# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/41 "2010-01-20T22:16:14Z")
The HUxley family were famous (or infamous) British atheists. In fact, it actually got to be such a family tradition that it turned into a quasi-religious ferver, handed down through the generations. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/42 "2010-01-20T22:17:14Z")
> [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](#): > > They do fit though, because while they may been pre-eminent before they started their ‘crusade’ for atheism, atheism is what they’re famous for. I guess “famous” is relative, but Dawkins and Hitchens were quite famous long before _The God Delusion_ and _God Is Not Great_, for their work on biology and politics (respectively). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/43 "2010-01-21T06:48:21Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > The HUxley family were famous (or infamous) British atheists. In fact, it actually got to be such a family tradition that it turned into a quasi-religious ferver, handed down through the generations. Some people may have _called_ the Huxley’s atheists, but they called themselves agnostics. At any rate, T.H. Huxley, the founder of the clan, did (I think he actually coined the word “agnostic”). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/44 "2010-01-21T10:40:11Z")
[Johnathon Miller](http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/atheism.shtml) ? I don’t really understand the argument you are trying to make from your description in the OP, however. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/45 "2010-01-21T14:54:06Z")
If you’re looking for people who aren’t famous for being atheists and who you may not even know are atheists, there are [plenty](http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/Main_Page). Lance Armstrong for one. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/46 "2010-01-21T20:29:24Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Jefferson was nominally a Deist, but was functionally an atheist. He did not believe in a God who had any involvement with the universe after creation, did not believe in miracles, flatly rejected the divinity of Christ, frequently disparaged Christianity and religion in general, did not engage in any kind of personal worship, etc. > > The most he believed was that there was “creator” of some sort, but that isn’t really enough to make him a theist in any conventional sense. > > Jefferson was, at _best_, a “partial atheist,” and I would suggest that for all practical purposes, he was a stone non-believer. Thomas Paine is often called an atheist, but in _The Age of Reason_ he specifically denies being one, and give the organization of the solar system as an example of how a creative intelligence is required to explain the world. We was definitely not a believer in the Judeo-Christian God, and neither was Jefferson. I suspect Jefferson would have been close to Paine in this . If Paine were alive today, and knew the findings of science, I’m sure he would be an atheist, but he wasn’t then. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/47 "2010-01-21T20:53:09Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Thomas Paine is often called an atheist, but in _The Age of Reason_ he specifically denies being one, and give the organization of the solar system as an example of how a creative intelligence is required to explain the world. We was definitely not a believer in the Judeo-Christian God, and neither was Jefferson. I suspect Jefferson would have been close to Paine in this . If Paine were alive today, and knew the findings of science, I’m sure he would be an atheist, but he wasn’t then. Though it should be remember that at the time Atheism was a crime (under Blasphemy law), so he is unlikely to admit to it. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673/48 "2010-01-22T00:27:28Z")
Albert Einstein. Even though a lot of Christians have tried to lay claim to him through some contextless quotes, the man remains more atheist than religionist [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-who-is-an-atheist-who-is-famous-for-being-a-famous-atheist/525673.md?page=2)