"The 25 Most Influential Living Atheists"

Hugin · #1 by **Hugin** » Jan 15, 2011 4:37 pm

Go back a few hundred years, and atheism was very much a minority position. Those who were atheists would have been ostracized by society and possibly even killed (as in burned at the stake, depending on how far back you go). Fast forward to the present, and atheism is far less objectionable, and in some circles even the dominant view.

In the new millennium, prominent atheists abound. One website, http://www.celebatheists.com, is even dedicated to listing celebrity atheists. Celebrity atheists are wide-ranging and include people like Mark Zuckerberg, Lance Armstrong, and Jodie Foster. Even so, they don’t make it on to our list of influential living atheists. Why? Because they, like so many other atheists, don’t make a big deal out of their atheism. They live their lives without God, but are happy to let other people live their lives with God.

To make it on SuperScholar’s list of influential living atheists, an atheist can’t merely disbelieve in God but also must actively encourage others to disbelieve in God. But even that isn’t enough to make our list. Bill Maher and Penn & Teller, for instance, use their prominence as entertainers to promote atheism. But they do so mainly as popularists, not as scholars attempting to make a considered case against theism and for atheism.

CONTINUES

Interesting list, but a bit flawed. Shermer and Randi are not primarily promoters of atheism, and their respective organizations don't really deal with the God-question. And to call all of these "influential" is a bit of a stretch. I'd say that the only three on the list who have made some relative significant mark in the public conscience are Dawkins, Hawking and Hitchens (the latter much due to his career before he started focusing on atheism). I mean, who the heck will remember Paul Kurtz and Richard Carrier in a hundred years!?

trubble76 · #2 by **trubble76** » Jan 15, 2011 5:15 pm

I'm a little surprised that Eugenie Scott didn't get a mention.

tuco · #3 by **tuco** » Jan 15, 2011 5:17 pm

To talk about God, for it or against it, as a scholar? Sounds like an oxymoron to me. Like scholar on free will or scholar on morals.

edit: Scholar on leprechauns :)

PhiloKGB · #4 by **PhiloKGB** » Jan 15, 2011 6:22 pm

trubble76 wrote:I'm a little surprised that Eugenie Scott didn't get a mention.

Or Dan Barker.

Crocodile Gandhi · #5 by **Crocodile Gandhi** » Jan 15, 2011 6:25 pm

Randi does actually talk about his atheism quite a bit in lectures and interviews. It has actually gotten him into a bit of trouble when he has said that all religions are no different to cults like Jonestown and Heavens Gate.

The Plc · #6 by **The Plc** » Jan 15, 2011 8:32 pm

Disappointting list. Even when you look at it's criteria - influential people who promote athiesm rather than influential people who happen to be Athiests. Where is A.C. Grayling and Ayaan Hirsi Ali? PZ Myers but not Jerry Coyne, a published popular science writer? Why does Stephen Hawking get such a high position when in truth, he's been highly reticent about criticising religion, not even bothering to correct all the legions of religious apologists that used to quote-mine him like crazy, but Victor Stenger and Leonard Susskind aren't included at all? The list very US-centric as well, I don't even recognise all the American activists that they managed to include there.

Wiðercora · #7 by **Wiðercora** » Jan 16, 2011 1:46 am

Is Philip Pullman influential?

[quibble]And why is he listed as having written a book called The Golden Compass?[/quibble]

Goldenmane · #8 by **Goldenmane** » Jan 16, 2011 10:19 am

I said it elsewhere, and I'll say it here: I should be on that list more than some people that are.

But lists like that are always fucking flawed.

hackenslash · #9 by **hackenslash** » Jan 16, 2011 5:55 pm

Wiðercora wrote:[quibble]And why is he listed as having written a book called The Golden Compass?[/quibble]

Because that's what the book was released as in the US.

As Dawkins once said: 'I bring you greetings from that little known place the rest of the world...'

Goldenmane wrote:I said it elsewhere, and I'll say it here: I should be on that list more than some people that are.

Me too.

Viraldi · **#10** by **Viraldi** » Jan 16, 2011 6:00 pm

Hm. A video over 25 Most Influential RatSkep Members...?

Bribase · **#11** by **Bribase** » Jan 16, 2011 6:11 pm

I'm confused.

Are they supposed to be atheists who are influential about atheism? Or are they simply atheists who are influential in their own fields?

If it's the former, how many do we need? I'd much rather that great thinkers stand up and be counted but I care more about their fields individually than their lack of belief.

If it's the latter, where the hell is Bill Gates and a great deal of other hugely influential people that hold no belief in a god or gods?

Personally I want these people's atheism to be a footnote in their obituaries. It is vital to stand up and be counted as an atheist nowadays but I want James Randi to be known as a great skeptic, Peter Singer as a great moral philosopher and even Dawkins as a populariser of biology.

What do you reckon?

Clive Durdle · **#12** by **Clive Durdle** » Jan 16, 2011 6:35 pm

Why does Stephen Hawking get such a high position when in truth, he's been highly reticent about criticising religion, not even bothering to correct all the legions of religious apologists that used to quote-mine him like crazy,

On Hawking, I thought Grand Design is very clear about his views. Surely someone who uses a machine to talk and write may be allowed not to respond to everything?

hackenslash · **#13** by **hackenslash** » Jan 16, 2011 7:07 pm

Hawking has been pretty well misunderstood for years, and it was clear even as far back as A Brief HIstory of Time that he was an atheist.

Hawking wrote:If the universe is really self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have no beginning nor end, would simply be. What place then for a creator?

Of course, this was offset by his poetic use of the word 'god' in several places throughout the book and subsequent works, which led to some thinking that he actually believed in god, but it's always been reasonably clear to my mind that he didn't.

Spearthrower · **#14** by **Spearthrower** » Jan 20, 2011 10:18 am

trubble76 wrote:I'm a little surprised that Eugenie Scott didn't get a mention.

I'm surprised I'm not on there! :whine:

Spearthrower · **#15** by **Spearthrower** » Jan 20, 2011 10:19 am

Goldenmane wrote:I said it elsewhere, and I'll say it here: I should be on that list more than some people that are.

But lists like that are always fucking flawed.

This list aint big enough for the both of us pal.... oh what? There are 25 places? Oh ok... it IS big enough, nevermind!

HomerJay · **#16** by **HomerJay** » Jan 20, 2011 10:58 am

I thought Brockman was George Melly for a second there.

Bolero · **#17** by **Bolero** » Jan 21, 2011 12:54 am

I'm disappointed at the tone of the whole article. As if just being famous and being an atheist isn't influential in its own right. It's seeming to denigrate many of the people as "popularists", and is promoting that idea that famous atheists are somehow loud, strident, overbearing ... all the usual cliches.

NineOneFour · **#18** by **NineOneFour** » Jan 21, 2011 3:27 am

Hugin wrote:From SuperScholar:

Go back a few hundred years, and atheism was very much a minority position. Those who were atheists would have been ostracized by society and possibly even killed (as in burned at the stake, depending on how far back you go). Fast forward to the present, and atheism is far less objectionable, and in some circles even the dominant view.

In the new millennium, prominent atheists abound. One website, http://www.celebatheists.com, is even dedicated to listing celebrity atheists. Celebrity atheists are wide-ranging and include people like Mark Zuckerberg, Lance Armstrong, and Jodie Foster. Even so, they don’t make it on to our list of influential living atheists. Why? Because they, like so many other atheists, don’t make a big deal out of their atheism. They live their lives without God, but are happy to let other people live their lives with God.

To make it on SuperScholar’s list of influential living atheists, an atheist can’t merely disbelieve in God but also must actively encourage others to disbelieve in God. But even that isn’t enough to make our list. Bill Maher and Penn & Teller, for instance, use their prominence as entertainers to promote atheism. But they do so mainly as popularists, not as scholars attempting to make a considered case against theism and for atheism.

CONTINUES

Interesting list, but a bit flawed. Shermer and Randi are not primarily promoters of atheism, and their respective organizations don't really deal with the God-question. And to call all of these "influential" is a bit of a stretch. I'd say that the only three on the list who have made some relative significant mark in the public conscience are Dawkins, Hawking and Hitchens (the latter much due to his career before he started focusing on atheism). I mean, who the heck will remember Paul Kurtz and Richard Carrier in a hundred years!?

26. NineOneFour

UtilityMonster · **#19** by **UtilityMonster** » Jan 21, 2011 4:22 am

Great find, Hugin. That was a really interesting article. I do think they should have included Maher and Penn, though, although I do understand their reasons for not doing so.

I think Ayaan Hirsi Ali should have gotten a spot as well.