# Famous Atheists. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931 "2004-08-02T05:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/1 "2004-08-02T05:20:39Z")
Not sure where to put this. I was curious to know what famous people belong to my club so I googled and found [this site](http://www.celebatheists.com/) There are one or two surprises and a few more who I like to see there (Such as Terry Pratchett) > [@](#): > > Disclaimer: The accuracy of this list is based solely on the quality of citations sent in by readers. There is no intent to misrepresent any person’s beliefs or lack thereof. Errors will be corrected when brought to the editor’s attention. If you see any, please send notice of error, along with any supporting information to Reed Esau ([email won’t paste]). The dope is as good a place as any to back up or refute any particular claim on the site. p.s. my previous curiosity was what percentages of the pop belong to what religion. It listed atheists (2.5%) and ‘non-religious’ (12%) seperately. surely they are the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/2 "2004-08-02T05:24:35Z")
AFAIK, Jack Nicholson is an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/3 "2004-08-02T05:41:15Z")
Oh, I remember that site. I’ve contributed a little to it - and I used to check it a lot, but as you can see it hasn’t been updated in two years. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/4 "2004-08-02T05:51:24Z")
Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) is an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/5 "2004-08-02T06:03:55Z")
Douglas Adams described himself as a radical atheist. I believe Isaac Asimov was as well. ---
**Author:** ![SuperDuperMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@SuperDuperMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperDuperMan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/6 "2004-08-02T06:05:21Z")
You know whose a fameous Atheist? Stalin, and Mao, and Lenin, and Marx. You godless commie bastards. Just Kidding… Marx was technically a Jew. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/7 "2004-08-02T06:24:25Z")
Didn’t Marlon Brando when asked to testify in court say he was an atheist? im pretty sure I read that on [http://www.imdb.com](http://www.imdb.com) ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/8 "2004-08-02T10:16:25Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > It listed atheists (2.5%) and ‘non-religious’ (12%) seperately. surely they are the same thing. Why? A non-religious person must automatically be an atheist? Gee, I’d better get my non-religious non-atheist ass into hiding before the Belief Police come after me with their bully clubs! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/9 "2004-08-02T10:24:21Z")
> [@xgxlx](#): > > Douglas Adams described himself as a radical atheist. I seem to remember an article wherein he described himself as a ‘militant atheist’. My former Philosophy teacher swears that Stephen Hawking is looking for final proof of scientific atheism (and that he’s not going to find it) but it seems like I remmeber him talking about god at one time or another. On a related note, [here](http://fff.fathom.org/pages/cisco/Picture%20051.jpg) is a picture of me, taken earlier today (I’m the one on the right), and I plan on being famous someday :). ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/10 "2004-08-02T13:43:48Z")
Carl Sagan ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/11 "2004-08-02T14:56:45Z")
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. took over for Asimov as president of their secular humanist organization after Asimov’s death. Google on “secular humanist” and their names and you’ll get lists of other famous such persons. Note that Vonnegut still believes in The Sermon on The Mount as the best guide to moral living, unlike most supposedly religious people. Remember folks, Jesus practiced Universal Free Health Care. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/12 "2004-08-02T15:01:14Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I seem to remember an article wherein he described himself as a ‘militant atheist’. [This might be the article](http://www.americanatheist.org/win98-99/T2/silverman.html), but the term he used is ‘radical’. > [@DNA](#): > > AMERICAN ATHEISTS: Mr. Adams, you have been described as a “radical Atheist.” Is this accurate? > > DNA: Yes. I think I use the term radical rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “Atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘Agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean Atheist. I really do not believe that there is a god - in fact I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one. It’s easier to say that I am a radical Atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/13 "2004-08-02T15:06:50Z")
> [@xgxlx](#): > > Douglas Adams described himself as a radical atheist. . . Along with his chum Richard Dawkins. AFAIK Dawkins is the only atheist to have contributed a BBC Radio 4 “thought for the day” spot. This is a short religious spot broadcast at about 7:50 every morning and the contributor is usually a religious type of almost _any_ faith, usually Christian but often Jewish and occasionally Muslim. I don’t recall them having had Satanist on. Yet. It is just about possible they’ve had a Pagan, if they have I missed it. (Actually I try to be in the shower when it comes on since it is often horribly patronising and I don’t like being preached at). **Lobsang** PTerry is in the list. So now we know the answer to: Q: What do Jodie Foster, Brian Eno and Bill Gates have in common? And I like this from Bill Gates: > [@](#): > > Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning. Very pragmatic Bill. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/14 "2004-08-02T20:12:54Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Why? A non-religious person must automatically be an atheist? > > Gee, I’d better get my non-religious non-atheist ass into hiding before the Belief Police come after me with their bully clubs! > > :rolleyes: why not? Isn’t the central point of religion to believe in a god or higher power, i.e. to be a theist. and how can an atheist be religious. so how is it naive to believe that atheism and non-religiousness are the same things? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/15 "2004-08-02T20:16:50Z")
(no really, I’m asking) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/16 "2004-08-02T20:32:58Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > why not? > > Isn’t the central point of religion to believe in a god or higher power, i.e. to be a theist. > > and how can an atheist be religious. > > so how is it naive to believe that atheism and non-religiousness are the same things? First off, a lot of people vaguely believe in God but don’t practice any kind of religion. They are non-religious and theistic. Secondly, many eastern religions (most notably Buddhism) do not require belief in God. Practitioners may be religious and atheistic. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/17 "2004-08-02T20:39:29Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Isn’t the central point of religion to believe in a god or higher power, i.e. to be a theist. Well, that depends on the religion. A religion is a system of belief and ritual; while most religions revolve around deity-worship, there certainly are some which do not. Many varieties of Buddhism, for example, are atheistic. The converse is probably much more common, and is the situation you were objecting to-irreligious theists. There is no shortage of individuals who think there’s a God, but don’t think that there are any organized religions who know Her phone number. I’m finding it real hard to call Deism a ‘religion’ _per se_ … ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/18 "2004-08-02T21:07:30Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Secondly, many eastern religions (most notably Buddhism) do not require belief in God. Practitioners may be religious and atheistic. But they don’t consider themselves religions, rather philisophies. They can only loosely be termed religions. But I understand there are people who technically believe in god but are not actively religious, but for statistics I think they should still be refered to as religious people simply for posessing that belief. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/19 "2004-08-02T21:10:39Z")
but but but but :smack: I’m tired. I’ve read of buddhists calling themselves Atheists. I’ve also read of buddhists who object to buddhism being called a religion. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931/20 "2004-08-02T21:50:33Z")
I have observed a tendency in some staunchly religious people to believe, “I worship the true God; there are other religions, but they worship _false_ ‘Gods’. Therefore, if you are of one of these religions, you are denying the existence of the true God, and are an atheist”. I once had a colleague (a very religious fellow) who asserted that Hawking was an atheist, in spite of the fact that in the movie “A Brief History of Time”, he is heard referring the “the mind of God”. As an atheist, if I hear someone discussing the mind of God, I assume they believe God exists (or at least, _may_ exist). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-atheists/257931.md?page=2)