List of agnostics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Huxley, coiner of the term
agnostic.
Listed here are persons who have identified themselves as agnostic. Also included are those who have expressed the view that it is unknown or inherently unknowable whether any gods exist.
[edit] Authors
- "Being an agnostic means all things are possible, even God, even the Holy Trinity. This world is so strange that anything may happen, or may not happen. Being an agnostic makes me live in a larger, a more fantastic kind of world, almost uncanny. It makes me more tolerant."
- "Most students ... wish to know whether I believe in the existence of God or in immortality, and if so why. They regard it impossible to leave these matters unsettled – or at least extremely detrimental to religion not to have the basis of such conviction. Now for my part I do not find it impossible to leave them open.... I can describe myself as no ardent theist or atheist."
- Bart D. Ehrman, new testament scholar and "a happy agnostic".[3][4]
- Frederick James Furnivall (1825–1910), second editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.[5]
- Maxim Gorky (1868–1936), Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism and political activist. [6][7]
- Sadegh Hedayat (1903–1951), Iranian author and writer.[8]
- A.J. Jacobs (born 1968), American author.[9]
- Franz Kafka (1883–1924), Jewish Czech-born Writer. [10][11]
- John Keats (1795–1821), English Romantic poet.[12]
- Lucretius (99 BC–55 BC), Roman poet and philosopher. [13]
- H. L. Mencken (1880–1956), journalist, satirist, social critic, cynic, and freethinker, known as the "Sage of Baltimore".[14]
- Thomas Pynchon, (born 1937), author of "The Crying of Lot 49" and "Gravity's Rainbow." Raised Catholic. According to former friend Jules Siegel, "he went to mass and confessed, though to what would be a mystery." [33]
- Charles Templeton (1915–2001) former evangelist, author of A Farewell to God.[15]
- Mark Twain: American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.[16][17] Twain has also been identified a deist.[18]
- Ibn Warraq, known for his books critical of Islam.[19]
- Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007), author, futurologist, cryptocracy historian.[20]
- David Yallop, British true-crime author.[21]
[edit] Business
[edit] Media, arts
- Hideaki Anno (born 1960), Japanese animation and film director. Anno is best known for his work on the popular anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion. [23]
- Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia[24]
- Jay Baruchel (born 1982), Canadian actor. [25]
- David Bazan (born 1976), American singer, songwriter, musician and former frontman of Pedro The Lion, an indie rock outfit associated with Christian rock that was controversial among Christians for their language and off-kilter views about religion. Bazan's solo career has been focused around his newfound agnosticism.
- Tom Bergeron (born 1955), American television personality and game show host, best known to the public as the host of America's Funniest Home Videos, Hollywood Squares and Dancing with the Stars.[26]
- Gael García Bernal (born 1978), Mexican actor and director, claims to be "culturally Catholic" and "spiritually agnostic".[27]
- Rose Byrne (born 1979), Australian actress.[28]
- Aaron Copland (1900-1990), American composer. [29]
- Zac Efron (born 1987), actor, star of movies such as High School Musical and 17 Again.[30] Efron was raised agnostic.[31] (his paternal grandfather was Jewish)
- Carrie Fisher, American actress, screenwriter and novelist.[32]
- Henry Fonda (1905–1982), American film and stage actor. [33]
- Emilia Fox (born 1974), Award-winning English actress.[34]
- Matt Groening (born 1954), creator of animated TV series The Simpsons, Futurama, and the comic Life in Hell.[35]
- John Humphrys (born 1943), British radio and television presenter who hosted a series of programmes interviewing religious leaders, Humphrys in Search of God.[36]
- Leoš Janáček (1854–1928), Czech composer.[37]
- Larry King (born 1933), host of Larry King Live.[38]
- Annie Lennox (born 1954), Scottish recording artist[39]
- Janez Lapajne (born 1967), Slovenian director.[40]
- Stan Lee (1922-), American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. [41]
- Emcee Lynx (born 1980), anarchist hip hop musician who identifies as potentially pantheist, agnostic or atheist.[42]
- Bill Maher (born 1956), American comedian and political commentator. Maher self identifies as an apatheist.[43]
- Dave Matthews (born 1967), American musician and actor.[44]
- Conor Oberst (born 1980), American singer-songwriter who fronts the band, Bright Eyes.[45]
- Neil Peart (born 1952), drummer and lyricist for Canadian progressive rock band Rush. Many Rush song lyrics criticize religion and theism.[46]
- Sean Penn (born 1960), American actor, won Oscars for Mystic River and Milk.
- Brad Pitt (born 1963), American actor, stated that he did not believe in God, and that he was mostly agnostic.[47]
- Andy Rooney (1919–2011), broadcast personality, who had specified that he was an agnostic and not an atheist,[48] but has also called himself an atheist.[49][50]
- Adrienne Shelly (1966–2006), American actor, screenwriter and director.[51]
- Howard Stern (1954-), American radio personality, television host, author, actor, and photographer. [52]
- Sting (born 1951): English musician and lead singer of The Police.[53]
- Matt Stone (born 1971), co-creator of the cartoon South Park, considers himself an agnostic Jew (his mother is Jewish),[54] though he has also denied the existence of God.[55]
- Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), British composer. Despite the variety of his works with religious connections, Vaughan Williams was decidedly not a believer. According to his classmate Bertrand Russell, Williams was an atheist while attending Cambridge. According to his widow, he later became an agnostic.[56]
- Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999), A famous director well known for movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey (film), A Clockwork Orange (film), Dr. Strangelove, Full Metal Jacket and The Shining (film)
- Bob Guccione (1930-2010), founder and publisher of Penthouse magazine.[57][34]
[edit] Philosophy
- John Dewey (1859–1952), American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer. His ideas have been influential in education and social reform. [58]
- Epicurus (341 BCE–270 BCE), Ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. [59]
- Fred Edwords (born 1948), longtime Humanist activist, currently national director of the United Coalition of Reason.[60]
- Karl R. Popper, philosopher of science, who promoted falsifiability as a necessary criterion of empirical statements in science.[61]
- Protagoras, (died 420 BCE), Greek Sophist and first major Humanist, who wrote that the existence of the gods was unknowable.[62]
- Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), English philosopher and mathematician, who considered himself a philosophical agnostic, but said that the label "atheist" conveyed a more accurate impression to "the ordinary man in the street".[63]
- Michael Schmidt-Salomon (born 1967), German philosopher, author and former editor of MIZ (Contemporary Materials and Information: Political magazine for atheists and the irreligious).[64] Schmidt-Salomon has specified that he is not a "pure atheist, but actually an agnostic."[65]
- Anthony Kenny (born 1931), president of Royal Institute of Philosophy, wrote in his essay Why I'm not an atheist after justifying his agnostic position that "a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed."[66]
- James Hall (born 1933) describes himself as an agnostic episcopalian. He says that he finds great beauty in the religious tradition, but is reluctant to "sign the dotted line" and agreeing with all theological doctrines.[67]
[edit] Politics and law
- Clement Attlee (1883–1967), British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951.[68]
- Michelle Bachelet (born 1951), Chilean politician, President of Chile from 2006 to 2010.[69]
- Helen Clark (born 1950), New Zealander politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008.[70]
- John Key (born 1961), New Zealander politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand since 2008.[71]
- Wim Kok (born 1938), Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1994 until 2002.[72]
- Clarence Darrow (1857–1938), American lawyer, who defended John T. Scopes' right to teach Darwin's theory of evolution in the famous Tennessee "Monkey Trial".[73]
- Willem Drees (1886–1988), Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 until 1977.[74]
- Heinz Fischer (born 1938), Austrian politician, President of Austria since 2004.[75]
- Carlos Gaviria Díaz (born 1937), Colombian politician said "I am an agnostic, like him Bertrand Russell."[76]
- Bob Hawke (born 1929), 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (from 1983 to 1991).[77]
- Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899), American political leader and orator, and known as "The Great Agnostic".[78]
- Ivo Josipović (born 1957), Croatian politician and composer, third President of Croatia from 2010 .[79]
- Esther Ouwehand (born 1976), Dutch politician.[80]
- Bruno Kreisky (1911–1990), Austrian Federal Chancellor from 1970 to 1983.[81]
- Ricardo Lagos (born 1938), the first declared agnostic to be elected president of Chile.[82]
- Lee Kwan Yew (born 1923), Employment lawyer, Prime Minister and Founding Father of Singapore
- Mariëtte Hamer (born 1958), Dutch politician.[83]
- Boris van der Ham (born 1973), Dutch politician.[84]
- Jan Marijnissen (born 1952), Dutch politician.[85]
- George Lincoln Rockwell (1918–1967), Founder of the American Nazi Party.[86]
- Gerdi Verbeet (born 1951), Dutch politician, President of the House of Representatives since 2006.
- Gough Whitlam (born 1916), Prime Minister of Australia, 1972–1975.
- Joop den Uyl (1919–1987), Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 until 1977.[87]
- José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born 1960), Prime Minister of Spain.[88]
- Gerrit Zalm (born 1952), Dutch politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2003 until 2007.[89]
- Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), Indian freedom-fighter and the country's first Prime Minister from 1947-1964.[90][91]
- Siddaramaiah (born 1948), Former Karnataka Deputy CM[92]
- Jayaprakash Narayan (Lok Satta), politician, thinker and a social reformer.[93]
- Vincent Bugliosi (born 1934), Former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney
[edit] Science, technology
- Sir David Attenborough (born 1926), English natural history presenter and anthropologist.[94]
- Francis Crick (1916–2004), Nobel-laureate co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, who described himself as a skeptic and an agnostic with "a strong inclination towards atheism".[95]
- Marie Curie (1867–1934), Polish-French physicist and chemist. She was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity and she became the first Nobel laureate to win two Nobel Prize in two different sciences. She won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911.[96]
- Charles Darwin (1809–1882), founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection, once described himself as being generally agnostic, though he was a member of the Anglican Church and attended Unitarian services.[97]
- Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), French sociologist, who had a Jewish Bar Mitzvah at thirteen, was briefly interested in Catholicism after a mystical experience, but later became an agnostic.[98]
- Albert Einstein (1879–1955), Jewish born theoretical physicist, best known for his theory of relativity and the mass-energy equivalence,
.[99]
- Paul Erdős (1913–1996), Hungarian mathematician. [100]
- Enrico Fermi (1901–1954), Italian-American physicist. [101]
- Milton Friedman (1912–2006), American economist, writer and public intellectual, winner of Nobel Prize in Economics.[102]
- Dennis Gabor (1900–1979), Hungarian-British electrical engineer and inventor. Known for his invention of holography and received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics. [103]
- Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002), American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, science historian and popularizer. Gould called himself a "Jewish agnostic".[104]
- Thomas Henry Huxley, (1825–1895), English biologist and coiner of the term agnosticism.[105]
- Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973), Austrian Economist and Philosopher.[106]
- Sherwin B. Nuland (born 1930), American surgeon and author of How We Die.[107]
- Paul Nurse (born 1949), 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, called himself an atheist, but specified that "sceptical agnostic" was a more "philosophically correct" term.[108]
- Bill Nye (born 1955), American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer and scientist. Popularly known as "Bill Nye the Science Guy". [109]
- George Olah (born 1927), 1994 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, discoverer of superacids,[110]
- Józef Rotblat (1908-2005), Polish-British physicist. Along with the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.[111]
- Carl Sagan (1934–1996), astronomer and skeptic.[112]
- Peter Schuster (born 1941), Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Vienna.[113]
- Leo Szilard (1898-1964), Austro-Hungarian physicist and inventor. [114]
- John Tyndall (1820–1893), Prominent 19th century experimental physicist. Known for producing a number of discoveries about processes in the atmosphere.[115][116]
- Neil deGrasse Tyson (born 1958), American astrophysicist, science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.[117]
- Frank Wilczek (born 1951), American theoretical physicist. Along with David J. Gross and Hugh David Politzer, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004. [118]
- Steve Wozniak (born 1950), Co-founder of Apple Computer and inventor of the Apple I and Apple II.[119]
[edit] Celebrities and athletes
[edit] See also
- ^ I. Shenker (1971-04-06). "Borges, a Blind Writer With Insight". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/31/reviews/borges-insight.html.
- ^ Henry Cadbury, "My Personal Religion", republished on the Quaker Universalist Fellowship website.
- ^ "Q&A: Bart Ehrman: Misquoting Jesus". http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6301707.html. Retrieved 2007-05-31. [dead link]
- ^ V.Bernet (2008-04-23). "Agnostic's questions have biblical answers". Kansas City Star. "In the church of his youth in Lawrence, Kansas, with nearly every pew at capacity last week, Bart D. Ehrman, chairman of the department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, announced that he was an agnostic. He joked that atheists think agnostics are wimpy atheists and that agnostics think atheists are arrogant agnostics."
- ^ S.Winchester (2003). The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. ISBN ISBN 0-19-860702-4. "[...] Furnivall was a deeply committed socialist and (until his later agnosticism set in), a somewhat enthusiastic Christian [...]"
- ^ "...Gorky - a religious agnostic praised as a social realist by the communist regime during the demise of imperial Russia..." James Redmond, Drama and Philosophy, page 161. [1]
- ^ "Gorky had long rejected all organized religions. Yet he was not a materialist, and thus he could not be satisfied with Marx's ideas on religion. When asked to express his views about religion in a questionnaire sent by the French journal Mercure de France on April 15, 1907, Gorky replied that he was opposed to the existing religions of Moses, Christ, and Mohammed. He defined religious feeling as an awareness of a harmonious link that joins man to the universe and as an aspiration for synthesis, inherent in every individual." Tova Yedlin, Maxim Gorky: A Political Biography, page 86. [2]
- ^ "Also Iran's most famous modern writer, Sadegh Hedayat, who was an agnostic and antireligious activist, did much to introduce the new skeptical view of Khayyam among modernized Persians to the extent that some by mistake think of him as the founder of Khayyam studies in Iran." Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy (Suny Series in Islam) Pages 166-167. [3]
- ^ During an interview on his book The Year of Living Biblically with George Stroumboulopoulos on the CBC Program 'The Hour' Jacobs states "I'm still an agnostic, I don't know whether there's a god."[4]
- ^ "Kafka did not look at writing as a “gift” in the traditional sense. If anything, he considered both his talent for writing and what he produced as a writer curses for some unknown sin. Since Kafka was agnostic or even an atheist, it is best to assume his sense of sin and curse were metaphors." Franz Kafka - The Absurdity of Everything, Tameri.com. [5]
- ^ "Kafka was also alienated from his own heritage by his parent's perfunctory religious practice and minimal social formality in the Jewish community, though his style and influence is sometimes attributed to Jewish folk lore. Kafka eventually declared himself a socialist atheist, Spinoza, Darwin and Nietzsche some of his influences." C.D. Merriman, Franz Kafka. [6]
- ^ "Keats shared Hunt's dislike of institutionalised Christianity, parsons, and the Christian belief in man's innate corruption, but, as an unassertive agnostic, held well short of Shelley's avowed atheism." John Barnard, John Keats, pages 38-39.[7]
- ^ "Lucretius did not deny the existence of gods either, but he felt that human ideas about gods combined with the fear of death to make human beings unhappy. He followed the same materialist lines as Epicurus, and by denying that the gods had any way of influencing our world he said that humankind had no need to fear the supernatural." Ancient Atheists. BBC.co.uk. [8]
- ^ "When asked what he would do if on his death he found himself facing the twelve apostles, the agnostic Mencken answered, "I would simply say, 'Gentlemen, I was mistaken.'"" American Experience; Monkey Trial; People & Events: The Jazz Age, PBS Online, 1999-2001. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
- ^ CBC News reports that Templeton "eventually abandoned the pulpit and became an agnostic." Journalist, evangelist Charles Templeton dies
- ^ "In one of our walks about Hartford, when he was in the first fine flush of his agnosticism, he declared that Christianity had done nothing to improve morals and conditions..." William Dean Howells, My Mark Twain [9].
- ^ "William Dean Howells and Mark Twain had much in common. They were agnostic but compassionate of the plight of man in an indifferent world..." Darrel Abel (2002), Classic Authors of the Gilded Age, iUniverse, ISBN 0-595-23497-6
- ^ "At the most, Mark Twain was a mild agnostic, usually he seems to have been an amused Deist. Yet, at this late date his own daughter has refused to allow his comments on religion to be published." Kenneth Rexroth, "Humor in a Tough Age;" The Nation, March 7, 1959. [10]
- ^ "Warraq, 60, describes himself now as an agnostic..." Dissident voices, World Magazine, June 16, 2007, Vol. 22, No. 22.
- ^ Wilson explains that he is agnostic about everything in the preface to his book Cosmic Trigger.
- ^ The Herald, "Why did this "saint" fail to act on sinners within his flock?", Anne Simpson, May 26, 2007
- ^ Faces of the New Atheism: The Scribe, by Nicholas Thompson, Wired Magazine, Issue 14.11, November 2006 (Accessed 30 November 2006).
- ^ On his religious beliefs: ANNO: "I don't belong to any kind of organized religion, so I guess I could be considered agnostic. Japanese spiritualism holds that there is kami (spirit) in everything, and that's closer to my own beliefs." Anno's Roundtable Discussion.[11]
- ^ [12]
- ^ "The oh-so-Jewy-looking Baruchel is a quarter Jewish, at least half Catholic, exposed to both religions, but now agnostic." JewOrNotJew.com, February 7, 2011. [13]
- ^ Interview with Penn Jillette in which he mentions his agnosticism.
- ^ INTERVIEW: Padre, Padre: Mexico's Native Son Gael Garcia Bernal Stars in the Controversial "The Crime of Father Amaro"
- ^ "Actress Rose Byrne on ‘Knowing’ Religion & the End of the World" in BBook.com: [14] "Yeah, I'd say I'm agnostic".
- ^ "Arnold Dobrin similarly reported, "Aaron Copland has not followed the religion of his parents. He is an agnostic but one who is deeply aware of the grandeur and mystery of the universe."" Howard Pollack, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man, page 28. [15]
- ^ Zac Efron & Nikki Blonsky's Secret Off Screen Romance? By Tina Sims, The National Ledger, August 1, 2007 (Retrieved 25 March 2008)
- ^ "I was raised agnostic, so we never practiced religion..." "Zac Efron - the new American hearthrob", Strauss, Neil Rolling Stone, August 23, 2007, p. 43.
- ^ Smith, Warren Allen (October 25, 2000). Who's Who in Hell. Barricade Books. ISBN 1-56980-158-4. "I would describe myself as an enthusiastic agnostic who would be happy to be shown that there is a God."
- ^ "Henry Fonda claims to be an agnostic. Not an atheist but a doubter." Howard Teichmann, Fonda: My Life, page 303. [16]
- ^ In response to the question "Do you believe in God?", Fox said "I would love to, but I wonder sometimes what he believes in. Religion seems to have been created by man to help and guide humankind. I've no idea, really.""Analyse this: Inside the mind of actress Emilia Fox". iconocast.com. http://www.iconocast.com/00006/R0/News7.htm.
- ^ See "Sidelines" section of Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 19, Number 3, which references a quote from New York Times Magazine, 12-27-98.
- ^ "He [Humphrys] went looking for God and ended up an angry agnostic – unable to believe but enraged by the arrogance of militant atheists." In God we doubt, John Humphrys The Sunday Times, September 2, 2007 (Accessed 1 April 2008)
- ^ http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=GHanbI1YeDMC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=janacek+agnostic&source=bl&ots=3jIiGOYX8t&sig=16e10xATad0O2DdJzhI7C6HDHIw&hl=es&sa=X&ei=np_2Tp6cE4eEsgKgybHhAQ&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=janacek%20agnostic&f=false
- ^ "When we got married, I said, 'Look, since I'm agnostic, I have no right to tell you not to teach them what you believe. But give them an opening.' So if they ever ask me, I'd tell them the same thing I'm telling you: 'I don't buy that God, I don't know if there's an afterlife.' Pogrebin, Abigail (2005). Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish. New York: Broadway. pp. 318–322. ISBN 978-0-7679-1612-7. http://www.webcitation.org/5OlTv7URo.
- ^ Lennox, Annie (December 18, 2010). "Annie Lennox on the Secret History of Christmas Songs". The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones). http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/18/annie-lennox-on-how-to-write-a-christmas-carol/. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
- ^ I. Harb and M. Košir (2009-11-20). "Slovenci niso pobijali tjulnjev, ampak sami sebe (Slovenians Didn't Kill Seals, They Killed Each Other - interview with Janez Lapajne)". Delo - priloga Vikend - Lapajne said: "First of all, I do not want to belong to any ideological group, which is probably understandable for an agnostic." ("Najprej, ne želim pripadati nobeni ideološki skupini, kar je za agnostika verjetno razumljivo."). http://www.delo.si/tiskano/html/zadnji/Vikend.
- ^ The Onion: "Is there a God?" Stan Lee: "Well, let me put it this way... [Pauses.] No, I'm not going to try to be clever. I really don't know. I just don't know." 'Is There A God, The A.V. Club, October 9, 2002. [17]
- ^ "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.
- ^ Maher said "I'm not convinced that God exists. But I do allow the possibility. I'm not an atheist. I'm open... My view on spirituality is I don't know. I never will as long as I'm alive. So why waste time dwelling on something I can never know?" See Transcript from Larry King Live - August 11, 2005.
- ^ "'It would be safe to say that I'm agnostic,' Matthews says. 'However, I do feel as though we owe a faith to the world and to ourselves. We owe a grace and gratitude to things that have brought us here. But I think it's very ignorant to say, 'Well, for everything, God has a plan.' That's like an excuse. ... Maybe the real faithful act is to commit to something, to take action, as opposed to saying, 'Well, everything is in the hand of God.'" See Boston Globe Article 'Dave Matthews Gets Serious - and Playful' by Steve Morse (March 4, 2001)
- ^ Oberst said: "If I’m forced to categorize myself I guess I’d say I was an agnostic." Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes: Bright Ideas, by A. D. Amorosi, Harp magazine, May 2007. (Retrieved 15 October 2007)
- ^ "I'm a linear thinking agnostic, but not an atheist folks." Peart, Neil (1996). The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa. ISBN 1-55022-667-3.
- ^ "BILD: Do you believe in God? Brad Pitt (smiling): 'No, no, no!' BILD: Is your soul spiritual? Brad Pitt: 'No, no, no! I’m probably 20 per cent atheist and 80 per cent agnostic. I don’t think anyone really knows. You'll either find out or not when you get there, until then there's no point thinking about it.'" Brad Pitt interview: "With six kids each morning it is about surviving!" By Norbert Körzdörfer, Bild.com, 23 July 2009
- ^ Rooney wrote: "I call myself an agnostic, not an atheist, because in one sense atheists are like Christians or Muslims. They’re sure of themselves. A Christian says with certainty, there is a god; an atheist says with certainty, there is no god. Neither knows" Sincerely, Andy Rooney (2001), Public Affairs ISBN 1-58648-045-6
- ^ Rooney said: "Why am I an atheist? I ask you: Why is anybody not an atheist? Everyone starts out being an atheist. No one is born with belief in anything. Infants are atheists until they are indoctrinated. I resent anyone pushing their religion on me. I don't push my atheism on anybody else. Live and let live. Not many people practice that when it comes to religion." Marian Christy, "Conversations: We make our own destiny", Boston Globe, 30 May 1982 (from Newsbank).
- ^ Rooney said: "I am an atheist... I don't understand religion at all. I'm sure I'll offend a lot of people by saying this, but I think it's all nonsense." From a speech at Tufts University, 18 November 2004.
- ^ Adrienne Shelly said: "I'm an optimistic agnostic. I'd like to believe." Rhys, Tim (August 1996), Suddenly Adrienne Shelly, MovieMaker Magazine. Accessed February 12, 2007.
- ^ "I know intellectually there is no god. But in case there is, I don’t want to piss him off by saying it." Howard Stern, Interview w/ Steppin’ Out, May 21, 2004. [18]
- ^ "I am an agnostic and I was interested in reading the pre-Christian idea that winter is more about regeneration than salvation. I stayed away from that triumphal, 'God is in his heaven, isn't everything wonderful?' kind of thing."[19]
- ^ Stone said "...I'm Jewish simply because... my mom is Jewish... but... I grew up completely secular and completely agnostic... I am the worst Jew in the world. I know nothing about the religion. I'm completely agnostic (my poor mother)." 'South Park' Creator Matt Stone on Fighting Terrorism on NPR's program Fresh Air, 14 October 2004, (quote begins at 15:05, ends at 16:00)
- ^ When asked if there was a God, Stone answered "No." Is there a God?, by Stephen Thompson, The Onion A.V. Club, October 9, 2002
- ^ "Here we have a man who, while at Cambridge, was 'a most determined atheist'--those were the words of his fellow-undergraduate Bertrand Russell--and who was dismissed at the age of 25 from his post as organist in a church at South Lambeth because he refused to take Communion. Later, according to his widow, he 'drifted into a cheerful agnosticism'." The Unknown Vaughan Williams, Michael Kennedy, Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 99. (1972–1973), pp. 31-41.
- ^ "Mr. Penthouse,seminarian?"
- ^ "Dewey started his career as a Christian but over his long lifetime moved towards agnosticism. His philosphical writings start out apologetic; over his life he gradually lost interest in formal religion and focused more on democratic ideals. Moreover, he became very devoted to applying the scientific method of inquiry to both democracy and education." Shawn Olson, John Dewey - American Pragmatic Philosopher, 2005. [20]
- ^ "Epicurus taught that the soul is also made of material objects, and so when the body dies the soul dies with it. There is no afterlife. Epicurus thought that gods might exist, but if they did, they did not have anything to do with human beings." Ancient Atheists. BBC.co.uk. [21]
- ^ "Frederick Edwords, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, who labels himself an agnostic..." Atheism 101, by William B. Lindley, Truth Seeker Volume 121 (1994) No. 2, (Accessed 14 April 2008)
- ^ "Referring to himself as an agnostic and an advocate of critical realism, Popper gained an early reputation as the chief exponent of the principle of falsification rather than verification." Karl Popper: philosopher of critical realism, by Joe Barnhart, The Humanist magazine, July–August 1996. (Accessed 13 October 2006)
- ^ Only fragments of Protagoras' treatise On the Gods survive, but it opens with the sentence: "Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or not or of what sort they may be. Many things prevent knowledge including the obscurity of the subject and the brevity of human life."
- ^ 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. Russell was chosen by LOOK magazine to speak for agnostics in their well-known series explaining the religions of the U.S., and authored the essay "What Is An Agnostic?" which appeared November 3, 1953 in that magazine.
- ^ 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 January 1997 (Accessed 1 April 2008)
- ^ Kenny, Anthony (2006). "Why I'm not an atheist". What I Believe. Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-8971-0.
- ^ James Hall. Philosophy of Religion: Lecture 3 (DVD). The Teaching Company.
- ^ Jerry H. Brookshire: Clement Attlee. Manchester University Press, 1995. p. 10; 15; 35.
- ^ Bachelet said "I am a woman, socialist, separated and agnostic." See Newsweek article An Unlikely Pioneer.
- ^ Do you believe in him now, Helen?
- ^ Agenda
- ^ Holland: Tolerance fuels social experiment the Dutch way - Cover Story - Statistical Data Included
- ^ Darrow wrote "I am an agnostic as to the question of God." See Why I Am An Agnostic.
- ^ (Dutch) Agnosticisme of atheïsme
- ^ Wiener Zeitung, published July 8, 2004 (German). "The agnostic Fischer is married for 35 years with Margit." (Translation by PROMT Online Translator).
- ^ The scream is not a vehicle of ideas (In Spanish. See also: English translation by PROMT Online Translator. Accessed 13 October 2006.)
- ^ Blanche d'Alpuget, Robert J. Hawke, 87
- ^ Ingersoll said that "It seems to me that the man who knows the limitations of the mind, who gives the proper value to human testimony, is necessarily an Agnostic." Why Am I Agnostic?, Robert Green Ingersoll, 1889. See also Ingersoll's complete works, which includes many speeches and writings on religion and agnosticism.
- ^ Josipović said "Yes, it is true, I am declared agnostic." See Slobodna Dalmacija article in Croatian language[22].
- ^ http://www.150volksvertegenwoordigers.nl/?do=profile&mid=106
- ^ Rolf Steininger, Günther Bischof, Michael Gehler: Austria in the Twentieth Century. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, 2002; p. 270
- ^ Chile Moves On, Mark Falcoff, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, April 1, 2000.
- ^ http://www.150volksvertegenwoordigers.nl/?do=profile&mid=65
- ^ http://www.150volksvertegenwoordigers.nl/?do=profile&mid=64
- ^ http://www.150vv.nl/?do=profile&mid=98
- ^ Rockwell wrote in his autobiography "I am an agnostic, which means that to all proposals and explanations of the mysteries of life and eternity, I say, 'I do not know and I don't believe you or any other human does either.'" This Time the World, chapter 3, George Lincoln Rockwell, ISBN 1-59364-014-5
- ^ http://www.amsterdam.pvda.nl/nieuwsbericht/5187
- ^ "The country's Left-leaning Prime Minister, a self-declared agnostic, became a bête noire of the Catholic Church during his first term in office by legalising same-sex marriage, introducing fast-track divorce and allowing embryonic stem-cell research." [23]
- ^ http://www.netwerk.tv/node/4505
- ^ http://news.google.co.in/newspapers?id=LZotAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jp4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7168,1579610
- ^ Guha, Ramachandra (23 September 2003). "<FONT COLOR=RED SIZE=2 style=text-decoration:none>LEADER ARTICLE</FONT><BR>Inter-faith Harmony: Where Nehru and Gandhi Meet". The Times Of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/LEADER-ARTICLEBRInter-faith-Harmony-Where-Nehru-and-Gandhi-Meet/articleshow/196028.cms.
- ^ flashnewstoday.com/.../siddaramiah-claims-cm-suffering-from-political-depression/
- ^ The Hindu (Chennai, India). http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/article943497.ece?service=mobile.
- ^ Interview with Simon Mayo, BBC Radio Five Live, 2 December 2005.
- ^ Francis Crick, What Mad Pursuit: a Personal View of Scientific Discovery, Basic Books reprint edition, 1990, ISBN 0-465-09138-5, p. 145.
- ^ Reid, Robert William (1974). Marie Curie. London: Collins. pp. 19. ISBN 0-00-211539-5. "Unusually at such an early age, she became what T. H. Huxley had just invented a word for: agnostic."
- ^ Darwin wrote: "my judgment often fluctuates... In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an Atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. I think that generally (and more and more as I grow older), but not always, that an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind." The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Ch. VIII, p. 274. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1905. See Charles Darwin's views on religion
- ^ On Durkheim, Larry R. Ridener, referencing a book by Lewis A. Coser, wrote: "Shortly after his traditional Jewish confirmation at the age of thirteen, Durkheim, under the influence of a Catholic woman teacher, had a shortlived mystical experience that led to an interest in Catholicism. But soon afterwards he turned away from all religious involvement, though emphatically not from interest in religious phenomena, and became an agnostic." See Ridener's page on famous dead sociologists. See also Coser's book: Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context, 2nd Ed., Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1977: 143-144
- ^ "My position concerning God is that of an agnostic." Albert Einstein in a letter to M. Berkowitz, October 25, 1950; Einstein Archive 59-215; from Alice Calaprice, ed., The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton University Press, 2000, p. 216. As quoted at stephenjaygould.org (Accessed 20 June 2007)
- ^ "Erdös, an agnostic, likes to speak of God’s having a Book that contains the most elegant, most perfect mathematical proofs." Charles Krauthammer, Time Magazine. [24]
- ^ "Enrico Fermi's attitude to the church eventually became one of indifference, and he remained an agnostic all his adult life." Emilio Segre, Enrico Fermi: Physicist (1995), page 5.[25]
- ^ In correspondence with conservative Christian commentator John Lofton, Milton Friedman wrote: "I am an agnostic. I do not ‘believe in’ God, but I am not an atheist, because I believe the statement, ‘There is a god’ does not admit of being either confirmed or rejected." An Exchange: My Correspondence With Milton Friedman About God, Economics, Evolution And "Values", by John Lofton, The American View, October–December 2006, (Accessed 12 January 2007)
- ^ "The family adopted the Lutheran faith in 1918, and although Gabor nominally remained true to it, religion appears to have had little influence in his life. He later acknowledged the role played by an antireligious humanist education in the development of his ideas and stated his position as being that of a “benevolent agnostic.”" "Gabor, Dennis." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (January 30, 2012). [26]
- ^ "...I certainly felt bemused by the anomaly of my role as a Jewish agnostic, trying to reassure a group of Catholic priests that evolution remained both true and entirely consistent with religious belief." Nonoverlapping Magisteria, by Stephen Jay Gould, Natural History 106 (March 1997): 16-22; Reprinted from Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms, New York: Harmony Books, 1998, pp. 269-283.
- ^ "Every variety of philosophical and theological opinion was represented there, and expressed itself with entire openness; most of my colleagues were ists of one sort or another; and, however kind and friendly they might be, I, the man without a rag of a label to cover himself with, could not fail to have some of the uneasy feelings which must have beset the historical fox when, after leaving the trap in which his tail remained, he presented himself to his normally elongated companions. So I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of agnostic.'" Part 2 - Agnosticism, by T.H. Huxley, from Christianity and Agnosticism: A Controversy, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1889. Hosted at the Secular Web. (Accessed 5 April 2008)
- ^ Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn: The Cultural Background of Ludwig von Mises http://mises.org/pdf/asc/essays/kuehneltLeddihn.pdf
- ^ Morris, Edward (January 2003). "Finding the father inside". BookPage. http://www.bookpage.com/0301bp/sherwin_nuland.html. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
- ^ "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
- ^ Steve Wartenberg: ""So, do you believe in God?" I asked". ""You really can't know," answered Bill Nye the Controversial Guy." Steve Wartenberg, The Morning Call, April 06, 2006. [27]
- ^ "Today, I consider myself, in Thomas Huxley's terms, an agnostic. I don’t know whether there is a God or creator, or whatever we may call a higher intelligence or being. I don’t know whether there is an ultimate reason for our being or whether there is anything beyond material phenomena. I may doubt these things as a scientist, as we cannot prove them scientifically, but at the same time we also cannot falsify (disprove) them. For the same reasons, I cannot deny God with certainty, which would make me an atheist. This is a conclusion reached by many scientists." George Olah, A Life of Magic Chemistry
- ^ Rotblat: "I have to admit, however, that there are really many things that I do not know. I am not a particularly religious person, and this is the reason for my agnosticism. To be an agnostic simply means that I do not know and will keep seeking the answer for eternity. This is my response to questions about religion." Joseph Rotblat, Daisaku Ikeda, A quest for global peace: Rotblat and Ikeda on war, ethics, and the nuclear threat. Page 94. [28]
- ^ "Famed scientist Carl Sagan was also a renowned sceptic and agnostic who during his life refused to believe in anything unless there was physical evidence to support it." "Unbeliever's Quest" by Jerry Adler, in Newsweek, March 31, 1997. Excerpt hosted at HighBeam Research accessed 2 November 2007.
- ^ Schuster, Peter. "Interview with Peter Schuster". National Catholic Reporter. Archived from the original on 2008-04-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20080405205910/http://www.ncronline.org/mainpage/specialdocuments/intervieww-peterschuster.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-25. "... I was a Catholic, but I no longer consider myself one. I suppose I am agnostic. Let's put it his way -- I have difficulties with the idea of a personal God. I don’t have trouble with God as creator of the world as a whole."
- ^ "Both Enrico and Leo were agnostics." Nina Byers, Fermi and Szilard.[29]
- ^ "Though research activities dominated his working days, Faraday never neglected to meet with his Christian friends for worship and prayer. We quote again from John Tyndall who, it should be said, was an agnostic: "I think that a good deal of Faraday's week-day strength and persistency might be referred to his Sunday Exercises. He drinks from a fount on Sunday which refreshes his soul for a week."" The Biblical Creation Society , Michael Faraday pioneer scientist - Christian Man of Science, 2002. [30]
- ^ "The odd subtext of that offer was that Faraday was intensely religious, and Tyndall was as fascinated with Faraday's convictions as he was with prayer, miracles, and cosmology. Faraday "drinks from a fount on Sunday which refreshes his soul for a week," said the agnostic Tyndall with obvious fascination -- and, perhaps, a trace of envy." John H. Lienhard, Science, Religion, and John Tyndall, The Engines of our Ingenuity. [31]
- ^ Chris Mooney (February 28, 2011). "Neil deGrasse Tyson – Communicating Science". Point of Inquiry (Podcast). Center for Inquiry. http://www.pointofinquiry.org/neil_degrasse_tyson_communicating_science/. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
- ^ "Although Wilczek grew up in the Roman Catholic faith, he now considers himself agnostic. He still has a fondness for the Church, so this book should not offend Christians. In fact Wilczek cites Father James Malley for a Jesuit Credo that states: "It is more blessed to ask forgiveness than permission."" Jim Walker, nobeliefs.com. [32]
- ^ Wozniak, Steven. "Letters-General Questions Answered". woz.org. http://www.woz.org/letters/general/72.html. 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."
- ^ Krakauer, Jon Where Men Win Glory, Doubleday, 2009, p 116, 314. "Tillman was an agnostic, perhaps even an atheist". See also quotes from Tillman's brother Kevin.
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