Who's your favorite prominent atheist?

Debate Room
41

Fellow Unb3lievers,

I don’t know if my favorite would be considered prominent, but he did precede The Four Horsemen. My favorite Atheist scholar and philosopher was the one whose work firmly convinced me of both the Negative Atheist position and the Positive Atheist position and did so with the tightest, most systematic logical argument. He closed the book on any possibility of me believing in a God ever:

George H. Smith, author of Atheism: The Case Against God.

Of The Four Horsemen, The Hitch and Sam Harris are the popularizers, and Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett are the more academic, but all are great and I highly respect their arguments on God and Religion.

As for Atheist celebrities, there are many favorites. In addition to Penn and Teller, James “The Amazing” Randi and Harry Houdini were great magicisns and Unbelievers. Tom Leykis is a breath of rational fresh air on AM talk radio who has an “Ask the Atheist” feature on his show, and just as well he is a funny and hard-nosed realist on relationships. Dr. Dean Edell was a great voice on the radio for scientific medicine and against pseudoscientific quackery before he retired.

There are a whole slew of both prominent and neglected hilarious Atheist humorists and comedians, not just George Carlin and Bill Hicks, but W.C. Fields, Rodney Dangerfield, Benny Hill, Dave Allen, Julia Sweeney, Chris Rock, Steven Fry, Ricky Gervais, Eddie Griffith, Bill Burr, Jim Jeffries, Katt Williams, Adam Corolla, Joe Rogan, Sarah Silverman, Larry David, and a proverbial Cast of Thousands!

Bruce Wayne/Batman and Walter Kovacs/Rorschach of the DC Comics Universe are both Atheists as are Tony Stark/Iron Man, Bruce Banner/Hulk, and Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Marvel Comic Universe.

The only Atheists I flat-out despise are those of the Totalitarian mindset who want to make a Party, a Class, a “Race” into their proxy for God. This would include Richard Spencer, Tom Metzger, The Late George Lincoln Rockwell and all of the racist Alt-Right and all the Socialist/Communist followers of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Castro, Chavez, and Maduro.

Atheists and Unbelievers in general figure highly in academia, science, and culture and are, for the most part, good forbidden apples. I love learning more about them daily with my new 2021 Freedom From Religion Foundation Calendar.

1 Like
42

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=George+H.+Smith%2C+author+of+Atheism%3A+The+Case+Against+God.

Thanks, a whole new slew of videos to watch. Looking for the book on line now. I have heard Matt D/ mention it before.

43

I like their TV show.

Came across Penn Jillette yesterday while looking for something else. Found this a bit muddled:

“I believe that there is no God. I’m beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy — you can’t prove a negative, so there’s no work to do. You can’t prove that there isn’t an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word “elephant” includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?”

https://www.npr.org/2005/11/21/5015557/there-is-no-god

PS I discovered various atheist thinkers after I became an atheist. My atheism arrived very slowly, as I searched a great many claims for the existence of god and a spiritual realm. No empirical evidence was ever offered and claims also did not survive exposure to reason and logic . That’s something which has not changed.

44

Penn gets to make such comments as he is a comedian / magician and not someone writing a philosophical opinion on the validation of the existence of God. His assertion has no feet and can not stand against critical inquiry but it makes a great comedy routine. There are certainly anti-theists out there who like to shove both feet in their mouth and babble like believing Christians. Before you make the claim that “this” or ‘that’ god does not exist, it would do you well to know exactly what god you are talking about.

If I tell you that my god exists and you profess it does not, you automatically lose. I worship the sun. End of game and you look like an idiot. The sun exists. "Whether or not it exists as a ‘god’ whatever that is, need not be defended. I choose to worship it and that is all you need to know for me to prove my point. “Why call it ‘god?’” Well, you don’t have to. The sun exists now go the fuck away. I do not have to defend my belief to you or share with you any knowledge that I may have that you may not.

1 Like
45

Not with me he doesn’t.

If one is going to make public statements they should be able to stand on their own merits or be called out.

I’ve had his number for many years, based on what I’ve seen him say: An angry and jealous autodidact who can also be anti intellectual . Seems like a pretty good magician though.

I loved the schtick he and Teller did on ‘The West Wing’. Talk about putting the constitution to the test.

–My favourite from real life was when a protestor with a sign which read ‘FUCK THE DRAFT’ was arrested for obscenity. Judge threw it out of court, ruling that the words were not meant literally and were protected by the first amendment.

46

I can’t argue with that. I like the man but bullshit is bullshit and you are spot on to call him on it. His loud mouth hyperbolic boisterous ways would not serve him well against anyone who knew how to argue. I can’t defend him and he certainly can not defend himself. I just don’t think anyone takes him seriously as a critic of any kind. “Yea I know.” Millions of people without the skills you have listen to him and repeat his bullshit. Like I said… “I can’t defend him.” (I like the bit they did on AA and on Recycling during the “Bullshit” series.)

47

“Did you go to law school?” “No, clown school”.

It is schtick but it also highlights the difference between the real freedoms everyone talks about and the pretend freedoms offered by flag-waving, MAGA style, jingoists who are happy for us to say and do anything, as long as they approve it.

2 Likes
48

Indeed.

It is my position that freedom of speech cannot exist without the freedom to offend. Australia has anti hate speech laws, which I do not support. Australia has no bill of rights.

As far as I know, the UK does not even have a written constitution. (in the sense of a single document)

50

A polarized person perhaps, but Jordan Peterson phrased it likewise.
If we are willing to debate we must be willing to offend one another, it is preferable that we fight
with words rather than with fists.
Rather puncture me with your opinion than your sword.

1 Like
51

Awwwwww fuk! I just vomited coconut milk out my nose. Someone just quoted Mr. Unfounded Deepity himslef. I never thought I would live to see the day… Rationalism is dead, critical thinking has left the earth, and all I have is this monkey shirt with vomi… HEY! If you look at this thing the right way, you can see Jordan Peterson’s left eyebrow. I wonder what this might fetch on E-bay?

3 Likes
52

Never heard that before, I like it though. The internet is sometimes decried because the anonymity it gives fosters a lack of respect, but I think it’s a good thing to be irreverent about ideas, and respect for a person is entirely independent from respecting ideas and beliefs.

Some people find irreverence objectionable, me I love it, if we insist ideas and beliefs are to be respected, then they will never improve, and if we’re wrong about them, we will never know it if we object to criticisms.

That said, who doesn’t like a duel…

:face_with_raised_eyebrow::smirk:

53

Great…now I’m picking poo out of my hair…:roll_eyes::grin:

54

Well, I can think of at least one member at the moment :innocent:

1 Like
55

…yah.

How can I respect an unfounded, unevidenced, idea or theory? Watching a movie, entertainment value? SURE - it’s presented that way. Then talking or imagining it - fun.

BUT offer it as some fucked up “hidden” truth a person has access to and move it into the real world??? Sorry - shit for brains. And when it’s pointed out… uh, some evidence please??? The response it “respect it”! Fuck that!

I’ll respect a person who says, hey! I fell for bullshit (who hasn’t) and then learns to NOT repeat it. Instead too many dig in - they’ve tied their identity to the shit. So then rightfully, they are shitty.

56

Indeed, but even objective facts like the rotundity of the earth can’t be absolutes. The scientific method grasps this, but humans often panic at the idea that nothing is an absolute, and they then can’t see how there can be any objective facts.

Oh hell yes, not just fell for it, but even created it on occasion. Youth has many aspects that are appealing to those who have left it behind, but hubris isn’t one of them. I often cringe at how sure I was, because I wasn’t smart enough.

Ah yes, motivated reasoning, a form of selection bias. All we can do is “fling poo at each other’s ideas” until we eliminate irrational ideas, and disbelieve unevidenced claims, but without prejudice.

I sometimes think if I had a thousand years instead of a few decades, I wouldn’t know more, I’d just have more undvidenced ideas to doubt. It’s in our nature to seek quick answers, slow answers would have got our ancestors killed quickly.

Since the agricultural revolution, and especially the industrial revolution, humans simply have much more time to examine ideas, new and old. Some people think this is bad, and some think it is good, I don’t think it’s either, but we may use it to help reduce and avoid unnecessary suffering, that seems like a start, and a more laudable goal than pleading a capricious cruel deity from antiquity that no one can demonstrate any objective evidence for.

:sunglasses:

57

Oh yes indeed.

Probably more effective to kill all of the irrational. Of course I’d need to live for about 10,00 years and would get terribly lonely :innocent:

58

I see you are a fan. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

People either like him or dislike him strongly. I don’t care much. Some of his statements are very interesting, thought provoking and explains how I also feel about certain things.(the willingness to offend for example.)

Some of his other ramblings not so much.

Ps: Get something resembling his right eyebrow and we can talk business.

59

You mean the guy who insists there is no pay gap, and then proceeds to “explain” why the pay gap exists (the very same gap he claims doesn’t exist)? :woozy_face:

Yeah; that polarized me, for sure.

1 Like
60

One that came to mind today (prominent atheist): Larry Flynt (he died today).

1 Like
61

Sorry to here that.

Liked him ever since Jerry Falwell sued him for slander and lost. Larry had published a cartoon of The Rev being blown in the outhouse by his mother. Very thin skinned if you ask me.