Lists of atheists
An atheist is one who disbelieves[1] in the existence of a deity or deities. Different definitions identify various levels of disbelief that an atheist may have. An atheist may be one who asserts that there is no God,[2] one who rejects belief in a deity,[3] or one who simply does not believe in a deity.[4][5][6]
This list does not prefer any particular definition of atheist, but gives precedence to a person's self-identification. With few exceptions, only those who have called themselves atheists are listed. Others may be listed if identified as such by informed and impartial sources, or if they fit the narrowest sense of the word atheist (they have denied the existence of God and other deities).
Excluded are persons who have merely expressed skepticism about the existence of God, or who have merely criticized religion. Such sentiments are insufficient to identify someone as an atheist.
List
Activists and educators
- Pietro Acciarito (1871–1943): Italian anarchist activist known for attempting to assassinate King Umberto I.[7]
- Zackie Achmat (1962—): South African anti-HIV/AIDS activist. Founder of the Treatment Action Campaign.[8]
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969—): Dutch feminist and politician.[9]
- Natalie Angier (1958—): Non-fiction writer and science journalist for The New York Times. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting in 1991.[10]
- Dan Barker (1949—): a prominent American atheist activist.[11]
- Richard Carrier (1969—): a historian, philosopher and atheist activist.[12]
- Emma Goldman (1869–1940): Lithuanian-born radical, known for her writings and speeches defending anarchist communism, feminism, and atheism.[13]
- George Holyoake (1817–1906): English secularist, the last person in England to be imprisoned for being an atheist (in 1842).[14]
- Ellen Johnson: current president of American Atheists.[15]
- Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921): Russian anarchist communist activist and geographer, best known for the scientific/political writing Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, which refutes social Darwinism.[16]
- Taslima Nasrin (1962—): Bangladeshi physician, writer, feminist human rights activist and secular humanist. [17]
- 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.[18]
- 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.[19]
- James Randi, (1928—) magician, debunker and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation. [20]
- 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."[21]
- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883–1966): Indian revolutionary freedom fighter, and Hindu nationalist leader.[22]
- Bhagat Singh (1907–1931): Indian revolutionary freedom fighter.[23]
- Barbara Smoker (1923—): British humanist activist and freethought advocate. Wrote the book Freethoughts: Atheism, Secularism, Humanism – Selected Egotistically from The Freethinker.[24]
- Polly Toynbee (1946—): columnist for The Guardian.[25]
Authors
- Douglas Adams (1952–2001): British radio and television writer, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.[26]
- Isaac Asimov (1920–1992): Russian-born American author of science fiction and popular science books.[27]
- Dave Barry (1947–): American humor columnist and author of Big Trouble, among others.[28]
- Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?): American writer, author of The Devil's Dictionary.[29]
- Marshall Brain (1961–) Author of WhyWontGodHealAmputees.com and GodIsImaginary.com
- Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917—): British scientist and science-fiction author.[30]
- Vardis Fisher (1895–1968): American writer, scholar. Author of atheistic Testament of Man series.[31]
- 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.[32] [33]
- Jan Guillou (1944—): Swedish author and Journalist.[34]
- Sam Harris (1967—): American author, researcher in neuroscience, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation.[35]
- 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.[36]
- Christopher Hitchens (1949—): Author, journalist and essayist.[37]
- Michel Houellebecq (1958—): French novelist.[38]
- S. T. Joshi (1958—): American editor and literary critic.[39]
- Ludovic Kennedy (1919—): British journalist, author, and campaigner for voluntary euthanasia.[40]
- 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.[41]
- 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." [42]
- Stanislaw Lem (1921–2006): Polish science fiction novelist and essayist.[43]
- Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837): Italian poet, linguist, essayist and philosopher. Leopardi is legendary as an out-and-out nihilist.[44]
- Primo Levi (1919–1987): Italian novelist and chemist, survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp.[45]
- 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."[46]
- Pierre Loti (1850–1923): French novelist and travel writer.[47]
- Joseph McCabe (1867–1955): English writer, anti-religion campaigner.[48]
- China Miéville (1972—): British Science Fiction author.[49]
- David Mills (author) (1959—): Author who argues in his book Atheist Universe that science and religion cannot be successfully reconciled.[50]
- Camille Paglia (1947—): American post-feminist literary and cultural critic.[51]
- 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.[52]
- Terry Pratchett (1948—): English Fantasy author known for his satirical Discworld series.[53]
- Philip Pullman (1946—): CBE, British author of His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy for young adults, which have atheism as a major theme.[54]
- Ayn Rand (1905–1982): Russian-born American author and founder of Objectivism.[55]
- Ron Reagan (1958—): American magazine journalist, board member of the politically activist Creative Coalition, son of former U. S. President Ronald Reagan.[56]
- Salman Rushdie (1947—): Indian-born British essayist and author of fiction.[57]
- José Saramago (1922—): Portuguese writer, playwright and journalist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998.[58]
- George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950): Irish playwright, only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize (Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925) and an Oscar (Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1939 for Pygmalion).[59][60]
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822): British Romantic poet, contemporary and associate of John Keats and Lord Byron, and author of The Necessity of Atheism.[61]
- Warren Allen Smith (1921—): Author of Who's Who in Hell.[62]
- 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)."[21]
- Ibn Warraq (1946—): Best-selling author and secularist scholar of Islam currently living in the United States. He is a Muslim apostate and an outspoken critic of Islam who has written extensively on what he views as the oppressive nature of Islam.[63]
- Gao Xingjian (1940—): Chinese émigré novelist, dramatist, critic, translator, stage director and painter. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000.[64]
Business
- Graeme Samuel - Australian businessman, currently serving as the chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.[65]
- Christer Sturmark (1964—): Swedish IT entrepreneur and chairman of The Swedish Humanist Organisation.[66]
- Stephen Girard - French sailor turned American banker and philanthropist.[67]
Comedians
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- Woody Allen (1935—): American film director, actor and comedian. Allen said that "To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition."[68]
- George Carlin (1937—): American comedian, actor and author. Outspoken atheist, described religion as having "the greatest bullshit story ever told", that "there's an invisible man living in the sky."[69]
- David Cross (1964—): American actor and comedian.[70]
- Janeane Garofalo (1964—): American actor and comedian.[71]
- Kathy Griffin (1963—): American comedian.[72]
- Patton Oswalt (1969—): American actor and comedian. [73]
- Julia Sweeney (1961—): 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.[74]
- Gene Weingarten (1951—): Humor writer for The Washington Post. [75]
- Joe Farrar (1991—): Liverpool-based comedian. Farrar said that "If God exists, then I would definitely have been smote by now."
Film, radio and television
- Phillip Adams (1939—): Australian broadcaster, writer, film-maker, left-wing radical thinker, iconoclast, Australian Humanist of the Year 1987.[76]
- Brannon Braga (1965–): American TV producer and writer, creator of Star Trek: Enterprise. [77]
- 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."[78]
- 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.[79]
- 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. [80]
- Ricky Gervais (1961—): British actor, co-creator of the original version of The Office; appears as the Curator in the 2006 film, Night at the Museum.[81]
- Paul Giamatti (1967—): American film and television actor[82]
- Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003): American actress who appeared in 53 films from 1932 to 1994; winner of four Academy Awards for Best Actress.[83]
- John Humphrys (1943—): British radio and television presenter who hosted a series of programmes interviewing religious leaders, Humphrys in Search of God.[84]
- 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.[85] He has also taken the Blasphemy Challenge.
- Skandar Keynes (1991—): English actor (Chronicles of Narnia films).[86]
- Michael Kinsley (1951—): American political journalist, commentator, and television host.[87]
- Tom Leykis (1956—): radio talk-show host.[88]
- Paul Mazursky (1930—): American director, producer and actor[89]
- George Meyer (1956—): Producer and writer for The Simpsons.[90]
- Julianne Moore (1960 —): American film actress.[91]
- Cillian Murphy (1976—): Irish stage and screen actor. [92]
- Sarah Polley (1979—): Canadian actress and director.[93]
- Gene Roddenberry (1921—1991): American scriptwriter and producer, creator of Star Trek.[94]
- Steven Soderbergh (1963—): American filmmaker, Academy Award-winning director of such films as Traffic; Erin Brockovich; Ocean's Eleven; and Sex, Lies and Videotape. [95]
- Robert Smith (1972—): former Minnesota Vikings running back and NFL Network football analyst.[96]
- J. Michael Straczynski (1954—): American writer and producer, creator of Babylon 5.[97]
- Teller (magician) (1948—): American magician, co-host of the television show Bullshit!. [85]
- Joss Whedon (1964—): American screenwriter and director, most famous for creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer.[98]
- Gene Wilder (1933—): American actor best known for his role as Willy Wonka. [99]
Music
- David Gilmour (1946—): English guitarist and vocalist with Pink Floyd.[100]
- Greg Graffin (1964—): Lead Singer of the political Punk Rock band 'Bad Religion', and co-author of Is Belief in God Good, Bad, or Irrelevant?, who obtained his PhD from work on the relationship between evolution and religion.[101] [102]
- Billy Joel (1949—): American singer, songwriter, and pianist.[103]
- Lemmy (1945—): English rock singer and bass guitarist, most famous for founding the heavy metal band Motörhead.[104]
- Till Lindemann (1963—): Lead singer of the German heavy metal band, Rammstein [105]
- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908): Russian Nationalist composer, member of "The Five", best-known for the tone poem Scheherazade.[106]
- Ned Rorem (1923—): American composer [107]
- Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872—1958): British composer. Despite the variety of his works with religious connections, Vaughan Williams was decidedly not a believer.[108] He once said that "there is no reason why an atheist could not write a good mass," then proved it by writing a superb one. He later became an agnostic. [109]
Philosophy
- Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876): Russian philosopher, writer and anarchist.[110]
- Albert Camus (1913–1960): French philosopher and novelist, a luminary of existentialism. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.[111][21]
- 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.[112]
- Benedetto Croce (1886–1952): Italian philosopher and public figure.[113]
- Daniel Dennett (1942—): American philosopher, author of Breaking the Spell[114]
- Diagoras (5th century BCE): Ancient Greek poet and sophist known as the Atheist of Milos, who declared that there were no Gods.[115]
- Denis Diderot (1713–84): editor-in-chief of the Encyclopédie, who succeeded in bringing about "a revolution in men's minds."[116]
- Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach (1804–1872): German philosopher whose major work, The Essence of Christianity, maintains that religion and divinity are projections of human nature.[117]
- Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715–71): French philosopher whose ethical and social views helped shape the school of utilitarianism later made famous by Jeremy Bentham.[116]
- Baron d'Holbach (1723–89): French philosopher and encyclopedist, most famous as being one of the first outspoken atheists in Europe.[118]
- Paul Kurtz (1925–): Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University at Buffalo (SUNY).[119]
- 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. [120]
- Karl Marx (1818–83): German-Jewish author of Das Kapital, known for his assertion that "Religion is... the opium of the people."[121]
- 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.[122][123]
- Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–51): French physician and philosopher, earliest materialist writer of the Enlightenment, claimed as a founder of cognitive science.[124]
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900): German Existentialist philosopher and known as the founder of Nihilism 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).[125]
- Piergiorgio Odifreddi (1950—): Italian mathematician, philosopher and science writer.[126]
- 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.[127]
- Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980): French existentialist philosopher, dramatist and novelist who declared that he had been an atheist from age twelve. Although he regarded God as a self-contradictory concept, he still thought of it as an ideal toward which people strive.[128] 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.[129]
- Peter Singer (1946—): Australian utilitarian philosopher, proponent of animal rights, and Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University.[130]
- Sherwin Wine (1928—2007): Founder of the non-theistic Society for Humanistic Judaism, who has also called himself an "ignostic".[131]
- Slavoj Žižek (1949—): Slovenian sociologist, postmodern philosopher, and cultural critic.[132]
Politics and law
- Shulamit Aloni (1928—): Israeli politician and left-wing activist. She served as Israel's minister of education from 1992 to 1993.[133]
- Charles Bradlaugh (1833–1891): Political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century.[134]
- Alastair Campbell: Director of Communications and Strategy for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2003. [135] [136]
- 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."[137]
- Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) Leader of the Italian Risorgimento, unifier of Italy, "Hero of the Two Worlds".[138]
- Mikhail Gorbachev (1931—): Former Soviet president and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. [139][140][141]
- Enver Hoxha: (1908–1985): Communist ruler who declared Albania the first atheist state, and who has been identified as an "arch-atheist."[142] [143]
- M. Karunanidhi (1924—): Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.[144][145]
- Aleksander Kwaśniewski (1954—): Former President of Poland (1995-2005). [146]
- Alexander Lukashenko (1954—): President of Belarus, self-described "Russian Orthodox atheist."[147]
- Mo Mowlam (1949–2005): Former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.[148]
- Culbert Olson (1876–1962): American politician and Governor of California (1939–1943). [149]
- Joseph Stalin (1879–1953): Soviet head of state.[150]
- Pete Stark, D.-Calif. (1931—): U.S. Representative; first openly nontheistic member of Congress.[151]
- 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.[152]
Science and technology
- Paul D. Boyer (1918—): American biochemist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1997.[153]
- Sean M. Carroll (1956—): Theoretical cosmologist specializing in dark energy and general relativity.[154]
- 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.[155]
- Francis Crick (1916–2004): 1962-Nobel-laureate co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, who described himself as a skeptic and an agnostic with "a strong inclination towards atheism."[156][157]
- 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.[158]
- Paul Dirac (1902–1984): British theoretical physicist, founder of quantum mechanics, predicted the existence of antimatter; won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933.[159][160]
- 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.[161]
- Sigmund Freud (1856–1939): Father of psychoanalysis.[162]
- Christer Fuglesang (1957—), Swedish astronaut and physicist.[163]
- 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.[164]
- G. H. Hardy (1877–1947): a prominent English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis.[165] [166]
- Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900–1958): French physicist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1935.[167]
- Harold Kroto (1939—): 1996 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.[168]
- Alfred Kinsey (1894–1956): American biologist, sexologist and professor of entomology and zoology.[169]
- Richard Leakey (1944—): Kenyan paleontologist, archaeologist and conservationist.[170]
- 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.[171]
- Jonathan Miller (1934—): British physician, actor, theatre and opera director, and (latterly) 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.[172]
- Peter D. Mitchell (1920–1992): 1978-Nobel-laureate British biochemist. Atheist mother, and himself atheist from age 15.[173]
- 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.[174]
- 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.[175]
- 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.[176]
- PZ Myers (1957—) American biology professor at the University of Minnesota and a science blogger via his blog, Pharyngula.[177]
- Paul Nurse (1949—): 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.[178]
- Linus Pauling (1901–1994): Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1954) and Peace (1962); considered by many to be the greatest chemist of the 20th century.[160]
- Steven Pinker (1954—): American psychologist.[179]
- 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. [180] [181] [182]
- Amartya Kumar Sen (1933—): 1998 Nobel Laureate in Economics.[183][184][185][186]
- 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. [187]
- Michael Smith (1932–2000): British-born Canadian biochemist and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1993.[188]
- Richard Stallman (1953—): American software freedom activist, hacker, and software developer.[189]
- 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.[190]
- Leonard Susskind (1940—): American theoretical physicist. He was one of the founding fathers of Superstring theory and he is a professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University.[191]
- Linus Torvalds (1969—): Finnish software engineer, creator of the Linux kernel. [192]
- 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.[193][194]
- James D. Watson (1928—): 1962-Nobel-laureate co-discover of the structure of DNA, identified as an atheist in a Newsweek commentary by his acquaintance, Rabbi Marc Gellman.[195]
- Steven Weinberg (1933—): American theoretical physicist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 for creating a unified field theory of electromagnetic force and nuclear weak force known as the electro-weak gauge theory.[196][197]
- David Sloan Wilson (1949—): American evolutionary biologist, son of Sloan Wilson, proponent of multilevel selection theory and author of several popular books on evolution.[198]
Visual Arts
- Mitch Clem (1982—): American cartoonist and webcomic author.[199]
- Alexander McQueen (1969—): English fashion designer.[200]
- "Normal" Bob Smith (1969—): American graphic artist, who prompted controversy with his creation of Jesus Dress Up.[201]
See also
- List of notable former atheists
- Lists of people by belief
- List of agnostics
- List of humanists
- List of nontheists
Footnotes and citations
- ^ Various dictionaries give a range of definitions for disbelief, from "lack of belief" to "doubt" and "withholding of belief" to "rejection of belief", "refusal to believe", and "denial". Template:Ref harvard
- ^ "The average theologian (there are exceptions, of course) uses 'atheist' to mean a person who denies the existence of a God."Template:Ref harvard
- ^ "Atheism is fundamentally a rejection of belief in any God. It is more than a simple lack of belief, as children and some members of tribal societies may not believe out of ignorance." Template:Ref harvard
- ^ "Atheists are people who do not believe in a god or gods (or other immaterial beings), or who believe that these concepts are not meaningful. Some atheists put it more firmly and believe that god or gods do not exist." Template:Ref harvard
- ^ "The broader, and more common, understanding of atheism among atheists is quite simply 'not believing in any gods.' No claims or denials are made—an atheist is just a person who does not happen to be a theist." Template:Ref harvard
- ^ "[Most atheists] would hold that an atheist is a person without a belief in God. The distiniction is small but important. Denying something means that you have knowledge of what it is that you are being asked to affirm, but that you have rejected that particular concept. To be without a belief in God merely means that the term 'god' has no importance or possibly no meaning to you. Belief in God is not a factor in your life. Surely this is quite different from denying the existence of God. Atheism is not a belief as such. It is the lack of belief." Template:Ref harvard
- ^ 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) - ^ My God Problem[1]
- ^ Minister Turned Atheist[2]
- ^ Biography of Richard Carrier[3]
- ^ 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, 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)
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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) - ^ "I am a radical Atheist..." Adams in an interview by American Atheists[4].
- ^ "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.)
- ^ "...I decided I was an atheist early on..." Interview with Dave Barry, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 November 2001, as reported at celebatheists.com. Retrieved 29 July 2007
- ^ Multiple quotes from Bierce substantiating his atheist views[5].
- ^ "…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
- ^ American Atheists article on Fisher [6].
- ^ "I have no religion - I'm an atheist, and I don't believe in any afterlife..." Gordimer 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.
- ^ 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
- ^ "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) - ^ 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)[7].
- ^ Waste Books E 252, 1765-1770
- ^ Repeatedly mentioned in Lesley Blanch's biography of him: Pierre Loti - Travels with the Legendary Romantic.
- ^ Multiple quotes from McCabe substantiating his atheist view [8].
- ^ "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.[9]
- ^ Salon magazine 28 April 1999 [10]
- ^ "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.
- ^ In conversation with Archbishop Rowan Williams [11].
- ^ "I am an intransigent atheist, but not a militant one." Rand quoted in Michael S. Berliner (1995). Letters of Ayn Rand: March 20, 1965 [12]
- ^ 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)
- ^ The Religious Affiliation of Irish Playwright George Bernard Shaw
- ^ George Bernard Shaw quotations
- ^ Listing of Shelley's The Necessity of Atheism at Amazon.com [13].
- ^ Listing of Smith as a founder of Freethinkers New York.
- ^ "Warraq's book Why I Am Not a Muslim presents a strident historical, moral, and philosophical indictment of Islam and advocates not just a firm separation of mosque and state but outright atheism." Holy War, by Chris Mooney at The American Prospect online (Accessed 29 August 2006).
- ^ Nobel Lecture by Gao Xingjian
- ^ "I'm an atheist..." Terry 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!
- ^ 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."
- ^ The BBC found in a worldwide poll that this was the eighth favorite quote among its readers. The BBC reports that "Woody Allen has never been shy about his atheism and often alludes to it in his work." BBC Learning English - Moving Words: Woody Allen Quote Feature (Accessed 22 May 2007).
- ^ 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."
- ^ Appearance on ABC's "Politically Incorrect" (March 9, 1998) "I was born Jewish, but I am an atheist. I don't believe in God."[14]
- ^ "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)
- ^ 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).
- ^ "[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[15].
- ^ "I found that Archie thing completely creepy. Is that because I am an atheist?" [16], washingtonpost.com, Aug. 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]"[17].
- ^ "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
- ^ 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.
- ^ States he is an atheist in his Animals live DVD. Said, "I'm an atheist," and that Homer Simpson was the closest thing for him to God, in a PBS "Fresh Air" interview, December 18, 2006.
- ^ ""I never saw Russell lose it on set..."". TotalFilm.com. 2006-02-08. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ 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[18]
- ^ "A God of mercy, any God, seems out of the question." In Search of God
- ^ 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." [19]
- ^ "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.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|accesdate=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ The Seattle Times article confirming that Leykis hosts a radio segment called Ask the Atheist [20].
- ^ 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) - ^ "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
- ^ http://www.celebatheists.com/?title=Julianne_Moore
- ^ April 2007 interview in Total Film
- ^ "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.
- ^ Interview of Gene Roddenberry by David Alexander
- ^ Soderbergh siad "I’m a hardcore atheist." State of Independence, by Scotland on Sunday, 23 January 2005, (Accessed 8 June 2007).
- ^ "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).
- ^ 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 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..." The punk and the professor and what they say about God, by Warren Kinsella, Anglican Journal, Jan 1, 2007 (Retrieved 9 August 2007).
- ^ [21]
- ^ "I still feel very much like an atheist in the religious aspects of things... But there are spiritual planes that I'm aware of that I don't know anything about and that I can't explain." Billboard Magazine [22]
- ^ "I'm an atheist and an anarchist" — Eddy, Chuck (1997). "Damage Case: Lemmy and Motörhead". Motörhead Forever.
- ^ Stated that he is an Atheist.[23]
- ^ The Guardian describes as "a devout atheist - Stravinsky later described him rather disapprovingly as having a mind 'closed to any religious or metaphysical idea'" [24]
- ^ quoted as saying "I'm an atheist" in interview for American Music Box[25]
- ^ According to his second wife, Ursula.[26]
- ^ Stephen Moss (2007-03-09). "Building a classical music library: Vaughan Williams". Guardian arts blog. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Multiple quotes from Bakunin substantiating his atheist views[27].
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ celebatheists.com
- ^ J. L. Mackie, The Miracle of Theism, 1982.
- ^ Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, 1843
- ^ 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
- ^ Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, aphorisms 108 and 125 [28])
- ^ Piergiorgio Odifreddi. "Che fine ha fatto Dio?" (in Italian). Retrieved 2006-10-09.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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).
- ^ celebatheists.com
- ^ 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 [29]].
- ^ "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." [30] 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
- ^ 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)....."[31]
- ^ .....M. Karunanidhi, is a sworn atheist, it is a tussle between personal beliefs and the party's ideological moorings.[32]
- ^ "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.
- ^ "PERSECUTION WATCH: Belarus". vineyardfederalway.org. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
- ^ "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[33]
- ^ 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
- ^ 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)
- ^ 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. - ^ Boyer, Paul. "A Path to Atheism". Freedom From Religion Foundation. Retrieved on February 3, 2007
- ^ Why (Almost All) Cosmologists are Atheists[34]
- ^ "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.
- ^ Francis Crick, What Mad Pursuit: a Personal View of Scientific Discovery, Basic Books reprint edition, 1990, ISBN 0-465-09138-5, p. 145.
- ^ How I Got Inclined Towards Atheism[35]
- ^ 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 [36]
- ^ "[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, Hinduism Today, October/November/December, 2003. (Accessed 2 July 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) (Accessed 2 July 2007)
- ^ [37]
- ^ Harold Kroto claims to have four "religions": humanism, atheism, amnesty-internationalism and humourism.[38]
- ^ "Kinsey was also shown to be an atheist who loathed religion and its constraints on sex." 'Kinsey' critics ready, Cheryl Wetzstein, The Washington Times. (Accessed 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) [39]
- ^ A Rough History of Disbelief Official BBC site describing the series
- ^ Nobel Biography[40].
- ^ "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. (Accessed 2 July 2007)
- ^ "[Müller] was an atheist..." Review of Müller's biography, by James Mallet, Quarterly Review of Biology 79:196 (2004) (Accessed 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) (Accessed 14 June 2007)
- ^ "I was brought up a Lutheran, but I became an atheist" — PZ Meyers (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) - ^ "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 [41]
- ^ Self-proclaimed [42]
- ^ World Bank [43]
- ^ Press meeting [44]
- ^ "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 on February 3, 2007.
- ^ Stallman's former personal ad
- ^ God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist.[45][46]
- ^ 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. (Accessed 30 May 2007)
- ^ "[I am a] 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.." [http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/3655/print Interview of Torvalds performed by the Linux Journal. Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
- ^ "This loss shattered Turing's religious faith and led him into atheism..." The Time 100 profile of Alan Turing, p. 2
- ^ "He was an atheist..." Alan Turing: Father of the computer, BBC News, 28 April 1999. (Accessed 11 June 2007)
- ^ 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 (Accessed 11 November 2006)
- ^ 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".[47]
- ^ In the book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins identifies Steven Weinberg as an atheist.[48]
- ^ 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) - ^ "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) - ^ celebatheists.com
- ^ Smith's explanation of his atheism to a hate mailer on his website [49]
![[6]](http://www.atheists.org/pix/theme/top17.jpg){kind=link}
References
- a BBC. "Ethics and Religion - Atheism". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2006-10-22.
- a Cline, Austin (2006). "What Is the Definition of Atheism?". about.com. Retrieved 2006-10-21.
- ^ Lyngzeidetson, Albert (2003). Comparative Religions: A Guide to World Religions. QuickStudy: BarCharts, Inc. ISBN 1-57222-744-3.
- a The Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition ed.). Oxford University Press, USA. 1989. ISBN 0-19-861186-2.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - a b Stein, Gordon, ed. (1980). An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism. New York: Prometheus.