Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte courted controversy after he called God “stupid” for the concept of “original sin” in the Bible’s creation story, news portal Rappler reports.
Addressing a summit in Davao City on Friday, Duterete, an open critic of the Catholic Church, said that he had issues with the Bible and questioned God’s logic, calling him “stupid.”
“Adam ate it then malice was born. Who is this stupid God? Istupido talaga itong putangina kung ganoon (That son of a b**** is stupid if that’s the case),” he said, reported Rappler. “You created something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work,” he added.
Talking about his interpretation of the concept of “original sin,” the president said, “That was your mother and father’s deed – you weren’t born yet, but now you have original sin. What kind of religion is that? I can’t accept it.”
Asserting that he is a spiritual man who does not believe in any religion, Duterte added, “I believe there is a universal mind, but… I cannot picture him as a human being. But I really believe, I have this faith and abiding thing, but don’t believe in religion.” He made similar remarks earlier this month during a meeting with the Filipino community in South Korea. “If that’s the Catholic God, that’s a lie. Seek God right,” he said.
This was, however, not the first time that Duterte has been critical of the Catholic faith, despite the Philippines being a Catholic-majority country. Earlier, he slammed the priests for portraying his government in a negative light. In 2016, the Philippines president had created a row after he called
Pope Francis a “son of a bitch” after his visit to Manila resulted in severe traffic jams. He later apologised to the Vatican for his remarks.
