Celebrity nontheists

Erich Vieth | December 28, 2009 | Comments (0)

I hadn’t read a list of prominent nontheists (atheists, agnostics and other religious skeptics) for awhile. Here’s a recently updated list with lots of prominent names. Here’s another. Both of these lists include background information regarding each name on the list. Some famous contemporary atheists, agnostics and skeptics are:

Daniel Radcliffe
Bill Maher
Pat Tillman
Oliver Sacks
Bill Gates
Omar Sharif
Dave Barry
Warren Buffet
Phil Donahue
Katharine Hepburn
Angelina Jolie
Lance Armstrong

This list includes numerous scientists, along with many actors. Noticeably absent are politicians, which brings to mind polls showing that half of Americans would absolutely refuse to vote for any atheist politician.

What follows are the percentages of people indicating in 2006 that they would refuse to vote for “a generally well-qualified person for president” on the basis of some characteristic; in parenthesis are the figures for earlier years:

Catholic: 4% (1937: 30%)
Black: 5% (1958: 63%, 1987: 21%)
Jewish: 6% (1937: 47%)
Baptist: 6%
Woman: 8%
Mormon: 17%
Muslim: 38%
Gay: 37% (1978: 74%)
Atheist: 48%

Recent Comments

Karl on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
It's just a simple common human SOP when it comes to dealing with differing worldviews that are considered to be irreconcilable unless one or the other can agree to some common shared authoritarian point of view.The Koran inspired by Mohammed does contain much good, but Muslims admit it is their preference to keep people in line through fear. They... »
Karl on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Tony,I meant no personal affront to you in any way, if that is how it was perceived please forgive my choice of words and the apparent tone conveyed. My point was to say that before a parent lets a child "freely" decide a worldview different than their own there would likely be some times where the child might very well question the "love" of tha... »
Mark Tiedemann on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Karl,Rather than hash this out, personal anecdote to personal viewpoint, let me refer you to Jon Krakauer's excellent book "Under the Banner of Heaven."You assume, though, that the agony was mine. It was not. I saw what I described, though it was not directed at me. (My parents had a rough departure and certainly some of that bled over into my ... »
Tony Coyle on Refusing to recognize marriage
Bravo!I may borrow that! My own 'longtime companion' and I lived together for over 7 years before getting married in a civil ceremony (15 minutes at the registry office, with two neighbors as witnesses) just over fifteen years ago (so we've now been together over 22 years as a co-habiting couple).The label only made a difference in how other people... »
Tony Coyle on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Mark, Beck wishes he could be as influential as Fr. Coughlin. That old priest (young at the time!) was influential because he had his own ideas, and especially at the outset, his ideas resonated strongly with the zeitgeist which garnered him popularity, a national audience, and a position of influence among many otherwise disparate groups.Beck is ... »
Tony Coyle on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
KarlOne of my oldest colleagues is a bishop in the Mormon Church - I like him as a person, and he does a good job. We've spoken from time to time about his church work and it does include the, to him upsetting but necessary, act of exclusion for 'apostacy' - leave if you wish, but if you do, you're gone!Mark has spoken from time to time about his u... »
Karl on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Mark,I hear you saying you know from personal experience and the experience of others that the Christians of the Church of Latter Day Saints do not let their children "freely" choose in matters of there own faith. There will be those who will disagree with you and there will be those who agree with you. Does the proportion matter -no- to you it w... »
Mark Tiedemann on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Glenn Beck wants to be a contemporary Father Conklin. Those of you who don't know who that was, Google it, do your own research. »
Mark Tiedemann on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Karl writes:---"Mormanism has morality and Mormanism lets others including their own children decide freely what they will concerning its beliefs and doctrines."The hell they do. The price for deciding that Joseph Smith was a charlatan and another path might be "better" is extreme ostracism. There is no acceptance within the group for deviation. ... »
Tony Coyle on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Not to put words into Karl's mouth, but from an outsider's perspective what I see is that Mormons are simply less odious to Evangelical Christians than those brown-skinned people. Any port in a storm, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.From Karl's previous posts, I believe he is being honest in his comment. I do not get the same vibe of honest... »
Tony Coyle on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Re: "Glenn Beck" and the religious right. I think his "free pass" is simply more evidence of their astounding ability to compartmentalize.He exudes right-wing talking points that resonate strongly with them, so they accept those talking points, and Beck by association.You'll note that until the recent LoveFest at the Lincoln Memorial, Beck rarely ... »
Karl on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Mormanism has morality and Mormanism lets others including their own children decide freely what they will concerning its beliefs and doctrines.Mormanism has actually shown an initial degree of an ability to change beliefs that may have become doctrines that appear to be out of line with much of the rest of Christianity.Mormanism in its current for... »
Erich Vieth on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
And how does Glen Beck get a "free pass" from the Christian Right, even though he is a Mormon? »
Tony Coyle on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
I wonder if they understand that their "Christian" (presumably evangelical, according to the url on the poster) services are funding the Mormon Church?A few years ago, such behavior would have been decried as vehemently as funding for Islam! »
Erich Vieth on Not the end of Iraq combat operations
At least the AP recognizes that Obama's claim about "end of combat" is a lie:http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=190064 »
Erich Vieth on …Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others…
Posters like this are purportedly popping up all around "ground zero." http://i.imgur.com/hCltS.jpg »
Erich Vieth on If the Bible is really the word of God, why aren’t more people actually reading it?
. . . and to read a good book on natural selection . . . in this blog's dungeon! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (evil laugh). [Tony nods, approvingly] »
Tony Coyle on If the Bible is really the word of God, why aren’t more people actually reading it?
Like I said, Erich, you're too nice. For such high crimes, most blogs have a dungeon. »
Erich Vieth on If the Bible is really the word of God, why aren’t more people actually reading it?
I'm tempted to begin a new "policy" from today forward. Those disparaging the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection must, in order to deserve a reply (other than a copy and paste of this comment) must, in their own words, describe the basic elements of the theory and at least a few of the many types of evidence supporting the theory. ... »
Erich Vieth on If the Bible is really the word of God, why aren’t more people actually reading it?
When I'm nice (or not) it's always for Machiavellian reasons. »
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