The “Succession” actor discussed his religious beliefs and criticism of the Christian Bible in a long interview that aired on “The Starting Line Podcast” on Sunday.
Cox firmly agreed when “Starting Line” host Rich Leigh questioned whether religion impedes human progress.
“Religion does hold us back because it’s belief systems which are outside ourselves,” Cox stated. “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.”
Ignoring the Christian story of Adam and Eve, Cox continued her criticism of religion’s part in female injustice.
“We have to honor (women), and we have to give them their place and we’re resistant to that because it’s Adam and Eve. I mean, the propaganda goes right way back,” Cox stated. “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’s rib, this woman was created, and (people will) believe it cause they’re stupid enough.”
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The actor took issue with the nature of religious doctrine, even though Cox conceded that some people might go to religion for spiritual guidance.
“They need it, but they don’t need to be told lies,” Cox stated. “They need some kind of truth, and that is not the truth. … It’s a mythology.”
Regarding religion’s significance in the Israel-Hamas conflict
Cox also talked about how religion has an impact on the “appalling” Middle East conflicts, such as the Israel-Hamas war and how it affects the Gaza Strip.
The Scottish actor expressed his pessimism about the unrest ever completely ending “because of belief systems.”
“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,” Cox stated. “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.”
