Lists of atheists
Atheists are persons who either affirm the nonexistence of gods[1] or reject belief in God.[2] When defined more broadly, atheists are those who lack belief in deities,[3] alternatively called nontheists.[4]
Persons listed here have either been specifically identified as an "atheist" by a reliable source, or have expressed a position that is uncontroversially regarded as atheistic (that is, they have affirmed the nonexistence of God or deities). Note that, due to divergences in definition and usage, those who have merely expressed nonbelief in God or deities are not universally regarded as atheists. Such persons are not listed here without specific identification as an "atheist" in a reliable source, but may be found in the list of nontheists.
Excluded from this list are persons who have denied being an atheist, or who choose a label besides atheist for themselves with regards to their position on the existence of deities (such as agnostic), even if they have been identified elsewhere as atheists. Persons who have merely expressed skepticism about the existence of deities or who have criticized religion are excluded. Such sentiments are insufficient to identify someone as an atheist.
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List
Activists and educators
- Pietro Acciarito (1871–1943): Italian anarchist activist who attempted to assassinate King Umberto I.[5]
- Zackie Achmat (1962–): South African anti-HIV/AIDS activist; founder of the Treatment Action Campaign.[6]
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969–): Dutch feminist and politician.[7]
- Baba Amte: a respected Indian social activist, known for his work with lepers.[8]
- Natalie Angier (1958–): Nonfiction writer and science journalist for The New York Times; 1991 winner of Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting.[9]
- Dan Barker (1949–): American atheist activist.[10]
- Richard Carrier (1969–): historian, philosopher, and atheist activist.[11]
- Joseph Edamaruku (1934–2006): Indian journalist, author, leader in the rationalist movement, and winner of the International Atheist Award in 1979.[12] [13]
- Sanal Edamaruku (1955–): Indian rationalist, president of the Indian Rationalist Association. [14]
- David D. Friedman, economist, law professor, novelist, and libertarian activist.[15]
- Emma Goldman (1869–1940): Lithuanian-born radical, known for her writings and speeches defending anarchist communism, feminism, and atheism.[16]
- George Holyoake (1817–1906): English secularist, the last person in England to be imprisoned (1842) for being an atheist.[17]
- Ellen Johnson: current president of American Atheists.[18]
- Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921): Russian anarchist communist activist and geographer, best known for his book, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, which refutes social Darwinism.[19]
- Taslima Nasrin (1962–): Bangladeshi physician, writer, feminist human rights activist and secular humanist.[20]
- Michael Newdow (1953–): American physician and attorney, who sued a school district on the grounds that its requirement that children recite the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance, containing the words "under God," breached the separation-of-church-and-state provision in the establishment clause of the United States Constitution.[21]
- Madalyn Murray O'Hair (1919–1995): founder of American Atheists, campaigner for the separation of church and state; filed the lawsuit that led the US Supreme Court to ban teacher-led prayer and Bible reading in public schools.[22]
- James Randi, (1928–) magician, debunker, and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation.[23]
- Ron Reagan (1958–): American magazine journalist, board member of the politically activistic Creative Coalition, son of former U. S. President Ronald Reagan.[24]
- Margaret Sanger (1879–1966): American birth-control activist, founder of the American Birth Control League, a forerunner to Planned Parenthood. The masthead motto of her newsletter, The Woman Rebel, read: "No Gods, No Masters."[25]
- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883–1966): Indian revolutionary freedom fighter, and Hindu nationalist leader.[26]
- Bhagat Singh (1907–1931): Indian revolutionary freedom fighter.[27]
- Barbara Smoker (1923–): British humanist activist and freethought advocate. Wrote the book Freethoughts: Atheism, Secularism, Humanism – Selected Egotistically from The Freethinker.[28]
- David Suzuki (1936–): Canadian university professor, science broadcaster, and environmental activist.[29]
- Polly Toynbee (1946–): columnist for The Guardian.[30]
Athletes
- Lance Armstrong (1971–) American cyclist. Winner of the Tour De France 7 consecutive times. Lance Armstrong was quoted by ET Magazine in 2004 as saying "If there was a god, I'd still have both nuts."
- Jonathan Edwards (1966–) British triple jumper. Former Olympic, European and World champion. Holds the current world record in the event.[31]
- Olga Galchenko (1990–) Juggler.[32]
- Robert Smith (1972–): former Minnesota Vikings running back and NFL Network football analyst.[33]
Authors
- David Aaronovitch (1954–): British journalist, author and broadcaster. Aaronovitch calls himself "Godless" and an atheist, but says that he has "no desire to proselytise for atheism."[34] [35]
- Douglas Adams (1952–2001): British radio and television writer, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.[36]
- Jorge Amado (1912–2001): Brazilian author.[37]
- Isaac Asimov (1920–1992): Russian-born American author of science fiction and popular science books.[38]
- Marshall Brain (1961–) Author of WhyWontGodHealAmputees.com and GodIsImaginary.com and HowStuffWorks founder
- Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008): British scientist and science-fiction author.[39]
- George Eliot (1819–1890) Mary Ann Evans, the famous novelist, was also a humanist and propounded her views on theism in an essay called Evangelical Teaching'.[40].
- Vardis Fisher (1895–1968): American writer, scholar. Author of atheistic Testament of Man series.[41]
- Nadine Gordimer (1923–): South African writer and political activist. Her writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. She won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1991.[42][43]
- Germaine Greer (1939–): Australian feminist writer. Greer describes herself as a "Catholic atheist".[44]
- Jan Guillou (1944–): Swedish author and Journalist.[45]
- Sam Harris (1967–): American author, researcher in neuroscience, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation.[46]
- Harry Harrison (1925–): American science fiction author, anthologist and artist whose short story The Streets of Ashkelon took as its hero an atheist who tries to prevent a Christian missionary from indoctrinating a tribe of irreligious but ingenuous alien beings.[47]
- Simon Heffer (1960–): British journalist and writer. [48]
- Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961): American novelist, short story writer and journalist.[49]
- Christopher Hitchens (1949–): Author of God Is Not Great, journalist and essayist.[50]
- Michel Houellebecq (1958–): French novelist.[51]
- Mick Hume (1959–): British journalist. Calls himself "a godless, atheistic Marxist", but criticised the 'New Atheism' of Richard Dawkins and co.[52]
- Simon Jenkins (1943–): British journalist, newspaper editor, and author. A former editor of The Times newspaper, he received a knighthood for services to journalism in the 2004 New Year honours.[53]
- S. T. Joshi (1958–): American editor and literary critic.[54]
- Ludovic Kennedy (1919–): British journalist, author, and campaigner for voluntary euthanasia.[55]
- Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974): Swedish author who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1951. He used religious motifs and figures from the Christian tradition without following the doctrines of the church.[56]
- Rutka Laskier (1929–1943): Polish Jew who was killed at Auschwitz concentration camp at the age of 14. Because of her diary, on display at Israel's Holocaust museum, she has been dubbed the "Polish Anne Frank." [57]
- Stanislaw Lem (1921–2006): Polish science fiction novelist and essayist.[58]
- Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837): Italian poet, linguist, essayist and philosopher. Leopardi is legendary as an out-and-out nihilist.[59]
- Primo Levi (1919–1987): Italian novelist and chemist, survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp.[60]
- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799): German scientist, satirist, philosopher and anglophile. Known as one of Europe's best authors of aphorisms. Satirized religion using aphorisms like "I thank the Lord a thousand times for having made me become an atheist."[61]
- Pierre Loti (1850–1923): French novelist and travel writer.[62]
- Heather Mallick (1959–): Canadian columnist, author and lecturer.[63]
- Joseph McCabe (1867–1955): English writer, anti-religion campaigner.[64]
- Ian McEwan, CBE (1948–): British author and winner of the Man Booker Prize.[65]
- China Miéville (1972–): British Science Fiction author.[66]
- David Mills (author) (1959–): Author who argues in his book Atheist Universe that science and religion cannot be successfully reconciled.[67]
- Camille Paglia (1947–): American post-feminist literary and cultural critic.[68]
- Harold Pinter (1930–): British playwright, screenwriter, poet, actor, director, author, and political activist, best known for his plays The Birthday Party (1957), The Caretaker (1959), The Homecoming (1964), and Betrayal (1978). Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005.[69]
- Terry Pratchett (1948–): English Fantasy author known for his satirical Discworld series.[70]
- Philip Pullman (1946–): CBE, British author of His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy for young adults, which have atheism as a major theme.[71]
- Ayn Rand (1905–1982): Russian-born American author and founder of Objectivism.[72]
- Ron Reagan (1958–): American magazine journalist, board member of the politically activist Creative Coalition, son of former U. S. President Ronald Reagan.[73]
- Salman Rushdie (1947–): Indian-born British essayist and author of fiction.[74]
- José Saramago (1922–): Portuguese writer, playwright and journalist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998.[75]
- Dan Savage (1964–): Author and sex advice columnist.[76] Despite his atheism, Savage considers himself Catholic "in a cultural sense."[77]
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822): British Romantic poet, contemporary and associate of John Keats and Lord Byron, and author of The Necessity of Atheism.[78]
- Michael Shermer (1954–): Science writer and editor of Skeptic magazine. Has stated that he is an atheist, but prefers to be called a skeptic. [79]
- Warren Allen Smith (1921–): Author of Who's Who in Hell.[80]
- Mark Twain (1835–1910) Samuel Langhorne Clemens wrote two essays, reprinted in Hitchens, Christopher (2007). The Portable Atheist. ISBN 978-0-306-81608-6..
- Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007): American author, writer of Cat's Cradle, among other books. Vonnegut said "I am an atheist (or at best a Unitarian who winds up in churches quite a lot)."[25]
- Gao Xingjian (1940–): Chinese émigré novelist, dramatist, critic, translator, stage director and painter. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000.[81]
Business
- Larry Flynt (1942–) An American publisher and the head of Larry Flynt Publications.[82]
- Stephen Girard (1750–1831): French sailor turned American banker and philanthropist.[83]
- Graeme Samuel : Australian businessman, currently serving as the chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.[84]
- Christer Sturmark (1964–): Swedish IT entrepreneur and chairman of The Swedish Humanist Organisation.[85]
- Mark Zuckerberg (1984–): Founder and CEO of Facebook[86] [87]
Comedians
- Wil Anderson (1974–): Australian television, radio and stand-up comedian, former host of ABC's The Glass House.[88]
- Matt Besser (1967–): American comedian[89]
- Marcus Brigstocke (1973–): English comedian, satirist and presenter of The Late Edition[90]
- George Carlin (1937–): American comedian, actor and author; outspoken atheist who has described religion as being "the greatest bullshit story ever told," that "there's an invisible man living in the sky."[91]
- Adam Carolla (1964–): American comedian, actor and comedy writer.[92]
- Jimmy Carr (1972–): English-Irish comedian.[93]
- Pat Condell (1951–): English stand up comedian, writer and secularist.[94]
- David Cross (1964–): American actor and comedian.[95]
- Ben Elton (1959–): English comedian, writer and director. [96] [97]
- Janeane Garofalo (1964–): American actor and comedian.[98]
- Ricky Gervais (1961–): British comedian and actor, co-creator of the original version of The Office.[99][100]
- Kathy Griffin (1963–): American comedian.[101]
- Robin Ince (1969–): British comedian. (According to his official[102] MySpace page[103])
- Patton Oswalt (1969–): American actor and comedian.[104]
- Julia Sweeney (1959–): American actor and comedian. Alumna of Saturday Night Live, author/performer of a one-woman autobiographical stage show about finding atheism: Letting Go of God.[105]
- Gene Weingarten (1951–): Humor writer for The Washington Post.[106]
Film, radio and television
- Phillip Adams (1939–): Australian broadcaster, writer, film-maker, left-wing radical thinker and iconoclast. He was the Australian Humanist of the Year in 1987.[107]
- Brannon Braga (1965–): American TV producer and writer, creator of Star Trek: Enterprise.[108]
- Derren Brown (1971–): English psychological illusionist, mentalist, and skeptic of paranormal phenomena. Professed to being an atheist in his book Tricks of the Mind and described Bertrand Russell's collection of essays Why I Am Not a Christian "an absolute joy."
- Luis Buñuel (1900–1983): Spanish-born Mexican film-maker, activist of the surrealist movement. Known for his one-liner, "Thank God I'm still an atheist."[109]
- Richard Carleton (1943–2006): Current affairs journalist for Australia's 60 Minutes. Described as a "devout atheist".[110]
- Adam Carolla (1964–): American comedic radio personality and television personality, best known for co-hosting the radio program Loveline and the television series The Man Show.[111]
- Stanley Donen (1924–): American film director, best known for his musicals including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Singin' in the Rain; awarded honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement.[112]
- Jodie Foster (1962–): American film actress, director, and producer. Two-time Academy Award-winner.[113]
- Paul Giamatti (1967–): American film and television actor.[114]
- Peter Greenaway, CBE (1942–): Welsh-born English film director.[115]
- Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003): American actress who appeared in 53 films from 1932 to 1994; winner of four Academy Awards for Best Actress.[116]
- Penn Jillette (1955–): American magician, co-host of the television show Bullshit!, on which he has identified himself as an atheist and criticized various religious beliefs.[117] He has also taken the Blasphemy Challenge.
- Skandar Keynes (1991–): English actor (Chronicles of Narnia films).[118]
- Michael Kinsley (1951–): American political journalist, commentator, and television host.[119]
- Tom Leykis (1956–): radio talk-show host.[120]
- Seth MacFarlane (1973–): Creator, animator, executive producer, actor, writer for American Dad and Family Guy.[121] [122]
- Paul Mazursky (1930–): American director, producer and actor.[123]
- Sir Ian McKellen (1939–): English stage and screen actor.[124]
- Stephen Merchant (1974–): British actor and writer, co-creator of The Office.[125][126]
- George Meyer (1956–): Producer and writer for The Simpsons.[127]
- Cillian Murphy (1976–): Irish stage and screen actor.[128]
- Sarah Polley (1979–): Canadian actress and director.[129]
- Steven Soderbergh (1963–): American filmmaker, Academy Award-winning director of such films as Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven, and Sex, Lies and Videotape.[130]
- J. Michael Straczynski (1954–): American writer and producer, creator of Babylon 5.[131]
- Teller (magician) (1948–): American magician, co-host of the television show Bullshit!.[117]
- Joss Whedon (1964–): American screenwriter and director, most famous for creating the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise.[132]
- Gene Wilder (1933–): American actor best known for his role as Willy Wonka.[133]
Music
- Matthew Bellamy (1978–): British guitarist, pianist and vocalist with Muse.[134]
- Björk (1965–): Icelandic singer/song writer, composer and producer.[135]
- Isaac Brock (1975–): American singer, guitarist, banjoist, and songwriter for the indie rock band Modest Mouse.[136]
- Fenriz (1971–): Norwegian drummer and lyricist for the two-piece black metal band Darkthrone.[137]
- Liam Gallagher, (1972–): Lead singer for Oasis, younger brother of Noel Gallagher. [138]
- Noel Gallagher, (1967–): Lead guitarist for Oasis, older brother of Liam Gallagher. [139]
- Bob Geldof, (1951–): Irish singer/songwriter, organized the Live Aid and Live 8 charity concerts. [140]
- David Gilmour (1946–): English guitarist and vocalist with Pink Floyd.[141]
- Greg Graffin (1964–): Lead singer of the punk rock band Bad Religion. Received his zoology PhD with the thesis Monism, Atheism and the Naturalist Worldview: Perspectives from Evolutionary Biology.[142][143]
- Kathleen Hanna (1968–): Lead singer of Le Tigre. She was quoted in an interview saying, "I don't believe in God, but I believe God invented four-tracks".[144]
- Linton Kwesi Johnson (1952–): British-based dub poet.[145]
- Lemmy (1945–): English rock singer and bass guitarist, most famous for founding the rock band Motörhead.[146]
- Till Lindemann (1963–): Lead singer of the German industrial metal band, Rammstein [147]
- Emcee Lynx (1980–), anarchist hip hop musician who identifies as potentially pantheist, agnostic or atheist.[148]
- Napalm Death: grindcore/death metal band from Birmingham, England. All members hold atheistic outlooks. [149]
- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908): Russian Nationalist composer, member of "The Five", best-known for the symphonic suite Scheherazade.[150]
- Ned Rorem (1923–): American composer [151]
- Wayne Static (1965–): Frontman for Industrial Metal band Static-X [152]
Philosophy
- A. J. Ayer (1910–1989): Philosopher and advocate of logical positivism. Ayer was not an atheist in the sense of asserting that God does not exist, since he viewed such a claim as meaningless. However, he has been classified as a "practical atheist," who finds no reason to worship a deity whose existence cannot be verified.[153][154]
- Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876): Russian philosopher, writer and anarchist.[155]
- Albert Camus (1913–1960): French philosopher and novelist, a luminary of existentialism. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.[156][25]
- Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970): German philosopher who was active in central Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a leading member of the Vienna Circle and a prominent advocate of logical positivism.[157]
- Noam Chomsky (1928 - present): Believes that religion is irrational, and considers himself a "secular atheist," although he adds that the term 'atheism' is misleading because, on his view, theism is incoherent. [57][58]
- Benedetto Croce (1886–1952): Italian philosopher and public figure.[158]
- Gilles Deleuze was a French philosopher of the late 20th century. From the early 1960s until his death, Deleuze wrote many influential works on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art.[159]
- Daniel Dennett (1942–): American philosopher, author of Breaking the Spell.[160]
- Diagoras of Melos (5th century BCE): Ancient Greek poet and sophist known as the Atheist of Milos, who declared that there were no Gods.[161]
- Denis Diderot (1713–84): editor-in-chief of the Encyclopédie, who succeeded in bringing about "a revolution in men's minds."[162]
- Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach (1804–1872): German philosopher whose major work, The Essence of Christianity, maintains that religion and divinity are projections of human nature.[163]
- A. C. Grayling (1949–): British philosopher and author of, among others, Against All Gods: Six Polemics on Religion and an Essay on Kindness.[164]
- Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715–71): French philosopher whose ethical and social views helped shape the school of utilitarianism later made famous by Jeremy Bentham.[162]
- Baron d'Holbach (1723–89): French philosopher and encyclopedist, most famous as being one of the first outspoken atheists in Europe.[165]
- David Kellogg Lewis (1941–2001): American philosopher. One of the leading thinkers of the second half of the 20th century. [166]
- Kazimierz Lyszczynski (1634–1689): Polish noble and philosopher, author of philosophical treatise De non existentia Dei, condemned to death penalty for atheism and executed. [167]
- John Leslie Mackie (1917–1981): Australian philosopher who specialized in meta-ethics as a proponent of moral skepticism. Wrote The Miracle of Theism, discussing arguments for and against theism and concluding that theism is rationally untenable.[168]
- Karl Marx (1818–83): German author of Das Kapital, known for his assertion that "Religion is... the opiate of the people."[169]
- Colin McGinn (1950–): British philosopher and author, best known for his work in the philosophy of mind.[170]
- Jean Meslier (1678–1733): French village Catholic priest who was found, on his death, to have written a book-length philosophical essay, entitled Common Sense but commonly referred to as Meslier's Testament, promoting atheism.[171][172]
- Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–51): French physician and philosopher, earliest materialist writer of the Enlightenment, claimed as a founder of cognitive science.[173]
- John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) The famous philosopher declared his atheism, and that of his father, in a famous essay published posthumously.[174]
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900): German philosopher whose Beyond Good and Evil sought to refute traditional notions of morality. Nietzsche penned a memorable secular statement of the Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence in Thus Spake Zarathustra and is forever associated with the phrase, "God is dead" (first seen in his book, The Gay Science).[175]
- Piergiorgio Odifreddi (1950–): Italian mathematician, philosopher and science writer.[176]
- Michel Onfray (1958–): French philosopher, founder of Université populaire de Caen, and author of Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.[177][178]
- Bertrand Russell, (1872–1970): British philosopher and mathematician. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950. Though he considered himself an agnostic in a purely philosophical context, he said that the label atheist conveyed a more accurate understanding of his views in a popular context.[179]
- Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980): French existentialist philosopher, dramatist and novelist who declared that he had been an atheist from age twelve.[180] Although he regarded God as a self-contradictory concept, he still thought of it as an ideal toward which people strive.[181] He rejected the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964. According to Sartre, his most-repeated summary of his existentialist philosophy, "Existence precedes essence," implies that humans must abandon traditional notions of having been designed by a divine creator.[182]
- Michael Schmidt-Salomon (1967–): German philosopher, author and former editor of MIZ (Contemporary Materials and Information: Political magazine for atheists and the irreligious)[183] [184]
- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860): Pessimistic German philosopher and author of the book The World as Will and Representation. [185]
- Peter Singer (1946–): Australian utilitarian philosopher, proponent of animal rights, and Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University.[186]
- Max Stirner (1806–1856): German-born anarchist philosopher and author of The Ego and Its Own
- Sherwin Wine (1928–2007): Founder of the non-theistic Society for Humanistic Judaism, who has also called himself an "ignostic".[187]
- Slavoj Žižek (1949–): Slovenian sociologist, postmodern philosopher, and cultural critic.[188]
Politics and law
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- Charles Bradlaugh (1833–1891): Political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century.[189]
- Alastair Campbell (1957–): Director of Communications and Strategy for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2003.[190][191]
- Robin Cook (1946–2005): Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs of the UK (1997–2001), whose funeral service was held in the High Kirk of Scotland, where he was described as a "Presbyterian atheist."[192]
- Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) Leader of the Italian Risorgimento, unifier of Italy, "Hero of the Two Worlds".[193]
- Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–): Former Soviet president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.[194][195][196]
- Bill Hayden (1933–): Governor-General of Australia (1989–1996).[197]. [198]
- Enver Hoxha (1908–1985): Communist ruler who declared Albania the first atheist state, and who has been identified as an "arch-atheist."[199][200]
- M. Karunanidhi (1924–): Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.[201][202]
- Oona King (1967–): Former Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow (1997-2005).[203]
- Aleksander Kwasniewski (1954–): Former President of Poland (1995-2005).[204]
- Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Marxist revolutionary, Bolshevik Leader and President of the All Russian Congress of Peoples' Soviets. Lenin considered atheist propaganda to be essential to promoting communism.[205]
- Alexander Lukashenko (1954–): President of Belarus, self-described "Russian Orthodox atheist."[206]
- Heather Mac Donald (c.1956–): American writer and lawyer, member of the Manhattan Institute and author of The Burden of Bad Ideas: How Modern Intellectuals Misshape Our Society. [207]
- Slobodan Milošević (1941–2006): Serbian politician, former President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia.[208]
- Mo Mowlam (1949–2005): Former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.[209]
- Culbert Olson (1876–1962): American politician and Governor of California (1939–1943).[210]
- Bhagat Singh (1907–1931): Indian freedom fighter. Wrote a pamphlet entitled Why I am an atheist. [211]
- Joseph Stalin (1879–1953): Soviet head of state. Debated. [212]
- Pete Stark, (D-CA) (1931–): U.S. Representative; first openly atheist member of Congress.[213]
- Peter Tatchell, human rights activist[214]
- Leon Trotsky(1879–1940), Marxist theorist[215]
- Bengt Westerberg (1943–): Swedish politician, leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1983 to 1995. Minister for Social Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister from 1991 to 1994. Currently holds office as the Deputy President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva, Switzerland.[216]
Science and technology
- Peter Atkins (1940–): Professor of chemistry at Lincoln College, Oxford in the University of Oxford, England. Also a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks. [217]
- Susan Blackmore (1951–): English psychologist and memeticist, best known for her book The Meme Machine.[218]
- Paul D. Boyer (1918–): American biochemist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1997.[219]
- Sean M. Carroll (1956–): Theoretical cosmologist specializing in dark energy and general relativity.[220]
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995): Indian American astrophysicist known for his theoretical work on the structure and evolution of stars. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983.[221]
- Richard Dawkins (1941–): British zoologist, biologist, creator of the concepts of the selfish gene and the meme; outspoken atheist and popularizer of science, author of The God Delusion and founder of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.[222]
- Paul Dirac (1902–1984): British theoretical physicist, founder of quantum mechanics, predicted the existence of antimatter; won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933.[223][224]
- Richard Feynman (1918–1988): American theoretical physicist, best known for his work in renormalizing Quantum electrodynamics and his path integral formulation of Quantum Mechanics . He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.[225]
- Sigmund Freud (1856–1939): Father of psychoanalysis.[226]
- Christer Fuglesang (1957–), Swedish astronaut and physicist.[227]
- Vitaly Ginzburg (1916–): Russian theoretical physicist and astrophysicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003. He was also awarded the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1994/95.[228]
- G. H. Hardy (1877–1947): a prominent English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis.[229][230]
- Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900–1958): French physicist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1935.[231]
- Harold Kroto (1939–): 1996 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.[232]
- Alfred Kinsey (1894–1956): American biologist, sexologist and professor of entomology and zoology.[233]
- Richard Leakey (1944–): Kenyan paleontologist, archaeologist and conservationist.[234]
- Ernst Mayr (1904–2005): a renowned taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science, and naturalist. He was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists.[235]
- Jonathan Miller (1934–): British physician, actor, theatre and opera director, and television presenter. Wrote and presented the 2004 television series, Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief, exploring the roots of his own atheism and investigating the history of atheism in the world.[236] [170]
- Peter D. Mitchell (1920–1992): 1978-Nobel-laureate British biochemist. Atheist mother, and himself atheist from age 15.[237]
- Jacques Monod (1910–1976): French biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965 for discoveries concerning genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis.[238]
- Fritz Müller (1821–1897): German biologist who emigrated to Brazil, where he studied the natural history of the Amazon rainforest and was an early advocate of evolutionary theory.[239]
- Hermann Joseph Muller (1890–1967): American geneticist and educator, best known for his work on the physiological and genetic effects of radiation (X-ray mutagenesis). He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1946.[240]
- PZ Myers (1957–) American biology professor at the University of Minnesota and a science blogger via his blog, Pharyngula.[241]
- Paul Nurse (1949–): 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.[242]
- Linus Pauling (1901–1994): Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1954) and Peace (1962)[224]
- Steven Pinker (1954–): Canadian-born American psychologist.[243]
- John Allen Paulos (1945–): Professor of mathematics at Temple University in Philadelphia and writer, author of Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up (2007) [244]
- Richard J. Roberts (1943–): British biochemist and molecular biologist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1993 for the discovery of introns in eukaryotic DNA and the mechanism of gene-splicing.[245][246][247]
- Amartya Kumar Sen (1933–): 1998 Nobel Laureate in Economics.[248][249][250][251]
- Claude Shannon (1916–2001): American electrical engineer and mathematician, has been called "the father of information theory", and was the founder of practical digital circuit design theory.[252]
- Michael Smith (1932–2000): British-born Canadian biochemist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1993.[253]
- Richard Stallman (1953–): American software freedom activist, hacker, and software developer.[254]
- Victor J. Stenger (1935–): emeritus professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawaii and adjunct professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado. Author of the book God: The Failed Hypothesis.[255]
- Leonard Susskind (1940–): American theoretical physicist; a founding father of superstring theory and professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University.[256]
- Linus Torvalds (1969–): Finnish software engineer, creator of the Linux kernel.[257]
- Alan Turing (1912–1954): English mathematician, logician, and cryptographer. Turing is often considered to be the father of modern computer science. The Turing Award, often recognized as the "Nobel Prize of computing", is named after him.[258][259]
- James D. Watson (1928–): 1962-Nobel-laureate co-discover of the structure of DNA.[260][261]
- Steven Weinberg (1933–): American theoretical physicist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 for combining electromagnetism and the weak force into the electroweak force.[262] [263] [264]
- David Sloan Wilson (1949–): American evolutionary biologist, son of Sloan Wilson, proponent of multilevel selection theory and author of several popular books on evolution.[265]
- Steve Wozniak (1950–): co-founder of Apple Computer and inventor of the Apple I and Apple II.[266]
Visual arts
- Mitch Clem (1982–): American cartoonist and webcomic author.[267]
- Mark Hofmann (1954–): Prolific counterfeiter and ex-Mormon who murdered two people in Salt Lake City, Utah.[268][269]
- "Normal" Bob Smith (1969–): American graphic artist, who prompted controversy with his creation of Jesus Dress Up.[270]
Notes and references
- ^ Rowe, William L. (1998). "Atheism". In Edward Craig (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Atheism is the position that affirms the nonexistence of God. It proposes positive disbelief rather than mere suspension of belief.
- ^ Nielsen, Kai. "Atheism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2007-04-28. "...a more adequate characterization of atheism consists in the more complex claim that to be an atheist is to be someone who rejects belief in God for [reasons that depend] on how God is being conceived."
- ^ Eller, David (2004). Natural Atheism. pp. p. 12.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ religioustolerance.org's short article on Definitions of the term "Atheism" suggests that there is no consensus on the definition of the term. Simon Blackburn summarizes the situation in The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy: "Atheism. Either the lack of belief in a god, or the belief that there is none." Most dictionaries (see the OneLook query for "atheism") first list one of the more narrow definitions.
- ^ Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred (1911), Barcelona Outrages - The Empress Elizabeth and Luccheni, The Anarchists: Their Faith and Their Record, Turnbull and Spears Printers, Edingurgh. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
- ^ John Carlin (2005-08-05). "Zackie's story: The man who took on Mbeki - and won". The Independent. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
A homosexual, an atheist, and a militant anti-apartheid campaigner whose political ideas were forged on an intense reading of Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky...
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Ian Buruma (2005-08-05). "Sacred freedom". Financial Times. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
Too much reason can reform a faith away, which would be fine with Hirsi Ali, who regards herself as an atheist.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Atheist though he was..." Obituary: Baba Amte, The Economist 1 March 2008: 93. (Retrieved 21 March 2008)
- ^ My God Problem[1]
- ^ Minister Turned Atheist[2]
- ^ Biography of Richard Carrier[3]
- ^ Edamaruku dead: A staunch campaigner of rationalism, The Hindu, 2006 (Accessed 31 March 2008)
- ^ Honorary Associates of Rationalist International: Joseph Edamaruku (India), profile at the website of Rationalist International (Accessed 31 March 2008)
- ^ On 3 March 2008, Edamaruku challenged a tantrik on TV to kill him using only magic. After two hours of failure, "[t]he tantrik, unwilling to admit defeat, tried the excuse that a very strong god whom Sanal might be worshipping obviously protected him. "No, I am an atheist," said Sanal Edamaruku." The Great Tantra Challenge, Rationalist International article (Accessed 31 March 2008)
- ^ Friedman wrote "I'm also an atheist" in his blog article titled Atheism and Religion. This blog is linked from his personal web site,[4] which is in turn linked from his Santa Clara Law site.[5]
- ^ Emma Goldman (1916 February). "The Philosophy of Atheism". positiveatheism.org. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Meek, James (2000-02-02). "Free fall". Religion in the UK: special report. The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Ellen Johnson (2006). "Welcome from the president of American Atheists". American Atheists. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
- ^ "[T]he noblest man, the one really greatest of them all was Prince Peter Kropotkin, a self-professed atheist and a great man of science." — Ely, Robert Erskine (October 10, 1941), New York World-Telegram.
- ^ "I was born in a Muslim family, but I became an atheist." For freedom of expression, Taslima Nasreen, November 12, 1999 - Taslima Nasreen took the floor during Commission V of UNESCO's General Conference, as a delegate of the NGO International Humanist and Ethical Union (Accessed 23 December 2006).
- ^ Tom Curry (2004-03-24). "Atheist pleads with justices to stop recitation of pledge". MSNBC. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Conrad F. Goeringer (2000 June). "The Murray O'Hair Family". American Atheists. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Randi wrote: "...I am a concerned, forthright, declared, atheist." Our Stance on Atheism, Swift: Online Newsletter of the JREF, August 5, 2005. (Accessed 1 June 2007)
- ^ "I'm an atheist so... I can't be elected to anything, because polls all say that people won't elect an atheist." Ron Reagan Jr. during an interview on Larry King Live, 26 June 2004. See clip.
- ^ a b c Haught, James A. (1996). 2,000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt. Prometheus Books. pp. pp. 261-262. ISBN 1-57392-067-3.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ "The Rediff Interview: Bipan Chandra". Rediff India Abroad. 2003-03-03. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
Savarkar was an atheist. When he was the Hindu Mahasabha president he used to give lectures on why there is no god.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Singh, Bhagat (2002-06-18). "Why I Am An Atheist". Boloji Media Inc. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
I had become a pronounced atheist.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Smoker, Barbara (2002). Freethoughts: Atheism, Humanism, Secularism. Foote (G.W.) & Co Ltd. ISBN 0-9508243-5-6.
- ^ Nancy Schiefer (2006-04-28). "REVIEW:Suzuki laments conscience role". The London Free Press. Archived from the original on 2006-09-03. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
As an atheist, Suzuki declares, he has no illusions about life and death, adding that the individual is insignificant in cosmic terms.
Review of book "David Suzuki: The Autobiography", by David Suzuki (Greystone Books, 2006) - ^ Polly Toynbee (2006-04-14). "This is a clash of civilisations - between reason and superstition". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-12-13.
Even an old atheist like me sees no good in this ignorance of basic Christian myths.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Having left his sport as a dyed-in-the-wool evangelical, Edwards is now, to all intents and purposes, an atheist." [6]
- ^ "Thou Shalt not Confuse Religion with Morality" by Olga Galchenko "Coming from a somewhat religious family, I naturally embraced Christianity and tried hard to keep my faith until about the age of 12, when I decided to finally stop trying, and gradually became an atheist."
- ^ "Former Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith, an atheist, says he has no objection to making religious counseling and services available to interested players." Going long for Jesus, by Tom Krattenmaker at Salon.com (Accessed 29 August 2006).
- ^ "Like most of the Godless (or Godfree), I have no desire to proselytise for atheism or to persuade people out of religions that may offer them comfort and companionship." Wicked untruths from the Church, David Aaronovitch, Times Online, 25 March 2008 (Accessed 26 March 2008)
- ^ "What makes me think I "can reduce the function of religion to the provision of 'comfort and companionship'" instead of seeing it as a "public truth"? Being an atheist, I suppose. I see religion as a cultural and psychological construct, which fulfils certain almost universal needs and which, as a consequence, I am disinclined to condemn." Who wants to kill the elderly?, David Aaronovitch, Times Online, 31 March 2008 (Accessed 31 March 2008)
- ^ "I am a radical Atheist..." Adams in an interview by American Atheists[7].
- ^ Amado is described as an "ateu convicto," or "convinced atheist." Cynara Menezes (8 August 2001). "Velório de Jorge Amado foi discreto" (in Portuguese). Folha de S. Paulo. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it... I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time." Isaac Asimov in "Free Inquiry", Spring 1982, vol.2 no.2, p. 9 (See Wikiquote.)
- ^ "…Stanley [Kubrick] is a Jew and I'm an atheist". Clarke quoted in Jeromy Agel (Ed.) (1970). The Making of Kubrick's 2001: p.306
- ^ Reprinted in Hitchens, Christopher (2007). The Portable Atheist. ISBN 978-0-306-81608-6.
- ^ American Atheists article on Fisher [8].
- ^ "I have no religion - I'm an atheist, and I don't believe in any afterlife..." looks towards end", BBC News, 2003-06-06. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ "I am an atheist. I wouldn't even call myself an agnostic." The Art of Fiction No. 77: Nadine Gordimer, Interview by the Paris Review Foundation, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ "I am still a Catholic, I just don't believe in God. I am an atheist Catholic - there are a lot of them around. One thing lapsed Catholics do not do is go in for an "inferior" religion with less in the way of tradition and intellectual content." — Greer, Germaine (27 November 2003), The habit of a lifetime, The Guardian. Accessed February 12, 2008.
- ^ Template:Sv icon Translation: "I am [an] atheist, but Ann-Marie and I light a candle anyway. I have dedicated "Madame Terror" to her. Since she has helped me much with [my] books, not least with this one, the latest. Much talk on and forth, I've had a lot yellings." ""Det ska mycket till för att reta upp mig"". Expressen. 2006-12-03. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Author of An Atheist Manifesto
- ^ "Harry Harrison is a self-confessed atheist" per official website HarryHarrison.com
- ^ "In a hideous act of precocity, I saw as a child that, having tried as hard as I could, I could not believe in God. I greatly regret this, but, despite extensive reflection, I can see no reason after all these years to revise my view." However, "... I rejoice wholeheartedly as an atheist that I live in a Christian culture". Stop apologising for being Christian, Simon Heffer, Telegraph, 21 December 2005 (Accessed 31 March 2008)
- ^ Ernest Hemingway is a noted atheist by several atheist and independent websites. [9] Also noted for saying "All thinking men are atheist".
- ^ "Secularism is not just a smug attitude. It is a possible way of democratic and pluralistic life that only became thinkable after several wars and revolutions had ruthlessly smashed the hold of the clergy on the state. ... I have spent all my life on the atheist side of this argument..." Hitchens in Slate.com article, "Bush's Secularist Triumph".
- ^ Masson, Sophie (2003). "The Strange Case of Michel Houellebecq". Quadrant. XLVII (6). Retrieved 2007-04-20.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ The article is subtitled "At Easter I, a longstanding atheist, find myself feeling affinity with religious folk", and begins "As a godless, atheistic Marxist, I have never been less worried about religion. What does worry me is the rise of a New Atheism that, never mind God, appears to have lost faith in humanity." It looks like Man crucified, Mick Hume, Times Online, 21 March 2008 (Accessed 31 March 2008)
- ^ Jenkins wrote "I'm an atheist but still I resent this joker in Rome slighting my community. Sorry, Pope, but this 'proper church' declaration is surreal nonsense by Simon Jenkins, The Guardian, 13 July 2007 (Accessed 31 March 2008).
- ^ Joshi's book: God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong at amazon.com.
- ^ Kennedy's book: All in the Mind: A Farewell to God at amazon.com.
- ^ "...Lagerkvist... wrote of himself that he was 'a believer without a belief, a religious atheist.'" The Religious Atheist, Time Magazine review of Lagerkvist's book The Death of Ahasuerus, February 23, 1962. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
- ^ Laskier wrote "The little faith I used to have has been completely shattered. If God existed, He would have certainly not permitted that human beings be thrown alive into furnaces, and the heads of little toddlers be smashed with gun butts or shoved into sacks and gassed to death." New Pages of Past Horror: Writings depict the innocence of a Jewish teen coming of age--and Nazi brutality, Aron Heller, Associated Press, 6 June 2006.
- ^ An Interview with Stanislaw Lem by Peter Engel. The Missouri Review, Volume 7, Number 2, 1984.
- ^ In his posthumously published Zibaldone, Leopardi writes, among other such arguments: "In sum, the foundation of everything, and of God himself, is nothing. Since nothing is absolutely necessary, there is no absolute reason why something could not be, or not be in a certain way...And everything is possible, that is there is no absolute reason why some arbitrary thing can not exist, or exist in a certain manner....And there is no absolute distinction between all these possibilities, nor absolute difference between all the possible perfections and so on....It is certain that since the Platonic forms that preexist all things have been destroyed, God is destroyed." (Zib. 1341-42, 18 July, 1821) --trans. Francesco Franco
- ^ Levi quoted as saying "There is Auschwitz, and so there cannot be God." Interview with Marlboro Press (1989)[10].
- ^ Waste Books E 252, 1765-1770
- ^ Repeatedly mentioned in Lesley Blanch's biography of him: Pierre Loti - Travels with the Legendary Romantic.
- ^ "I'm an atheist. So is everyone I know, or maybe they're being Canadian and refraining from mentioning their religion. Don't poke atheists with a stick or we'll want our own morning manifesto." Religion in the public discourse? It's a can of worms (cbc.ca, 18 February 2008 (Accessed 25 Mars 2008).
- ^ Multiple quotes from McCabe substantiating his atheist view [11].
- ^ "Yes, I am an atheist, and probably Briony is, too. Atheists have as much conscience, possibly more, than people with deep religious conviction, and they still have the same problem of how they reconcile themselves to a bad deed in the past. It’s a little easier if you’ve got a god to forgive you." Solomon, Deborah (December 2, 2007). "A Sinner's Tale: Questions for Ian McEwan". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "My distaste for Lewis and Tolkien as writers does not stem from the fact that, as an atheist, I disagree with their religious beliefs or think that religious concerns cannot make great literature." – Reinvigorating the Fantastic, Accessed February 12, 2007.
- ^ Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism.[12]
- ^ Salon magazine 28 April 1999 [13]
- ^ "Pinter 'on road to recovery'". BBC News. 2002-08-26. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "I'm an atheist, at least to the extent that I don't believe in the objective existence of any big beards in the sky." — The Line One Interview with Terry Pratchett, Gay, Anne, 1999. Accessed December 24, 2006.
- ^ "As an atheist I'm rather on difficult ground here, but presumably this is what a Christian believes." The Dark Materials debate: life, God, the universe... (interview of Pullman by Rowan Williams), Telegraph.co.uk, 17 March 2004 (Accessed 12 November 2007).
- ^ "I am an intransigent atheist, but not a militant one." Rand quoted in Michael S. Berliner (1995). Letters of Ayn Rand: March 20, 1965 [14]
- ^ When asked by Larry King if he would ever run for office, Reagan Jr. responded by saying, "I'm an atheist so... I can't be elected to anything, because polls all say that people won't elect an atheist." Interview on Larry King Live, 26 June 2004. See clip.
- ^ Interview with Rushdie by Gigi Marzullo; Sottovoce, RAIUNO, March 31 2006.
- ^ CNN reports that: "Among these works are mythical stories through which Saramago, a communist and atheist, weaves his own brand of social and political commentary." In praise of Portuguese (Accessed 30 May 2007)
- ^ "If Osama bin Laden were in charge, he would slit my throat; my God, I'm an atheist, a hedonist, and a faggot." Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America, Dan Savage, Plume, 2002, p. 258.
- ^ Savage declared in his syndicated sex advice column: "I'm Catholic — in a cultural sense, not an eat-the-wafer, say-the-rosary, burn-down-the-women's-health-center sense. I attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary North, a Catholic high school in Chicago for boys thinking of becoming priests. I got to meet the Pope in 1979..." Savage Love (column), The Village Voice, April 12, 2005.
- ^ Listing of Shelley's The Necessity of Atheism at Amazon.com [15].
- ^ "I am an atheist. There, I said it. Are you happy, all you atheists out there who have remonstrated with me for adopting the agnostic moniker? If "atheist" means someone who does not believe in God, then an atheist is what I am. But I detest all such labels. Call me what you like — humanist, secular humanist, agnostic, nonbeliever, nontheist, freethinker, heretic, or even bright. I prefer skeptic." Why I Am An Atheist, Michael Shermer, June 2005 (accessed 31 March 2008).
- ^ Listing of Smith as a founder of Freethinkers New York.
- ^ Nobel Lecture by Gao Xingjian
- ^ Flynt writes "I have left my religious conversion behind and settled into a comfortable state of atheism" in the epilogue of his autobiography An Unseemly Man: My Life As A Pornographer, Pundit And Social Outcast by Larry Flynt and Kenneth Ross (1996) ISBN 0-7871-1143-0
- ^ Gray, Carole (Spring 1999). "The Atheist Who Saved The United States (...and the thanks he got for it)". The American Atheist. 37 (2): 34–44.
One of his longtime employees, whose father had also worked for Stephen, said of him, "on the subject of religion, his opinions were atheistical. Let not the reader start, to find himself in company with one, who utterly disbelieved in all modes of a future existence, and who rejected with inward contempt every formulary of religion, as idle, vain, and unmeaning. Yet such were the convictions of Girard, held to his dying hour, and perpetuated in his last testament as a legacy to future generations .... He was known to be totally irreligious; and to attempt to conceal what is notorious, would be to suppress one of the most extraordinary features of his character."
- ^ "I'm an atheist..." Lane interviews Graeme Samuel, BigIdeas, ABC Radio National, 28 May 2006 (Accessed 2 July 2007)
- ^ Template:Sv icon Translation: I am also an atheist. I find that just about everybody are atheists. The religions of the world has created many gods. Hinduism has millions. Most of the people I meet that call themselves Christians are atheists when it comes to all gods, except for one. Jag är en sökare!
- ^ Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook
- ^ Zuckerberg "considers himself an atheist." Just How Much Do We Want to Share On Social Networks?, by Vauhini Vara, The Wall Street Journal, 28 November 2007 (Accessed 30 March 2008).
- ^ 'Of course, Anderson has never avoided controversy, but this show promises to be his most contentious yet. As an out-and-proud atheist, he's asking, "If the world truly does have an intelligent design, why is everything so f---ed?"' — Lallo, Michael (April 5, 2007), Wil to Succeed, The Age, Fairfax Media. Retrieved November 15, 2007.
- ^ "...my mother was a Christian from Harrison, Ark., and somehow I’m an atheist now living in L.A."[16]
- ^ During an episode of The Late Edition filmed in October 2007, Brigstocke was presented with an Out Campaign t-shirt by his guest and out-spoken Atheist Richard Dawkins to which Brigstocke replied: "Look at that. Outed, outed as an Athiest and proud to be so" [17]
- ^ Quotes from "There Is No God," You Are All Diseased. Carlin says on the same track that "there is no God. None, not one, no God, never was."
- ^ When asked by Penn Jillette if he was an atheist, Carolla replied "Yes." Interview on Penn Radio, 09-Mar-2006. Audio hosted at Penn Fans website. Accessed 29 October 2007.
- ^ "There's no God - grow up!". Jimmy Carr (2007). Jimmy Carr Comedian (DVD). Channel 4 DVD.
- ^ Pat Condell: interview - Features - Comedy - Time Out London
- ^ Appearance on ABC's "Politically Incorrect" (March 9, 1998) "I was born Jewish, but I am an atheist. I don't believe in God."[18]
- ^ "The comedian [...] said Britons should be taught the essentials of Christianity, if only for cultural reasons. But he also said that "lack of faith" should be taught in schools. "I think the concept that faith in itself is a good thing should be questioned from day one, which it isn't," he said. "There's a presumption that if you're a religious leader you are in some way already halfway up to the moral high ground and your opinion has more relevance than anyone else's." BBC 'too scared to allow jokes about Islam', 2 April 2008. (Accessed 3 April 2008)
- ^ "Elton described himself as an atheist but said he was in favour of God defined as "the mystery of the universe". His children attend a Church of England school and he said he attended church occasionally." BBC 'scared' of Islam jokes, says Elton, Guardian, 2 April 2008 (accessed 3 April 2008)
- ^ "Garofalo said "I am a proud atheist." Freethought Radio interview with Janeane Garofalo, 26 May 2007 (quote starts at 19:32). (Accessed 9 June 2007)
- ^ Gervais states he is an atheist in his Animals live DVD. Also, in a PBS "Fresh Air" interview, December 18, 2006 he said "I'm an atheist," and that Homer Simpson was the closest thing for him to God.
- ^ In an interview with Daily Mirror, Gervais said: "I'm basically a 'do unto others' type person. I don't have any religious feelings because I'm an atheist, but I live my life like there's a God. And if there was he'd probably love me." See Official homepage (Accessed 21 December 2007).
- ^ Speaking to Sacramento’s Outword Magazine, Griffin said: "...I think I’m getting more atheist because of the way the country is getting more into bible-thumping." See Quotelines, by Rex Wockner at Windy City Times (Accessed 29 August 2006).
- ^ "Robin Ince Tour Dates". Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ Ince, Robin. "Myspace.com - Robin Ince". Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ "[Oswalt is] an atheist..." MySpace must be doing something right, Chicago Sun-Times, Oct 5, 2006 by Andy Ihnatko (Accessed 20 December 2006)
- ^ Interview with Sweeney discussing her atheism[19].
- ^ "I found that Archie thing completely creepy. Is that because I am an atheist?" [20], The Washington Post, August 7, 2007. (Accessed 15 August 2007)
- ^ In a letter by Adams dated 10 August 1993: "I've spent a life-time attacking religious beliefs and have not wavered from a view of the universe that many would regard as bleak. Namely, that it is a meaningless place devoid of deity [sic]"[21].
- ^ "Every religion has a mythology". Sidmennt, the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association. 16 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Father Julian... and I often talk about faith and the existence of God, but... he's forever coming up against the stone wall of my atheism..." Luis Bunuel (1982, 1985). My Last Breath: p.254.
- ^ Richard Carleton 1943-2006 - The death of a legendary journalist - The Bulletin, 16 May 2006.
- ^ The Adam Carolla Show Blog, February 10, 2006
- ^ Stephen M. Silverman, Dancing on the Ceiling: Stanley Donen and His Movies, Alfred A. Knopf: New York (1996), page 312.
- ^ "Jodie Foster: Unbreakable". Entertainment Weekly. 2007-09-07. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
EW: Are you religious? JF: No, I'm an atheist. But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God.
- ^ ""I never saw Russell lose it on set..."". TotalFilm.com. 2006-02-08. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
I'm an atheist...
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "My films show that I am a true atheist, although I always had the highest marks in Religious Education" [22] retrieved January 15, 2008
- ^ Hepburn stated "I'm an atheist, and that's it. I believe there's nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for people" in the October 1991 issue of Ladies' Home Journal[23]
- ^ a b Interview with Penn Jillette in which he mentions his and Teller's atheism.
- ^ "28.Do you have a religion and if so what is it? I am an Atheist. I know the film's really Christian and everything but it doesn’t really affect me. Oh and you know I’m related to Charles Darwin." [24]
- ^ "Although Hitchens’s title refers to God, his real energy is in the subtitle: “religion poisons everything.” Disproving the existence of God (at least to his own satisfaction and, frankly, to mine) is just the beginning for Hitchens..." — Kinsley, Michael (May 13, 2007). "In God, Distrust". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ The Seattle Times article confirming that Leykis hosts a radio segment called Ask the Atheist [25].
- ^ "I do not believe in God. I'm an atheist. I consider myself a critical thinker, and it fascinates me that in the 21st century most people still believe in, as George Carlin puts it, 'the invisible man living in the sky' " - Seth MacFarlane to [[Steppin' Out (magazine)|]] magazine. October 18, 2007 [26]
- ^ Voss, Brandon (2008-02-28). "Big Gay Following: Seth MacFarlane". The Advocate. Planet Out, Incorporated. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
...I'm an atheist...
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Farber, Stephen (2006-12-31). "A Night in Hollywood, a Day in Ukraine". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
I've always felt very Jewish but very ambivalent about being Jewish. I'm an atheist.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "I was brought up a Christian, low church, and I like the community of churchgoing. That's rather been replaced for me by the community of people I work with. I like a sense of family, of people working together. But I'm an atheist. So God, if She exists, isn't really a part of my life." - from a January 19, 1996 profile by Tim Appelo found in Mr. Showbiz.
- ^ "No, I don't believe in God" "Series 1, Episode 2". The Ricky Gervais Show. 2005-12-12.
- ^ "I've been reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. It's his polemic against religion and even for an avowed atheist like myself, it's quite strong." "Office Boy", Q, May 2007
{{citation}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ "As I was saying before, it was so hard for me to be a Catholic. It wound my spring almost to the breaking point. The spring is still uncoiling from those early years. I’m a thoroughly virulent atheist."September 2004 Interview in The Believer
- ^ Interviewer: "You said that your experiences on Sunshine, and particularly the time you spent with the scientists turned you from an agnostic to an atheist – what changed your perception?" Murphy: "I did a lot of reading, I spoke to those guys a lot, and I was always an agnostic, which I think is a very safe place to be in terms of your faith or lack of... It just seems to me to be irrational that there’s an omnipotent, omnipresent being who was there at the beginning, and will be there forever, it’s not logical, it doesn’t help me as a person..." April 2007 interview in Total Film (Accessed 20 November 2007)
- ^ "When asked what directors she admires, Polley talks about Ingmar Bergman and Terrence Malick (she says his Thin Red Line “single-handedly brought me out of a deep depression. It shifted something in me. I'm an atheist, but it was the first time that it gave me faith in other people's faith”)." Woman on the Verge by Mark Pupo, Toronto Life Magazine, October 2006.
- ^ Soderbergh siad "I’m a hardcore atheist." State of Independence, by Scotland on Sunday, 23 January 2005, (Accessed 8 June 2007).
- ^ When asked what book he would choose to memorize, Straczynski said "Despite being an atheist, I would probably choose the Book of Job." Online chat with Straczynski, hosted by SciFi.com (Accessed 8 June 2007)
- ^ Asked if there was a God, Whedon answered, "No." Is There a God?, by Stephen Thompson, 9 October 2002, A.V. Club (Accessed 22 October 2006.)
- ^ "Well, I'm a Jewish-Buddhist-Atheist, I guess." Pogrebin, Abigail (2005). Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish. New York: Broadway. pp. 91–99. ISBN 978-0-7679-1612-7.
- ^ From the March 2001 issue of Kerrang magazine: ""Being an atheist means you have to realise that when you die, that really is it. You've got to make the most of what you've got here and spread as much influence as you can. I believe that you only live through the influence that you spread, whether that means having a kid or making music."
- ^ "If I get into trouble, there's no God or Allah to sort me out. I have to do it myself." [27]
- ^ When asked "Do you still consider yourself an atheist?" Brock replies "Pretty much, but there are things that make me think...I'm 100 percent on the whole Christianity thing being a crock of shit..." [28]
- ^ "For meg har aldri opprøret vært greia. Det har heller handlet om en slags ateistisk vind-i-håret-frihet og kritikk av organisert religion."[29] retrieved January 15, 2008
- ^ Atheist Musicians F to M
- ^ The hard-living Oasis star Noel Gallagher has revealed to the New Musical Express that he has read Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion and loved it “Anything that disproves God, bring it on” [30]
- ^ "Mr Geldof said that as an atheist he was not going along with this "if you like fundamental Christian agenda". " [31]
- ^ From Newsday, published March 30, 2006: "I'm an atheist, and I don't have any belief in an afterlife..."
- ^ 'Graffin is a smart, proud atheist...' — Kinsella, Warren (January 2007), The punk and the professor and what they say about God, Anglican Journal. Retrieved August 9, 2007.
- ^ '[Graffin] describes himself as a naturalist, which to him means someone who holds that the natural world is all there is. "If you can believe in God, then you can believe in anything," he says. "It's a gang mentality."' — Olson, Steve (November 2006), Faces of the New Atheism: The Punk Rocker, Wired News, Condé Nast Publishing. Retrieved November 15, 2007.
- ^ SFBG Arts and Entertainment: September 9, 1998: Woman vs. rock
- ^ "as an atheist, 'I [Johnson] couldn't reconcile myself to the idea that Haile Selassie was God.'" 'I did my own thing', Guardian Books, 8 March 2008 (accessed 31 March 2008)
- ^ "I'm an atheist and an anarchist" — Eddy, Chuck (1997). "Damage Case: Lemmy and Motörhead". Motörhead Forever.
- ^ Stated that he is an Atheist.[32]
- ^ "The closest word I’ve found to describe [my] belief system is Pantheism, but I could also call myself an agnostic (because I don’t claim to know if my own conception of divinity is ultimately true) or an atheist (because I believe that religions based around personified deities are definitely not true)." — The Universe According to Lynx (June 30, 2007), Soundtrack for Insurrection, circlealpha.com. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
- ^ Mark "Barney" Greenway writes regarding the album Smear Campaign:"People are also very supportive about the new album theme of atheism/free thought in a world being driven by agressive religious mythology." [33] [34]
- ^ The Guardian describes as "a devout atheist - Stravinsky later described him rather disapprovingly as having a mind 'closed to any religious or metaphysical idea'" [35]
- ^ quoted as saying "I'm an atheist" in interview for American Music Box[36]
- ^ quoted saying that he is an atheist in an interview with concertlivewire.com[37]
- ^ "Conversely, an absolute denial of God's existence is equally meaningless, since verification is impossible. However, despite this assertion, Ayer may be considered a practical atheist: one who sees no reason to worship an invisible deity." 2000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt, by James A. Haught, Prometheus Books, 1996, p. 276.
- ^ "...no one can accuse Ayer the atheist of not heeding the parable of the talents." A book review by D. H. Mellor of The Philosophy of A. J. Ayer, by Lewis Edwin Hahn. Philosophy, Vol. 69, No. 267. (Jan., 1994), pp. 107-110.
- ^ Multiple quotes from Bakunin substantiating his atheist views[38].
- ^ David Simpson writes that Camus affirmed "a defiantly atheistic creed." Albert Camus (1913–1960), The Internet Encyclopedia or Philosophy, 2006, (Accessed 14 June 2007).
- ^ Martin Gardner said "Carnap was an atheist..." A Mind at Play: An Interview with Martin Gardner, by Kendrick Frazier, Skeptical Inquirer, March/April 1998 (Accessed 2 July 2007).
- ^ Stated in Will Durant's Outlines of Philosophy
- ^ Stated in Mary Bryden's Deleuze and Religion Page 157
- ^ Dennett, Daniel C. (2006), Breaking the Spell, Viking (Penguin), ISBN 0-670-03472-X
- ^ A History of Freethought, Ancient and Modern, to the Period of the French Revolution, J.M. Robertson, Fourth Edition, Revised and Expanded, In Two Volumes, Vol. I, Watts, 1936. p173 - 174
- ^ a b Will and Ariel Durant, Rousseau and Revolution, p. 183
- ^ positiveatheism.org
- ^ "I would certainly describe myself as a robust or uncompromising atheist..." House Philosopher: An Interview with AC Grayling, conducted and hosted by Amazon.co.uk (Accessed 1 April 2008)
- ^ Will and Ariel Durant, The Age of Voltaire: a History of Civilization in Western Europe from 1715 to 1756, with Special Emphasis on the Conflict between Religion and Philosophy, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1965, pp. 695-714
- ^ "I am an atheist." [David Lewis, "Evil for Freedom's Sake," in Papers in Ethics and Social Philosophy, 101-127 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). p. 102]
- ^ Kazimierz Lyszczynski's Web List of Atheists and Agnostics
- ^ J. L. Mackie, The Miracle of Theism, 1982.
- ^ Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, 1843
- ^ a b On the filming of The Atheism Tapes with Jonathan Miller: "We had been friends for a number of years, and had discussed a great many topics, but we had never, except glancingly, ever spoken about religion. We knew about our shared atheism, but the subject didn’t seem to warrant much attention; in the Miller-McGinn world it was a non-existent topic. [...] It is often forgotten that atheism of the kind shared by Jonathan and me (and Dawkins and Hitchens et al) has an ethical motive." Atheism Tapes, Colin McGinn, on his blog. (Accessed 1 April 2008)
- ^ Extracts from Moi Testament published as Superstition in All Ages
- ^ Will and Ariel Durant, The Age of Voltaire, 1965, pp. 611-17
- ^ Will and Ariel Durant, The Age of Voltaire, 1965, pp. 617-22
- ^ Autobiography, Chapter 2
- ^ Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, aphorisms 108 and 125 [39])
- ^ Piergiorgio Odifreddi. "Che fine ha fatto Dio?" (in Italian). Retrieved 2006-10-09.
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald. "Facts and friction of Easter". Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ Amazon listing for Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, by Michel Onfray. (Accessed 23 March 2008)
- ^ Russell said: "As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one prove that there is not a God. On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think I ought to say that I am an Atheist... None of us would seriously consider the possibility that all the gods of Homer really exist, and yet if you were to set to work to give a logical demonstration that Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and the rest of them did not exist you would find it an awful job. You could not get such proof. Therefore, in regard to the Olympic gods, speaking to a purely philosophical audience, I would say that I am an Agnostic. But speaking popularly, I think that all of us would say in regard to those gods that we were Atheists. In regard to the Christian God, I should, I think, take exactly the same line." Am I an Agnostic or an Atheist?, from Last Philosophical Testament 1943–1968, (1997) Routledge ISBN 0-415-09409-7.
- ^ "He was so thoroughly an atheist that he rarely mentioned it, considering the topic of God to be beneath dicussion. In his autobiography, The Words, Sartre recalled deciding at about age twelve that God does not exist, and hardly thinking about it thereafter." 2000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt, James A. Haught, Prometheus Books, 1996.
- ^ Kimball, Roger (2000). "The World According to Sartre". The New Criterion. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Kemerling, Garth (October 27, 2001). "Sartre: Existential Life". Philosophy Pages. Britannica Internet Guide Selection. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
- ^ MIZ title in German: Materialien und Informationen zur Zeit (MIZ) (Untertitel: Politisches Magazin für Konfessionslose und AtheistInnen)
- ^ "Like many other so-called "Atheists" I am also not a pure atheist, but actually an agnostic..." Life without God: A decision for the people (Automatic Google translation of the original, hosted at Schmidt-Salomon's website), by Michael Schmidt-Salomon 19 November 1996, first published in: Education and Criticism: Journal of Humanistic Philosophy and Free Thinking Janurary 1997 (Accessed 1 April 2008)
- ^ "Within Schopenhauer's vision of the world as Will, there is no God to be comprehended, and the world is conceived of as being meaningless." [40]
- ^ Price, Joyce Howard (4 July 2002). "Princeton bioethicist argues Christianity hurts animals". The Washington Times.
I am an atheist.
- ^ Wine said "I am an atheist." Time Magazine January 29, 1965
- ^ Atheism is a legacy worth fighting for (as reprinted in the International Herald Tribune), an editorial by Slavoj Zizek, The New York Times, Tuesday, March 14, 2006 (Accessed 2 July 2007).
- ^ Bradlaugh professes and defends atheism in his essay A Plea For Atheism.
- ^ "You are an atheist. Tony Blair is a devout Christian. Did that make you feel uncomfortable?" Campbell answering questions in The Independent newspaper [41].
- ^ "Mr Campbell, who is an atheist, has been keen to stop Mr Blair discussing his faith since 1996, when the Labour leader gave an extensive interview on the subject in The Telegraph which proved highly controversial." [42] The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Labour Party at prayer salutes Cook the atheist, by Magnus Linklater, The Times, 13 August 2005.
- ^ In his Life of Garibaldi (1881) Bent reproduces a letter he wrote two years before he died. "Dear Friends-Man created God, not God man-yours ever, Garibaldi."
- ^ "I am an atheist. But I... respect the feelings and the religious beliefs of each citizen." Gorbachev interview with Peter Jennings, ABC News, Sept. 6, 1991, reported in The New York Times, Sept. 7, 1991.
- ^ Atheism: An Affirmative View (1980) by Emmett F. Fields
- ^ hyperhistory.net
- ^ In 1996 Hayden was recognised as the Australian Humanist of the Year with the statement that "The award is made because he has shown that an avowed atheist who describes himself as a secular humanist can occupy the position of Governor-General with mounting approval." Australian Humanist, No. 41 February 1996
- ^ "Being an atheist--as I am--is not a necessary pre-condition for being a humanist." in his acceptance speech for Australian Humanist of the Year, reported in Australian Humanist, No 42, May 1996
- ^ Sang M. Lee writes that Albania was "[o]fficially an atheist state under Hoxha..." Restructuring Albanian Business Education Infrastructure August 2000 (Accessed 6 June 2007)
- ^ Kamm, Henry (1993, June 10). 'Hallelujah' is heard in the arch-atheist's temple. New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. A4. Retrieved August 27, 2007, from National Newspaper Abstracts
- ^ "Since Karunanidhi is an atheist he seems to believe in Janatha Janardhan rather than the Janardhan (God)....."[43]
- ^ .....M. Karunanidhi, is a sworn atheist, it is a tussle between personal beliefs and the party's ideological moorings.[44]
- ^ King calls herself "a misguided 'cultural' Jew without any culture, and a born-again atheist." My week: Oona King, by Oona King, The Observer, Sunday March 5 2006 (hosted at guardian.co.uk, accessed 29 March 2008)
- ^ "I am an atheist and everybody knows it..." Atheist premier attacks lack of Christianity in EU constitution, by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph, 4 June 2003.
- ^ "[Pod Znamenem Marksizma] must be a militant atheist organ... a journal which sets out to propagandise militant materialism must carry on untiring atheist propaganda and an untiring atheist fight." On the Significance of Militant Materialism, V. I. Lenin, Pod Znamenem Marksizma No. 3, 12 March 1922, as published in Lenin’s Collected Works, Progress Publishers, Moscow, Volume 33, 1972, pp. 227-236 (Translated by David Skvirsky and George Hanna), hosted at Marxists Internet Archive (Accessed 14 November 2007)
- ^ "PERSECUTION WATCH: Belarus". vineyardfederalway.org. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
- ^ [45].
- ^ "Milosevic buried in quiet ceremony in his hometown". CBC News. 2006-03-18. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
There were no clergy at the ceremony because Milosevic was an avowed atheist.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "She had always proclaimed herself an atheist..." Times obituary: Dr Marjorie Mowlam, 19 August 2005 (Accessed 6 June 2007)
- ^ The Hon. Atheist Governor: Culbert L. Olson[46]
- ^ Why I am an Atheist, Bhagat Singh, October 1930.
- ^ Stalin is quoted as saying "You know, they are fooling us, there is no God...all this talk about God is sheer nonsense" in E. Yaroslavsky, Landmarks in the Life of Stalin, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow 1940 This, however, is disputed as being true. Cf. E. Tomlinson, Atheism and Stalinism: Disputes and Miconceptions, in the Journal of Modern History, 1997
- ^ Stark called himself "a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being" and has been identified as an atheist. Rep. Stark applauded for atheist outlook: Believed to be first congressman to declare nontheism, Associated Press, 13 March 2007 (Accessed 15 June 2007)
- ^ Peter Tatchell: Islamists Betray Palestine and Human Rights "They happily work with me, despite my atheism and gayness. This is the kind, gentle face of Islam that never seems to be newsworthy."
- ^
"Trotsky's Testament". Retrieved 2007-12-09.
I shall die a proletarian revolutionist, a Marxist, a dialectical materialist, and, consequently, an irreconcilable atheist.
- ^ Template:Sv icon ""Bengt Westerberg: Humanistisk ledning av Röda Korset"". Humanisten. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) Translation: Interviewer: I would like to ask you about your relation to religion and atheistic humanism. When did you "come out" as [an] atheist and how did it happen?
Westerberg: If you mean in public, then I revealed it in connection to my candidacy as party leader for the People's Party. I got the question if I believed in God from Thomas Hempel in Radioekot (radioprogram) and answered no. That's when it became known, though I've never made any secret about it. - ^ When asked by Rod Liddle in the documentary The Trouble with Atheism "Give me your views on the existence, or otherwise, of God", Peter Atkins replied "Well it's fairly straightforward: there isn't one. And there's no evidence for one, no reason to believe that there is one, and so I don't believe that there is one. And I think that it is rather foolish that people do think that there is one.""The Trouble with Atheism, UK Channel 4 TV". 2006-12-18.
{{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|serieslink=(help); Missing or empty|series=(help); Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help) - ^ In a Point of Inquiry podcast interview, Blackmore described religion as a collection of "really pernicious memes", "I think religious memeplexes are really amongst the nastiest viruses we have on the planet". Blackmore also practices Zen Buddhist meditation; later, when she was asked: "And you find this practice of Zen, the meditative practice, completely compatible with your lack of theism, your atheism...?" She replied: "Oh yes, I mean, there is no god in Buddhism...". Susan Blackmore - In Search of the Light, Point of Inquiry, 15 December 2006 (accessed 1 April 2008).
- ^ Boyer, Paul. "A Path to Atheism". Freedom From Religion Foundation. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
- ^ Why (Almost All) Cosmologists are Atheists
- ^ "In his later years, Chandra had openly admitted to being an atheist which also meant that he subscribed to no religion in the customary sense of the word." Vishveshwara, S. 2000. Leaves from an unwritten diary: S. Chandrasekhar, Reminiscences and Reflections, Current Science, 78(8):1025-1033.
- ^ Dawkins identifies himself as an atheist in his article "A Challenge to Atheists: Come Out of the Closet," Free Inquiry, Summer 2002. Excerpt reprinted at Positiveatheism.org
- ^ Werner Heisenberg recollects a friendly conversation among young participants at the 1927 Solvay Conference about Einstein's and Planck's views on religion. Wolfgang Pauli, Heisenberg and Dirac took part in it. Among other things, Dirac said: "I cannot understand why we idle discussing religion. If we are honest — and as scientists honesty is our precise duty — we cannot help but admit that any religion is a pack of false statements, deprived of any real foundation. The very idea of God is a product of human imagination.[...] I do not recognize any religious myth, at least because they contradict one another.[...]" Pauli jokingly said: "Well, I'd say that also our friend Dirac has got a religion and the first commandment of this religion is: God does not exist and Paul Dirac is his prophet." Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0061316229.
- ^ a b "... I [Pauling] am not, however, militant in my atheism. The great English theoretical physicist Paul Dirac is a militant atheist. I suppose he is interested in arguing about the existence of God. I am not. It was once quipped that there is no God and Dirac is his prophet." Linus Pauling & Daisaku Ikeda (1992). A Lifeling Quest for Peace: A Dialogue. Jones & Bartlett. pp. page 22. ISBN 0867202777.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Feynman was of Jewish birth, but described himself as "an avowed atheist" by his early youth in Freethought of the Day, Freedom From Religion Foundation, May 11 2006.
- ^ "[Freud and Jung] were close for several years, but Jung's ambition, and his growing commitment to religion and mysticism — most unwelcome to Freud, an aggressive atheist — finally drove them apart." Sigmund Freud, by Peter Gay, The TIME 100: The Most Important People of the Century.
- ^ Atlantseglaren från Bromma vill tänja gränsen mot rymden, Dagens Nyheter, December 10, 2006.
- ^ "I am an atheist, that is, I think nothing exists except and beyond nature."Ginzburg's autobiography at Nobelprize.org
- ^ "Hardy... was a stringent atheist..." Hit Play on Ramanujan, by Lisa Drostova, East Bay Express, April 30 2003. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
- ^ "The first Bombe to be delivered was named Agnus by Turing: a joke that atheist Hardy might have made..." Alan Turing — a Cambridge Scientific Mind, by Andrew Hodges, Cambridge Scientific Minds (Cambridge University Press, 2002) Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ makingthemodernworld.org.uk
- ^ Harold Kroto claims to have four "religions": humanism, atheism, amnesty-internationalism and humourism.[47]
- ^ "Kinsey was also shown to be an atheist who loathed religion and its constraints on sex." 'Kinsey' critics ready, Cheryl Wetzstein, The Washington Times. Retrieved 2 February 2007.
- ^ Leakey, Richard. Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa's Natural Treasures. design by Kathryn Parise. pp. p. 257. ISBN 0-312-20626-7.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Unknown parameter|coauthor=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|origmonth=ignored (help) - ^ An appreciation of biologist Ernst Mayr (1904-2005
- ^ A Rough History of Disbelief Official BBC site describing the series
- ^ Nobel Biography[48].
- ^ "In his final chapter de Duve turns to the meaning of life, and considers the ideas of two contrasting Frenchmen: a priest, Teilhard de Chardin, and an existentialist and atheist, Jacques Monod." Peaks, Dust, & Dappled Spots, by Richard Lubbock, Books in Canada: The Canadian Review of Books. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ "[Müller] was an atheist..." Review of Müller's biography, by James Mallet, Quarterly Review of Biology 79:196 (2004). Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ "Muller, who through Unitarianism had become an enthusiastic pantheist, was converted both to atheism and to socialism." Hermann Joseph Muller. 1890–1967, G. Pontecorvo, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol. 14, Nov., 1968 (Nov., 1968), pp. 348-389 (Quote from p. 353) Retrieved 14 July 2007.
- ^ "I was brought up a Lutheran, but I became an atheist" — PZ Myers (February 14, 2007), It's the arrogance, stupid, Pharyngula. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
- ^ "I gradually slipped away from religion over several years and became an atheist or to be more philosophically correct, a sceptical agnostic." Nurse's autobiography at Nobelprize.org
- ^ "I never outgrew my conversion to atheism at 13, but at various times was a serious cultural Jew." The Guardian Profile (November 6, 1999). "Steven Pinker: the mind reader". Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Amazon listing of Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up.
- ^ "The Nobel Laureate Dr Richard Roberts will give a public lecture entitled A Bright Journey from Science to Atheism..." A bright journey to atheism, or a road that ignores all the signs?, The Irish Times, April 20, 2006. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
- ^ "...Rich Roberts... delivered a public lecture on his Bright journey from Science to Atheism in April 2006." Events listing on the website of Humani, The Humanist Association of Northern Ireland, Retrieved 24 July 2007.
- ^ Roberts versus God: No Contest, review of Roberts' talk A Bright Journey from Science to Atheism, written by Les Reid, and published on the Belfast Humanist Group website. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
- ^ Reported lecture [49]
- ^ Self-proclaimed [50]
- ^ World Bank [51]
- ^ Press meeting [52]
- ^ "Shannon described himself as an atheist and was outwardly apolitical." William Poundstone, Fortune's Formula, Hill and Wang: New York (2005), page 18.
- ^ Smith, Michael. Michael Smith: Autobiography. Nobel Prize.org. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
- ^ Stallman's former personal ad
- ^ God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist.[53][54]
- ^ In a review of Susskind's book The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design, Michael Duff writes that Susskind is "a card-carrying atheist." Life in a landscape of possibilities, December 2005. Retrieved 30 May 2007.
- ^ "[I am] completely a-religious—atheist. I find that people seem to think religion brings morals and appreciation of nature. I actually think it detracts from both." Interview: Linus Torvalds in Linux Journal 1 November 1999. Retrieved 18 January 2007.
- ^ "This loss shattered Turing's religious faith and led him into atheism..." Time 100 profile of Alan Turing, p. 2
- ^ "He was an atheist..." Alan Turing: Father of the computer, BBC News, 28 April 1999. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
- ^ Watson is identified as an atheist by his acquaintance, Rabbi Marc Gellman. Trying to Understand Angry Atheists: Why do nonbelievers seem to be threatened by the idea of God?, by Rabbi Marc Gellman, Newsweek, 28 April 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2006.
- ^ When asked by a student if he believed in God, Watson replied "Oh, no. Absolutely not... The biggest advantage to believing in God is you don't have to understand anything, no physics, no biology. I wanted to understand." JoAnne Viviano (19 October 2007). "Nobel Prize-winning scientist wows some, worries others". The Vindicator. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Azpurua: "Would it be accurate to say that you are an atheist?" Weinberg: "Yes. I don't believe in God, but I don't make a religion out of not believing in God. I don't organize my life around that." In Search of the God Particle, by Ana Elena Azpurua, Newsweek Web Exclusive, 24 March 2008, p. 3 (Accessed 25 March 2008)
- ^ In a review of Susskind's book The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design, string theorist Michael Duff identifies Steven Weinberg as an "arch-atheist".[55]
- ^ In the book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins identifies Steven Weinberg as an atheist.richarddawkins.net.
- ^ Angier, Natalie (2002-12-24). "The Origin of Religions, From a Distinctly Darwinian View". New York Times. p. F5. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
...I don't believe in God. I tell people I'm an atheist, but a nice atheist.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Wozniak, Steven. "Letters – General Questions Answered". woz.org. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
... I am also atheist or agnostic (I don't even know the difference). I've never been to church and prefer to think for myself. I do believe that religions stand for good things, and that if you make irrational sacrifices for a religion, then everyone can tell that your religion is important to you and can trust that your most important inner faiths are strong.
- ^ "The thing is that, as an athiest [sic], I don't BELIEVE in Satan." — Clem, Mitch (February 13, 2006). "Tour V". San Antonio Rock City. Retrieved 2006-01-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "He admitted later that he actually was trying to change church [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] history, because he said that he had become an atheist when he was a teenager." The Anthon Forgeries, from the documentary series "Masterminds." Originally aired in 2004 (Season 1, Episode 1).
- ^ "Hofmann, an atheist who kept up all appearances of being a good member of the LDS Church, was known for his historical "discoveries," many of which were intended to cast doubt on the official history of the church." Notorious incidents over the years, Jerry D. Spangler and Bob Bernick Jr., Deseret Morning News, March 15, 2003 (Accessed 17 December 2007).
- ^ Smith's explanation of his atheism to a hate mailer on his website [56]
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