Shh!
In Red Dwarf Lister was an atheist.
As far as I remember, Scully was always painted as a Catholic, as far back as the first-season episode when her father died.
I seem to recall that the father in the Waltons was either agnostic or an atheist, which caused friction between him and the religious mother.
Sigh … that seems to fit the description of most fictional TV atheists.
They’re atheists only because God killed their baby brother, or gave them cancer, or didn’t let them have that tricycle they wanted when they were 4 years old – and then only until the end of the episode when they “forgive God” and become True Believers again.
Yep, when he was talking to the nun he was comparing a trained doctor some made up, pie in the sky God. He’s a brave man not to worry about being rular’ed ;).
That whole epsiode was an exceptional exploration of religion. Jayne was the town’s savior, and he couldn’t understand why they had so much faith in him and that they would literally die for him, and that contrasted nicely with River fixing the Bible.
Another interesting thing to consider is that when Angel and Spike fight in Soul Purpose, Spike picks up a cross and hits Angel with it. Doesn’t bother Spike at all, but clearly as an effect on Angel.
When I saw this thread, Mulder on the X-Files is the first thing that popped into my head, though for the life of me, I can’t remember exactly why. I think it is because he is always skeptical of Scully’s religion and religious experiences. eyes X-File DvDs maybe I’ll investigate this weekend.
I just watched an episode of malcolm in the middle where Reese told some priests something along the lines of “We’re heathens, so take your ghost stories elsewhere”
Mulder seems like the type who would think humans were created by aliens or that life began when an asteroid carried extraterrestrial bacteria to Earth, I guess conventional religion would be too boring for him.
Obviously she’s have been raised Catholic, but did they ever depict her as an actual believer as opposed to somebody going through the motions? I do remember it was a big deal when she spoke with that priest and took confession, she said she hadn’t done so in years.
Scully’s faith was very important to her throughout the series, and she tended to wear a cross daily. In fact, I remember Mulder “teasing” her for it more than once. She’s also had at least two religious experiences that she accepted as real…
And I agree that organized religion would probably be too boring for Mulder…
A couple of the aliens on Roswell said specifically that they were atheists. (Feel free to mock me for knowing this.)
Who’s Blish? I remembered her as kneeling when Kirk walks in, and I thought they used the word “chapel”, but I’m probably just remembering it wrong.
I still don’t think they were atheists, though. In another episode, Kirk says that their crew represents “many beliefs”. Again, I can’t remember which episode; perhaps you know.
When she refers to the Roman announcer in the broadcast, she says, “He tried to ridicule their (the Christians) beliefs, but he couldn’t.” I she were an atheist, why would she take sides like that? Both beliefs would have seemed equally ridiculous to her.
That should read: “IF she were an atheist…”
I don’t think they used the word, but Hawk Girl was atheist on Justice League. The funny thing is, she was arguing against Wonder Woman, the only really religious team member. WW believes in the old Greek Gods, which kind of makes sense in that universe.
Great episode. Never fails to break me up either.
Especially at the end, where she comes out to the dinner table and leads the prayer, listing all the people and things she wants to pray for, along with all the absurdly detailed histories. Which is how we know Edith is OK again.
I’ve been an atheist for thirty years, and that episode has really stayed with me.
The message I got from it: Whatever you believe, it’s OK. Worry more about what you do.
He was actually a pantheist; believing God was in all things.
Well, except kitchen utensils. He wasn’t a frying pantheist.
I seem to remember an ep. where his daughter asks if he believes in God and he says, “Yes…I believe there is a God…but I don’t know it.”
In another ep. he blurts out Jesus was a fake.
One Roseanne, the mother Beverly is an atheist.
Have I caught C.S.I.'s Grisolm making a few atheist-type scientific realist remarks? I’ve never taped the show, so that sort of thing may have flown by me, but I’m pretty sure he’s come across that way up to now (we’re on season 2 or 3, I think - just had episode with dead supermodel - with the rat, you know?)
I’m pretty sure Judge Amy Gray was a hardcore atheist - at least she was when she had that religous friend with cancer. Has this softened?
If Mulder was an athiest, he’s a perfect illustration of the aphorism:
When people stop believing in God, the problem isn’t that they don’t believe anything, it’s that they will believe EVERYTHING.
I’m not sure who said that… was it G. K. Chesterton?