# Quick: Who is an atheist, who is famous for being a famous atheist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673 "2010-01-20T06:16:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/1 "2010-01-20T06:16:53Z")
I am in a debate on another forum with somebody who is being a bit of a jerk. I am an evangelical Christian, but I am not fervent, per se, although I am 100% dedicated, and inflexible, BUT, I say I am not fervent in that I don’t care what others believe, and am hardly one to bother them if they disagree with me. A long story, so, I’ll leave that off. However, we disagreed on another point, and he is sarcastically calling my (dispassionate) argument one that was created in ‘righteous fervor,’ meaning, of course, some kind of psychotic, hypocritical, pimp hiding behind a pulpit. Now, I am going to try and counter this by saying his ‘X’ stance is hardly the blow to Christendom that he thinks, and even less of a blow to me, because it is old, tepid, and boring. But, I can’t think of who X might be. Also, does “Beloved Infidel” have the same meaning as “professional naysayer?” Can you give me a good X, and also a better word for professional naysayer, that would fit in the context? Ooops. forgot, X needs to be witty, also, not just belligerent. I put this in GQ because I thought that woud be the best place to find the X who is (OP title). Thanks, hh ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/2 "2010-01-20T06:22:31Z")
Just from the title, the first person I thought of was Richard Dawkins. Reading your OP, I’m not quite sure if that’s the kind of person you’re looking for. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/3 "2010-01-20T06:25:34Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > Just from the title, the first person I thought of was Richard Dawkins. Reading your OP, I’m not quite sure if that’s the kind of person you’re looking for. 😕 Uh, can’t say. Don’t know of RD. And if I haven’t heard of him, I know \*this \*hayseed hasn’t. I’m usually the last to know of anybody/anything in most circles. Kinda looking for a G. Bernard Shaw, Kafka, kind of name. Somebody whose name a HS graduate would know of, but not their works, particularly. Thanks, hh:) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/4 "2010-01-20T06:30:39Z")
Bill Maher maybe? Though he’s in that more agnosticish area who more doesn’t like organized religion than a skeptic like you’re looking for. Dawkins really is the best bet. Randi could also… sort of work. Maybe. Though he’s more known on the psychic powers circuit for his challenge (even those would realistically extend to one who can prove acts of God as well). ---
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/5 "2010-01-20T06:31:21Z")
I’d suggest [Robert G Ingersoll.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll) Unless your “X” has to be someone currently alive. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/6 "2010-01-20T06:31:36Z")
Richard Dawkins is THE atheist of our time. I am honestly a bit shocked that you haven’t heard of him. What about Nietzsche then? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/7 "2010-01-20T06:48:24Z")
I know this isn’t what you asked but you would be debating more solidly if you didn’t descend into this sort of debate from authority anyway. A good argument is a good argument even if it was invented by a complete loon. Your OP is a bit opaque but if I’m reading it correctly he has suggested your supposedly “dispassionate” argument was created by someone questionable. I’d just respond “so what, it’s a good argument”. Of course, if your argument isn’t very good, this won’t help. But that’s your problem. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/8 "2010-01-20T07:58:30Z")
Christopher Hitchens? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/9 "2010-01-20T09:02:28Z")
Thomas Jefferson. Maybe not a “full” atheist, but close enough for government service. ---
**Author:** ![Negative\_Lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Negative\_Lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Negative_Lite)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/10 "2010-01-20T09:41:31Z")
Sigmund Freud, if you want a universally famous atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/11 "2010-01-20T10:01:42Z")
I’m surprised that you haven’t learned, as long as you’ve been on the SDMB, that you can find a list of about anything in Wikipedia. Here’s the main article with links to more specific lists of atheists: > **[Lists of atheists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nontheists)** > > Atheism is, in a broad sense, the lack of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. This is a compilation of the various lists of atheists with articles on Wikipedia by category. Living people in these lists are those whose atheism is relevant to their notable activities or public life, and who have publicly identified themselves as atheists. Although, come to think of it, if neither you nor the person that you’re debating with has heard of Richard Dawkins, I’m not sure that anyone we could name would be appropriate for your debate. If you’d don’t know any of the obvious atheists, there’s no one that this person you’re debating with would ever recognize. I’ve been trying, without success, to find what the origin of the term “beloved infidel” is. It appears to me that it’s usually used to mean “someone who disagrees with me but who I respect.” ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/12 "2010-01-20T10:47:34Z")
[Madalyn Murray O’Hair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O'Hair) should be on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/13 "2010-01-20T10:47:59Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > Christopher Hitchens? That was what I was going to post. Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett Any of those 3 would suffice for what you are looking for. Arguably you could include the early communists, who felt religion was a tool of social control. Karl Marx would suffice for that (I think he was an atheist). Nietzsche would probably work too. ---
**Author:** ![Oglomott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oglomott/32/3543_2.png) [@Oglomott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oglomott)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/14 "2010-01-20T10:54:41Z")
Penn and Teller? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/15 "2010-01-20T10:58:33Z")
Bah. I reread it and saw you are looking for a witty, popular atheist and not an intellectual or philosophical atheist. George Carlin. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/16 "2010-01-20T11:17:31Z")
… you haven’t heard of Richard Dawkins…?! ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/17 "2010-01-20T11:32:38Z")
Seems to me most of the people mentioned in this thread were already well known for unrelated reasons before they became “famous atheists”, so I don’t know if it’s fair to say they are famous for being famous atheists. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/18 "2010-01-20T12:04:51Z")
To be fair, being famous for being an atheist isn’t easy. It essentially means being famous for doing nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Negative\_Lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Negative\_Lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Negative_Lite)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/19 "2010-01-20T12:04:56Z")
Gustav, the OP is a bit vague but he did say: > [@handsomeharry](#): > > Kinda looking for a G. Bernard Shaw, Kafka, kind of name. Somebody whose name a HS graduate would know of, but not their works, particularly. So, it looks like he wants someone who is (1) universally famous (2) also an atheist and (3) their atheism is well-known. That’s why I went with Freud, who famously derided religion for being an infantile delusion and pure wish-fulfillment. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/20 "2010-01-20T12:20:51Z")
Julia Sweeney is an out-of-the-closet atheist who has written and performed about her transformation from Catholicism to atheism. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673.md?page=2)