"The Bible is one of the worst books ever"

[Bundbuster]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Lasher (a host of the General Discussion forum).

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/30/brian-cox-bible-worst-books-ever/?in_brief=true

Brian Cox, the 77-year-old "Succession" actor is a self-proclaimed socialist well known for his controversial and discourse-sparking opinions. In an episode of "The Starting Line Podcast" with Rich Leigh, Cox shared more of his thoughts on religion, wealth distribution and politics.

When asked about religion holding humanity back, Cox said, "Oh considerably, yes – I think religion does hold us back because it's belief systems which are outside ourselves."

"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 . . . It’s essentially patriarchal; we haven’t given enough scope to the matriarchy."

"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 continued that people may need religion, "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."

&t=4s

[elocs]

1. Cox says the Bible is one of the worst books ever, "for me, from my point of view."

Which is perfectly valid for him and from his point of view although his opinion is not from the mouth of God, or Sauron.

[anciano]

2. A Mark Twain quotation:

"You believe in a book that has talking animals, wizards, witches, demons, sticks turning into snakes, burning bushes, food falling from the sky, people walking on water, and all sorts of magical, absurd and primitive stories, and you say that we are the ones that need help?"

[Bundbuster]

5. Perfect

[ancianita]

7. Brian Cox? pffffft Only those who refuse to read the Bible produce this kind of perverted crap. I'm totally down with

THIS guy's opinion, because after reading his biography I know that he actually read the Bible:

"In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it." President Abraham Lincoln

Since Lincoln there are the Democratic Christ-ian presidents, like Grant, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Carter, Obama, Biden...

"The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, from Isaiah and Saint Paul... If we don't have a proper moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State!" President Harry S. Truman

We know that at least these modern American presidents have at least read the historical collection of the Bible's 66 books that record two thousand years of human moral development that forms the basis of today's Common Law and International Law.

Jesus (yes, the historical Jesus) himself said to the Pharisees and Sadducees:
"You are Israel's teacher, and do you not understand these things?
Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still, you people do not accept our testimony through the law and the prophets. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?" Gospel of John chapter 5, verses 10-12

Read the Gospel of Luke, the historian. Depending on how one reads, it takes around an hour. If one reads just the red print only -- what Jesus said in the context of who he was with and what they asked -- it takes 40 mins.

Brian Cox's opinions have no authority beyond the world of acting; his opinion of the Bible is worthless.

[NanaCat]

8. People who have actually read it know

What an obscenity it is.

You'd know that if you'd actually read it.

It's one of the most violent, evil books ever written. That's why it's one of the top 10 methods of making someone an atheist. And I trust their viewpoint from having actually read it than I do for apologists of a religion where less than 10% of them actually read their hate manual.

ETA: I've read the red letter parts, and most of them are stupid, irrelevant or downright evil. You want to play quote-a-thon.

I promise that I can dredge up all the examples of absolute evil from the red letters alone to counter the few decent verses in there. Let's start with the hell verses. You know, the promise to hurt people forever for not being in the religion. Permanent harm for, essentially, a thought crime.

Worse, you are fine with that--you're all for it. If you weren't, you wouldn't belong to the religion. Which raises serious questions about, well...

Seriously, hurting people forever is not only sick, but also without a doubt the most evil concept of all time. But, yeah, do tell us how we're the ones who need to read a book we've already read, and how we're the ones who don't know what we're talking about.

That will totes win you points with the reality-based, non-torture-loving crowd.

[ancianita]

10. Total bullshit. Now I know you yourself haven't read it.

[Sky Jewels]

22. I have read it, cover to cover.

That's why I despise it so adamantly. It's a pile of male supremacist crap made up by primitive societies that didn't even know that the Earth orbits the sun and not vice versa.

[FreeState]

24. +1 (I have read it more than ten times cover to cover)

and agree with you.

[Sky Jewels]

27. ...

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

44. Try being a kid with a severe disability and reading this little gem

[link:|

You know what I thought? At 10? "If I profane His sanctuaries on Earth, I don't have a prayer of going to Heaven." It was about then I started thinking I didn't want to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation which was coming up soon.

[Lunabell]

30. Don't be rude.

[flying_wahini]

38. Why do Christians refuse to even think they could be wrong? Arrogance is what turns people away from

them when they talk like that. Their GOD is the only God?
I could say the same about Zeus . They call it “faith” but we call it delusional.

[FrankBooth]

42. I have total faith that my toaster oven is divine

It said so, right there in the manual.

[jimfields33]

45. I think it keep people in check with the 10 commandments

Not that people don’t occasionally mess up them. But without the 10 commandments, the world would be chaos.

[Red Raider 85]

56. nonsense.

[bhikkhu]

61. I agree...read the first books in bible school, and it was pretty appalling.

I can remember thinking at 10 years old that I wanted no part of that kind of nonsense. There's some interesting stuff in the new testament, but even there it's so much contradictory timelines and questionable stuff, there's the impression that it was all assembled from random little stories and sayings people happened to remember.

If Jesus was really god and wanted to set some things straight, he would have started by learning to read and write so he could put it to paper. Not writing anything down kind of left a big mess, and centuries of sectarian divisions and squabbles, over which millions have died. I don't think that was a good way to do it.

[Bev54]

53. And written by hundreds of "men", not their "God", with controlling the masses in mind.

[walkingman]

3. I believe the Bible is a poor book of instruction, guidance, and learning.

It is based on individual interpretation. A good book does not have potential to be corruptible and misinterpreted by others. Which verses should be taken metaphorically or interpreted through different perspectives?

[pandr32]

4. I like him even more!

[keithbvadu2]

6. I asked a Christian if the Bible was the truth. He refused to verify it.

The Bible has all the answers... IF:
you cherry-pick the parts you like.
you reinterpret the parts that are inconvenient.
you ignore the parts you don't like.

[ancianita]

9. Wrong. The Bible is fact based 2,000 year history. If you don't own one or haven't read one, you wouldn't

say that. No one who's really read the Bible, even just a first reading, comes away thinking they can talk about it in "parts." There are no "unlikeable" parts or "likable" parts when one understands the context of what they read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_literalist_chronology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus

[keithbvadu2]

11. "the context of what they read"... That's exactly the point of "IF".

[ancianita]

16. Remember that 48% of your fellow Democrats are Christian. Democrats are reality based, not "IF" based.

[Stardust Mirror]

32. 100% of those being tortured during The Inquisition declared themselves Christians

tell me again, how many Christian denominations are there disagreeing on the "context" and "interpretation" of your "perfect" book?

[keithbvadu2]

36. Is the Bible the truth?

[stopdiggin]

41. sorry. anyone that believes there is absolute truth between the pages of a book ...

(AND - absent any degree of interpretation or contextual lens ...)
Simply cannot be described as 'reality based'. And, with apologies, but that most certainly applies to Democrats and any other stripe of upright biped ... Although to be perfectly honest - almost none of my Democratic friends would attempt to advance, or stand behind, anything like such absolutist and overreaching claims.

Incontrovertible truth? Pfffft!
Could we please maybe return to a respectful and constructive discussion?
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[Sky Jewels]

14. Lol.

The depictions of magical powers attributed to the sky wizard deity and his supernatural "son" deity are not fact-based.

Magic isn't actually real. God/s don't actually exist.

Mythologies aren't the same as histories, even though mythologies of course reflect elements of actual history.

The pieces of mythology that eventually were slapped together and called "The Bible" are definitely different parts, made up over many centuries.

The Old Testament and the New Testament are very, very different. And yes we can talk about the collection of mythology in "parts."

Even as ridiculous mythologies go, the Bible is among the most far-fetched. The pretzel-like thinking you'd have to do to believe this primitive, patriarchal bullshit is "true" makes my brain hurt.

[ancianita]

17. Miss me with this ignorance. Tell all this nonsense to 48% of your fellow Democrats who are Christian.

[Sky Jewels]

25. So what? Just because people were raised to believe nonsense doesn't mean that the nonsense is not nonsense.

Do you believe that Zeus is real? Do you believe that Thor is real? Do you believe that Isis is real? Do you believe Saraswati is real? If not, why do you cherry pick another fictional deity and pretend it is real?

What evidence do you have that "God" exists and Jesus actually came back to life? If you say "The Bible," then I'll say that the Harry Potter series is evidence that wizards exist and perform spells and charms.

[Sky Jewels]

28. The mental gymnastics one must go through to convince themselves this bullshit is "real"

are truly impressive though.

[FreeState]

31. Argument ad populum is a facility

It doesn't matter how many people believe something, it does not make it true.

[jimfields33]

47. Id rather be wrong and God isn't real then the opposite

Eternal life is a long time.

[Lunabell]

33. Fact based?

What's THAT evidence? 🤣

[jimfields33]

48. They have found artifacts that prove the Bible was true.

[Lunabell]

52. Ok

Show me. This is news to me. I'm not saying that all of it was false. But, the whole new testament is fakery. There's absolutely no written record of any of it except what was written second hand after his alleged death and resurrection. Of that, I am sure.

No record of Herod killing boy babies, no record of the alleged taxes that Joseph and Mary were supposed to go to Bethlehem to be counted. No record of his trial and execution even though Romans of tge day kept scrupulous records of these matters. I stand by my assertion that the new testament is pure fiction.

[jimfields33]

55. I was in Italy and had a peice of the crib from the birth

They had the towel used at Jesus’ resurrection and is in a museum somewhere. Those are two I can think off hand.

[Lunabell]

57. ok

Well, I'm sure that was authenticated with dna or carbon dating. You know, science. Real facts and evidence please.
The shroud of turin was in a museum too and was proven to have been fabricated in the 12th century.

[flying_wahini]

39. So is the Koran. And just because you think you are correct, I can say I KNOW you're wrong.

See how arrogant that sounds?

[Sky Jewels]

12. The Bible is a steaming pile of convoluted mythology made up and promulgated by males.

Its primary purpose is to maintain and further male supremacy.

It's the worst and most damaging book in the history of humans.

The protagonist Yahweh/God is a cruel, sociopathic dickhead. I wouldn't worship that monster even if it actually existed.

The Jesus story is just about one of the most asinine myths ever. Gilgamesh and other prior myths did the whole resurrection thing much better.

The concept of the trinity is just moronic and nonsensical.

How does any modern person still swallow this bullshit?

[Kaleva]

19. What do you think of the Torah, the Koran & The Vedas?

[Sky Jewels]

26. More mythologies.

I'm not saying that myths don't sometimes contain elements of actual history, because obviously the cultures that created them were influenced by those events, but fictional stories about (male) supernatural beings and events shouldn't be looked to for any guidance. They're just stories like any other stories. It's just that books like The Bible and The Koran have been used to do great harm to literally billions of people, especially women.

[onenote]

46. So what do you think of people who swallow this bullshit -- such as President Biden?

[Red Raider 85]

58. cannot agree more. Religion is absolute nonsense.

All gods are as real as tooth fairies and leprechauns.

[ismnotwasm]

13. Atlas Shrugged had got the Bible beat by quite a bit lol

And I’ve read the Bible, several times. All the magic stuff aside, it’s a pretty interesting and a pretty rough take on the human condition.

Religion is a human invention. We are great story tellers and magnificent liars. Snd we evolved religious stories to explain things in our environment, and we evolved a very strong emotional reaction to our stories, and our lies. A very strong, VERY powerful, emotional reaction.

Religion itself it ok. It’s what the inventors of and believers of religion did/do with it that gets fucked up.

[slightlv]

20. I tend to agree with you

And I acknowledge the horrific parts, especially of the Old Testament. I am of a firm belief it is stories written by men... many with an agenda and several years and decades past the historical events. gives us a view of the culture and society of that day, and also aggregates stories and myths from other religions of that day... rewriting them to fit the xtian worldview.

It is a book of power, but not in the way people think. He who weilds it weilds power and authority over the "lesser creatures' of this world.

And I do realize people's viewpoints on this will vary... and as Long as they keep it among themselves I have no problem. I have problems with it they start forcing it down other people's throats. Forcing it on pain of cruelty and law does not lead to a conversion experience. And anything less than a true conversion experience cheapens everyone and everything with focus of the book.

[PatrickforB]

15. Well, I have to weigh in on this one.

If the Bible is taken literally, as the 'inerrant word of God,' then it is full of contradictions.

If it is taken esoterically, metaphorically, then it is like most wisdom literature - very valuable for spiritual growth. There are messages hidden in the metaphore, the analogies, the parables, the Psalms that can truly elevate one's spiritual awareness and engender a perspective of unity from multiplicity - in other words, the underlying message to much of it is that all of us are connected.

I read somewhere recently that the Hebrews gave us God as Law, the Christians gave us God as Love, and the Muslims gave us God as Surrender. All of those perspectives are valid.

No need to go into more, but hopefully this will spur some to look deeper into these various spiritual paths - Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Tao, Paganism, Wicca and all the rest - many different paths to the One.

Ever thought about why our dollar has that pyramid that says e pluribus unum? Out of many, one. There is more to it that a bunch of United States...just sayin'.

[Red Raider 85]

59. or better yet realize it's all nonsense and irrational.

[gay texan]

62. The conclusion i came to n/t

[malaise]

18. He nailed it

Made by man for power control and greed

[Bundbuster]

34. I had that figured out at age 10,

sitting in Sunday School listening to the church lady reading cherry-picked scripture - supposedly the best parts. 66 years later I'm watching republican legislators in Arizona fall on the floor speaking in tongues.

[malaise]

49. I was twelve plus

Ha.

[Lunabell]

35. I see what you did there, lol.

[shrike3]

21. Religious topics are not supposed to be in GD.

So I've heard many times.

[ancianita]

37. So have I. And yet here it is.

[Lunabell]

40. Well, instead of complaining,

you have a remedy, right at your fingertips.

[IbogaProject]

23. He is British, church and the monarchy are his target

No one should write that crazy book off wholly there are some interesting parables, stories and the Sermon On The Mount. Crucified 33 AD, the new testament dates to 70, 80 years out, not written immediately. Most of the new testament is about the early apostles setting up churches, most famous Peter and Paul. What Brian Cox is attacking is using it like it is an authority. He has seen a dark side of that with the Church Of England as a facet of their Monarchy and their scam of noble privilege. England had and may still have a separate court for their Lords. None of the Catholic church nor the Dutch Church , nor the Church of England spoke against slavery or the theft of native lands until much later.

[muriel_volestrangler]

54. He's Scottish, not English; the status of the "national church", the Church of Scotland, is different

from the Church of England. The monarch is a member of the Church of Scotland, not its head.

But no, he's not attacking using a church "like it is an authority". He's attacking all religion, and the claim that there are gods (starts about 5:30 in the video), and it's about the whole world, not about Britain.

[Lunabell]

29. True!

And it even supports slavery of humans. What "loving" god supports slavery? It's a huge work of fiction and their is absolutely zero evidence, other than second/third hand "accounts" of the main character in the new testament, yeshua. By people who never even met the guy. So, fiction.

[Ray Bruns]

43. Blasphemy!

https://m.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

51. "Blessed are the Cheesemakers"

[lynintenn]

50. The Old Testament is a treasure trove of lust, sex, incest, murder, adultery snd revenge.

You can't make that stuff up yet the Bible is the most read and most argued over book in the world .

[Red Raider 85]

60. I like the part about some woman's lover, having the genitals of a donkey.

And the emissions of a horse. or versa I forget.

[Lasher]

63. Locking

No religion in the GD Forum