in an in-depth interview.

Cox, 77, hit out at religion as a concept and accused it of being a tool for patriarchal control during a conversation with Rich Leigh for an episode of The Starting Line Podcast.

He also called the Bible “one of the worst books ever”.

When asked if he believed religion was holding humanity back, Cox said: “Oh considerably, yes - I think religion does hold us back because it's belief systems which are outside ourselves.

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“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.”

Later in the interview, he went on to say that challenging patriarchal attitudes in society are made harder due to his belief that the Bible underpins them.

Brian Cox: on God, Trump, cannabis laws, Succession, the patriarchy and morewww.youtube.com

He said: “We do because we have to honor them and we have to give them their place and we’re resistant to that because all our... 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.”

He added: “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.”

Speaking about religious people’s approach to the Bible, he added: “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.”

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