List of atheists (surnames C to D)
Encyclopedia
Atheists with surnames starting C and D, sortable by the field for which they are mainly known and nationality.
| Name | ates | Known as / for | Who | Reference | |
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| 1920–1999 | Author | Brazilian poet, considered one of the greatest Brazilian poets of all time. | "Though an atheist, Cabral had a deep, atavistic fear of the devil. When his wife died in 1986, he placed an emblem of Our Lady of Carmen around her neck, saying, in his mocking way, that this would make sure that she went directly to heaven, without being stopped at customs." | ||
| 1949–2008 | Actor | Irish actor, best known for playing Padraig O'Kelly in Series 1-4 of Ballykissangel Ballykissangel Ballykissangel is a BBC television drama set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural community. It ran for six series, which were first broadcast on BBC One in the UK from 1996 to 2001... . |
"Born in Dublin in 1949, Caffrey enjoyed acting in school plays but subsequently went to a seminary for two years with a view to becoming a priest (he later played one in Coronation Street). He came out an atheist and studied English at University College, Dublin, before teaching at a primary school for a year." | ||
| 1954– | Film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, and inventor. | Best known for his films The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Titanic (1997), and Avatar (2009). | "I've sworn off agnosticism, which I now call cowardly atheism. I've come to the position that in the complete absence of any supporting data whatsover for the persistence of the individual in some spiritual form, it is necessary to operate under the provisional conclusion that there is no afterlife and then be ready to amend that if I find out otherwise." | ||
| 1943–2006 | Journalist | Australian television journalist for 60 Minutes. | "Richard Carleton was a devout atheist whose cynicism about an after-life made Kerry Packer look like a wimp. He would have hated the way I end this piece. But he had soul." | ||
| 1964– | Comedian/Radio Personality | American. | "I am not agnostic. I am atheist. I don’t think there is no God, I know there’s no God. I know there’s no God same way I know many other laws in our universe. I know there’s no God and I know most of the world knows that as well. They just won’t admit it because there’s another thing they know. They know they’re going to die and it freaks them out. So most people don’t have the courage to admit there’s no God and they know it. They feel it. They try to suppress it. And if you bring it up they get angry because it freaks them out." | ||
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1973– | Actress (pornographic) | American pornographic actress. | "I've always been an atheist; science explains everything." | |
| 1969– | Atheist activist | American historian and philosopher, best known for his writings on Internet Infidels Internet Infidels Internet Infidels, Inc. is a Colorado Springs, Colorado-based nonprofit educational organization founded in 1995 by Jeffery Jay Lowder and Brett Lemoine. Its mission is to utilize the Internet to promote the view that supernatural forces or entities do not exist... , where he served as Editor-in-Chief for several years. |
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| 1940–1992 | Author | British (English) novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism and science fiction works. | "All the mythic versions of women, from the myth of the redeeming purity of the virgin to that of the healing, reconciling mother, are consolatory nonsenses; and consolatory nonsense seems to me a fair definition of myth, anyway. Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives women emotional satisfaction, it does so at the price of obscuring the real conditions of life. This is why they were invented in the first place." | ||
| 1908–2004 | Visual arts (photography) | French photographer Photography Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film... considered to be the father of modern photojournalism Photojournalism Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism... , an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography, who helped develop the influential "street photography Street photography Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings.... " style. |
"He loved the great Renaissance geometer painters, especially Ucello and Piero della Francesca, in whom he saw confirmation of his conviction that geometry is the necessary foundation of all art - see, for instance, his beautiful and mysteriously moving study of wall and plane tree on the banks of the Seine in 1936. 'I don't believe in God,' he once said to me, 'but I do believe in pi,' and then wrote down some numbers on a table napkin which I recognised as the formula for the golden section, the mathematical rule of aesthetic balance which has been used by artists since antiquity." | ||
| 1964–2009 | Musician | American singer-songwriter. | "Chesnutt's contrary nature was forged in isolation, in the backwoods of Pine County, Georgia. Though he loved the closeness of nature, and was loved by friends and parents, he found himself "at odds with the Protestant power structure". "I had a revelation that I was an atheist at a very early age," he remembers, "and I bumped up with these fuckers my whole time there. Sometimes it felt great to be at war with them. But I knew I needed to go somewhere else.""
Noam Chomsky 1928- Linguist, political analyst and activist http://www.countercurrents.org/chomsky240703.htm |
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1917–2008 | Author | British (English) scientist and science-fiction Science fiction Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities... author. |
"...Stanley [Kubrick] is a Jew and I'm an atheist." | |
| 1840–1930 | Author | British (English) banker, writer and anthropologist, an early populariser of evolution, keen folklorist and chairman of the Rationalist Press Association. | "We can only guess what Clodd would have thought of having an evangelical preacher owning his old house: he was a noted atheist, who rejected his parents' ambition for him to become a Baptist minister in favour of becoming chairman of the Rationalist Press Association. His contribution to literature was in popularising the work of Charles Darwin and other evolutionary scientists in the face of opposition from the church. "The story of creation," wrote Clodd, " is the story of gas into genius"." | ||
| 1904–1981 | Author | British (English) writer and journalist Journalist A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A... , controversial for his communist sympathies. |
"For one whose life had been so full of ironies, it was fitting that five priests celebrated a requiem mass for him in Youghal, although he had been a committed atheist." | ||
| 1868–1954 | Atheist activist | British (English) freethought writer and lecturer, and an editor of The Freethinker The Freethinker (journal) The Freethinker is a British secular humanist magazine, founded by G.W. Foote in 1881. It is the world's oldest surviving freethought publication.It has always taken an unapologetically atheist, anti-religious stance... and president of the National Secular Society National Secular Society The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of religion. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866... . |
"Cohen was a witty, courteous, and effective public speaker and debater, and a prolific writer with over fifty titles to his credit. Typical of his writings are A Grammar of Freethought (1921), Theism or Atheism (1921), Materialism Restated (1927), and four series of Essays in Freethinking (1923–38), culled from occasional pieces in the Freethinker. His achievement was to transform Victorian freethought from an emphasis on anti-biblical argument to the positive advocacy of materialism [...]". | ||
| 19??– | Journalist | British journalist, author, and political commentator. | "My name is Nick Cohen, and I think I'm turning into a Jew. Despite being called "Cohen", I've never been Jewish before. It's not simply that I am an atheist. My Jewish friends tell me that it is hard to find an educated London Jew who is not an atheist, but that I have no connection with Jewish culture." | ||
| 1889–1959 | Author | British (English) political theorist, economist Economist An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy... , writer and historian. |
"An unlikely friendship developed between Reckitt and G. D. H. Cole. Although an unapproachable cold atheist, and at root an anarchist, Cole joined forces with Reckitt, the clubbable, romantic medievalist, archetypal bourgeois, and unswerving Anglican with a dogmatic faith, to found the National Guilds League in 1915." | ||
| 1981– | Musician | African-American hip hop Hip hop Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing... artist. |
"Written, produced and recorded by Greydon Square, The Compton Effect fuses atheism, critical thinking, and rationality with hip hop to spread free-thought and education about the dangers of faith and religion. It's a giant step towards the enlightenment of urban culture's dependency on religious indoctrination. "This is music that transcends genres," says Greydon. "This is bigger than just hip hop, these are cultural issues that need to be addressed before humanity can safely take another evolutionary step. I am the minority of the minority, an African-American atheist, from a community that does not tolerate threats to the status quote unless it's based on religion. This album is the manifestation of the thought, research and education that has been used to free myself from the shackles of religion."" | ||
| 1884–1969 | Author | British (English) novelist, awarded the 1955 James Tait Black Memorial Prize James Tait Black Memorial Prize Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards... for her novel Mother and Son. |
"Like Margaret Jourdain, and most of her characters who are not fools or knaves, Ivy Compton-Burnett was a firm atheist, dismissing religion because ‘No good can come of it’ (Spurling, Ivy when Young, 77)." | ||
| 1949– | Comedian | Atheist comedian, best known for his internet videos. | "The atheist comedian Pat Condell (who we are pleased to say is a member of the NSS) placed a five minute “video monologue” entitled “The Trouble with Islam” on the web and it has now scored over a million hits." | ||
| 1903–1974 | Author | British (English) intellectual, literary critic and writer. | "'Don't stand any nonsense from the Astors,' Sitwell concluded: prophetic advice, for within a short time of his arrival, Lord Astor was writing to the new literary editor to say that reviewers must combine 'ability and character and high ideals': he was especially worried in case A.L. Rowse proved a 'militant atheist', for 'I am convinced that our great influence in the world is due to the fact that this country has given a definite place to religion and to free religion, i.e. Protestantism at that.' Undaunted, Connolly made it plain in his reply that he would not put up with such nonsense: he himself was an atheist, and discerned no difference in behaviour between an English Protestant and an English atheist." | ||
| 1926–1982 | Author | British (English) poet and prolific writer of speculative fiction and other genres, published under his own name and several pen names. | "I'm an atheist. God is an abstract noun, he's not a Father Christmas up there in Heaven, he's an abstract bloody noun who has been exploited by men in order to exploit other men, through the centuries." | ||
| 1910–2002 | Author | British (English) novelist. | "As a militant atheist he was especially on his guard in churches, and at the wedding of a much younger friend had to be restrained from heckling the bride's clerical uncle, who was delivering an address." | ||
| 1899–1973 | Actor | British (English) actor, playwright and composer of popular music. | "His unashamed patriotism galvanised the nation. One wonders whether these admirers would have laughed so heartily or wept so freely if they had thought that they were being entertained and moved by a homosexual atheist of the most militant kind. A letter to his mother on the early death of his brother out-Dawkinses Dawkins: "I'm saying several acid prayers to a fat contented God the Father in a dirty night gown who hates you and me and every living creature in the world."" | ||
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1968– | Scientist | British particle physicist Particle physics Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics... , a Royal Society Royal Society The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"... research fellow, and a professor at the University of Manchester University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group... . He also works on the ATLAS experiment ATLAS experiment ATLAS is one of the six particle detector experiments constructed at the Large Hadron Collider , a new particle accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland... at the Large Hadron Collider Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature.... , CERN CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border... near Geneva, Switzerland. He is best known to the public as the presenter of a number of science programmes for the BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... . |
"[...] as far as I am concerned we are information processing devices, which requires energy [...] we convert food for energy [...] we are basically heat engines. This is how steam engines work, and fridges. [...] So if there is an afterlife, I would have to reconsider the engineering design of fridges. With a very critical eye." | |
| 1949– | Scientist | American professor of biology, known for his books on evolution and commentary on the intelligent design debate. | "Yet they [the NCSE] can afford to ignore us because, in the end, where else can we atheists go for support against creationists? [...] Am I grousing because, as an atheist and a non-accommodationist, my views are simply ignored by the NAS and NCSE? Not at all. I don't want these organizations to espouse or include my viewpoint. I want religion and atheism left completely out of all the official discourse of scientific societies and organizations that promote evolution." | ||
| 1946– | Author | British (English) writer and novelist, winner of numerous awards. | "The impulse of this book came when I was writing Quarantine. At the end of writing that book, I was no less of an atheist than I was before, yet it did make me think about my atheism. Thinking about the bleakness of my own atheism, and the inadequacy of the old fashioned kind of atheism when the big events of life—especially death—came along, made me want to see whether I could come up with a narrative of comfort, a false narrative of comfort, but one that could match the narratives of comfort religions come up with to get you through death and bereavement." | ||
| 1986– | Musician | Canadian singer-songwriter for post-hardcore band Emarosa Emarosa Emarosa is an American rock band from Lexington, Kentucky. Formed in 2006, they released one EP in 2007 titled This Is Your Way Out, and shortly after, the group underwent significant lineup and sound changes, dropping their heavy metal influence and leaning toward a soul inspiration... and co-leader of Isles & Glaciers Isles & Glaciers Isles & Glaciers was an American rock supergroup formed in 2008. The band consisted of members from Chiodos, Emarosa, Pierce the Veil, Cinematic Sunrise, The Receiving End of Sirens, Underminded, and former members of The Sound of Animals Fighting and Boys Night Out... . |
Jonny Craig stated in a video interview quote: "I personally am atheist, but I grew up Christian. If you believe there is a god or are religious, I'm all for it. But if you don't believe in a god, you shouldn't be prosecuted for it, but it also goes both ways." | ||
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1943– | Film director | Canadian film director, one of the principal originators of the 'body horror Body horror Body horror, biological horror, organic horror or venereal horror is horror fiction in which the horror is principally derived from the graphic destruction or degeneration of the body. Such works may deal with disease, decay, parasitism, mutilation, or mutation... ' genre. |
"Cronenberg's parents were atheists who encouraged him to experiment spiritually, convinced that sooner or later he'd find his own path to godlessness. And he did. This lack of belief, which became a belief system in itself, informs so much of his work: the primacy of the body, the finality of death, the lack of consolation. "It was apparent to me that religion was an invented thing," he says, "a wish-fulfilment thing, a fantasy thing. It was much more real, dangerous, to accept that mortality was the end for you as an individual. As an atheist, I don't believe in an afterlife, so if you're thinking of murder, if your subject is murder, then that's a physical act of absolute destruction because you're ending something, a body, that is unique. That person never existed before, will never exist again, will not be karmically recycled, will not go to heaven, therefore I take it seriously."" | |
| 1971– | Actor and comedian | British (English) actor and comedian, known for playing Gareth Keenan in The Office The Office (UK TV series) The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious... and Ragetti in Pirates of the Caribbean Pirates of the Caribbean (film series) Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy-adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski and Rob Marshall , written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer... . |
"I don't believe in life after death. I'm a staunch atheist and I know when I die that will be it, I'll just blink out of existence. It's not an incredibly comforting thought but I'm completely at peace with that idea and it just makes me appreciate this life all the more. It's almost a panic to get as much done and to have as much experience as possible." | ||
| 1949– | Author | British (English) writer and retired physician, who has written extensively on culture, art, politics, education and medicine, drawing upon his experience as a doctor and psychiatrist Psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities... in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three... and Tanzania Tanzania The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state... , and more recently at a prison and a public hospital in Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... . |
Criticising the 'New Atheists' (Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennett, Grayling and co.), Dalrymple wrote: "Yet with the possible exception of Dennett's [book Breaking the Spell], they advance no argument that I, the village atheist, could not have made by the age of 14 (Saint Anselm's ontological argument for God's existence gave me the greatest difficulty, but I had taken Hume to heart on the weakness of the argument from design)." | ||
| 1966– | Comedian and actor | British (English) comedian, writer and actor, best known for starring as Jonathan Creek Jonathan Creek Jonathan Creek is a British mystery series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. Primarily a crime drama, the show is also peppered with broadly comic touches... on the popular TV mystery series, and more recently as a permanent panellist on the TV quiz show QI QI QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given... . |
"Why do people believe all this stuff, Stephen? (...) Bronze age mythology and they believe it all! (...) Why do they believe it all? Can't they just go: 'all that was mad. I thought it was true for a minute'." | ||
| 1901–1978 | Author | British (Welsh) novelist and short story writer. | "As a boy he attended a nonconformist chapel, and later an Anglican church, but in later life was to declare himself an atheist." | ||
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1963– | Television producer and writer | British (Welsh) television producer and writer, most famous for reviving Doctor Who Doctor Who Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior... on British television. |
"As writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, Davies often plays with religious imagery (from a cross-shaped space station to robot angels with halos), but he's a fervent believer in [Richard] Dawkins. "He has brought atheism proudly out of the closet!"" | |
| 1945– | Film director and actor | British (English) screenwriter, film director, actor and novelist. | "A fervently Roman Catholic child - he talks of his "dogged piety" and of "years wasted in useless prayer" - Davies has now embraced atheism with a born-again zeal." | ||
| 1938– | Actor | Canadian actor, known for his role as the Cigarette Smoking Man Cigarette Smoking Man The Smoking Man is a fictional character and the antagonist on the American science fiction television series The X-Files. He serves as the arch-nemesis of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder. Although his name is revealed to purportedly be C.G.B... in The X-Files The X-Files The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s... . |
Interviewer: "You're a second generation atheist. While in college, did you have a skeptical attitude toward the paranormal? Was it something you thought about at the time?" Davis: "I was always skeptical of ghosts, or aliens, or whatever it might be." |
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| 1893–1970 | Author | Australian novelist and short story writer, best known for his animal stories and sensitive interpretations of Australian bush life. | "Davison died on 24 May 1970 at Greensborough, Melbourne; a lifelong atheist, he was cremated after a secular funeral." | ||
| 1916–1994 | Biologist | A leading figure in biology, with his major contributions in microbial physiology and metabolism. Davis was a prominent figure at Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.... in microbiology Microbiology Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes... and in national science policy. |
"A nonobservant Jew, he insisted on atheism." | ||
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1941– | Biologist | British geneticist and author famous for his radical denunciations of religious belief. | Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that faith qualifies as a delusion − as a fixed false belief. | |
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1862–1934 | Musician | British (English) composer whose luscious harmonies blended Impressionism Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s... with the slightly older post-romanticism and northern European and African-American folk idioms. Awarded the Order of the Companions of Honour Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.... . |
"In the Mass of Life (1904–05) Delius testified to his atheism. With Cassirer's assistance, he selected the words from Nietzsche's prose-poem Also sprach Zarathustra [...] In music that touches extreme poles of physical energy and rapt contemplation, Delius celebrates the human 'Will' and the 'Individual', and the 'Eternal Recurrence of Nature'." | |
| Deng Pufang Deng Pufang Deng Pufang is the first son of former China's Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. He is mostly known for being crippled by the Red Guards, and becoming a paraplegic. He has since dedicated his life to improving the rights of handicapped people.-Biography:Deng Pufang was born to Deng Xiaoping and... |
1944– | Activist | Chinese handicap people's rights activist, first son of China's former Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. | "Mother Teresa of Calcutta told the handicapped son of China's leader, Deng Xiaoping, yesterday that his efforts for the disabled showed he loved God. 'But I am an atheist,' said Deng Pufang, whose legs were paralysed when fellow students forced him out of a window during the Cultural Revolution." | |
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1740–1814 | Author | French aristocrat, revolutionary and writer of philosophy-laden and often violent pornography. | "De Sade overcame his boredom and anger in prison by writing sexually graphic novels and plays. In July 1782 he finished his Dialogue entre un prêtre et un moribond (Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man), in which he declared himself an atheist." | |
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1960– | Television presenter | Australian comedian and Gold Logie-winning television presenter, and is the host of the ABC's Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster... weekly interview program Enough Rope Enough Rope Enough Rope with Andrew Denton is a television interview show originally broadcast on ABC Television in Australia... . |
"Gentlemen, frankly I'm atheist,..." | |
| 1907–1967 | Author | British (English) journalist, historian and biographer. | "He rejected his father's ambition to make him a rabbi. Instead he became an atheist and, following in the footsteps of Marx, Trotsky, and his countrywoman Rosa Luxemburg, a lifelong 'non-Jewish Jew' (Non-Jewish Jew, ed. Deutscher)." | ||
| 1963– | Musician | British (English)-born music industry and television personality in Australia, best known as a judge on the television shows Australian Idol Australian Idol Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on July 2003 and ended its run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive... and The Next Great American Band The Next Great American Band The Next Great American Band is a reality television talent show. The show premiered on October 19, 2007 and aired on FOX at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times Friday nights... . |
"I have developed a spirituality which I suppose you could call metaphysics or science of mind - nothing to do with Scientology, I hasten to add. It's something that was developed by a guy called Ernest Holmes, and it's about the law of the universe, the law of attraction. It's all that stuff that's been popular on The Secret but there's far more to it than that. I'm an atheist but I've got a spirituality I can fall back on. I don't like religion because I see it as a bureaucracy of faith and I've never really been big on bureaucracy." | ||
| 1901–1992 | Actress | German-born American actress, singer and entertainer, considered to be the first German actress to flourish in Hollywood. | "I have given up belief in a God." | ||
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1970– | Musician | American Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry... winning singer, guitarist and songwriter. |
"Q: What song proves to you that there is a God? Ani: "I'm an atheist, for Chrissake!"" |
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1969– | Broadcaster and speaker | American president of the Atheist Community of Austin, and is also a host of the live internet radio show "Non-Prophets Radio" and of the Austin tv access show "The Atheist Experience" | "After the first couple of years of detailed investigation, reason forced me to acknowledge that my faith had not only been weakened by my studies - it had been utterly destroyed. The thoughts, writings and wisdom of people like; Robert Ingersoll, Voltaire, Dan Barker, Richard Dawkins, Farrell Till and many others, helped free my mind from the shackles of religion without a single moment of despair." | |
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1940–2008 | Author | American science fiction author and poet, winner of several awards. | "Friends said Disch had been despondent over ill health and Naylor's death in 2005. Yet he seemed in good humor for a brief Publishers Weekly interview last spring about his most recent book, "The Word of God." An outspoken atheist, Disch adopted the deity's perspective to score points on the absurdity of hell and similar numinous postulates. "One of the wonderful things about being God is you can say such nonsense and it's all true," he said." | |
| 1981– | Musician | American vocalist with the band Gossip Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted... . |
""Southern life really was God-fearing. Granny Ditto was a strict Pentecostal, with hair down to her knees. I said in an interview not long ago that I didn't believe in God, and people called my mother saying, 'How do you feel about Beth being an atheist?'" She realised she was gay when she was only five years old. "I loved the sound of women's voices, not those of guys. I would pray because I didn't want to go to hell." She's not joking; her eyes fill with tears. "In my teens, my motor skills quit, I was shaking all the time." Did her pubic hair really turn white? "Yes. In fact, it's still half white!" A revelation about her atheism, at 19, saved Ditto from her fate. "I realised that every 2,000 years, there's a religion that happens to rule, and Christianity is just today's religion," she says." | ||
| 1924– | Film director | American film director, best known for his musicals including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Singin' in the Rain Singin' in the Rain Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography... ; awarded honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement. |
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| 1962– | Actress | British (English) film, stage and television actress. | Speaking about her role in the film The Lair of the White Worm The Lair of the White Worm (film) The Lair of the White Worm is a 1988 film based loosely on the novel by Bram Stoker of the same name and drawing upon the English myth of the Lambton Worm... , Donohoe said: "I'm an atheist, so it was actually a joy. Spitting on Christ was a great deal of fun. I can't embrace a male god who has persecuted female sexuality throughout the ages. And that persecution still goes on today all over the world." |
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1950– | Atheist activist | American atheist activist, the current President of Atheist Alliance International Atheist Alliance International Atheist Alliance International is a global network of atheist organisations around the world. AAI was founded in 1991.AAI's vision is "to transform society into one that understands and respects atheism; that supports and respects a worldview based on the values of reason, empiricism and... . |
"Margaret read literary works of Thomas Paine and Robert G. Ingersoll which enabled her to develop a keen sense of revolutionary thought. She became an openly declared Atheist and activist in her twenties. Free from the constraints of religious dogma and patriarchal systems, Margaret became involved with the feminist movement. She fought for basic rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of choice, personal family leave for working parents, equal pay and promotion opportunities for women." | |
| 1958– | Author | Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter, winner of the Booker Prize in 1993. | "He does appreciate the new and confident pluralism that has loosened the grip of the Roman Catholic hierarchy on education. His three children attend secular state schools, and he welcomes the widening "rift between Church and state. It has happened, it is happening, and for me that's a great thing. As an atheist, I feel very comfortable in Ireland now."" The 53-year-old Dubliner, who will be the headline performer at the start of the 10-day Telegraph Bath Festival Of Children's Literature, said: "I'm an atheist so I suppose that was part of the challenge of writing about a ghost. Strictly speaking, I don't believe in anything." |
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| 1944– | Author | Irish historian, crime novelist, journalist and broadcaster. | "Tariq likes permanent revolution, whereas I am a libertarian conservative. True, we are both atheists, but Tariq is evangelical while I am benign about religion and think the Throne should be occupied by a member of the Church of England." | ||
| 1955– | Author | British (Scottish) poet, playwright and freelance writer, winner of several awards, current Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom The Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, also referred to as the Poet Laureate, is the Poet Laureate appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Prime Minister... . |
"But the 21st century has done nothing to prevent two others from the Manchester area from reshaping and modernising the Christmas story - the poet Carol Ann Duffy and the composer Sasha Johnson Manning, who have written 16 new carols. Duffy, brought up a Catholic, pronounces herself an atheist; Johnson Manning is a committed Christian." | ||
| 1934–1990 | Author | Turkish Islamic scholar, former imam Imam An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question... and mufti Mufti A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population... , author of a number of books about religion, an open critic of religion and was frequently threatened by fundamentalists. |
"Turan Dursun, a former imam and an atheist writer..." |