Famous Atheists or Agnostics through history

Jet Li's probably on of the greatest men ever. He's an atheist.

I didn't know that Lance Armstrong was, or Agnelina Jolie. They're heros too. I knew about bruce lee.

I'm not sure about Norman Borlaug. If he did that would be about all the heros I have that could have named off the top of my head.

And Stephen Colbert. If all those people were athists, then every one of my heros is.

 

John Lennon, Albert Einstein, Angelina Jolie, and Arthur C. Clarke, are all on my 'unlikely to be atheists' list. Ben Franklin I feel was absolutely, no doubt, not an atheist. His Freemason membership, and prominent success in that fraternity virtually proves his theism. Atheists need not apply. Only theists may join the lodge.
Still, Libertine lists a lot of my most admired folk. How could Kate Hepburn be atheist? My favourite actress of all time. And so many others, whom I was surprised to see listed. Oh well, it figures. At least 26 of the names are of people I admire.... but that still won't make me an atheist.

 

Don't take all of this so seriously. Jesus and 'most of the popes' were listed on either this thread or a similar one as being atheists! So, don't believe everything you read! Regardless of what you might or might not think of Jesus or the popes, they certainly weren't atheists! Neither were a lot of the other folks that have been listed.

 

BG13

Did'nt she say
"never complain and never explain" ?
Damn cool.

Piglet...[woops...occam]

 

Well if Lennon wasn't an atheist, why would Bono say that he was?

In last November's issue of Rolling Stone, Jann Wenner interviewed Bono, and Bono was talking about God and music, and said (and I quote), "'Oh My Love' is like a little prayer, even though Lennon was an atheist."

I mean if Lennon wasn't an atheist wouldn't have Wenner corrected Bono by saying, "No, Lennon was actually just agnostic." or something like that...

 

I have always been a big fan of Katherine Hepburn, so I guess I should not have been so shocked when, after picking one celeb tarot card online, it was her picture I saw when the card was revealed. I own a biography book about her, which is a genre I do not as a rule acquire. Mother Teresa's bio is the only other one I can recall off hand which I own. Some of Kate's quotes, above one included, expose much about who she was. She also is to have said, "If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."
My favorite Kate story is of when she defied the Hollywood powers by refusing to stop wearing pants. The studios vision of what an actress should look like did not include pant wearing. When, in desperation, they hid her pants one day, she threatened to walk across the lot to her car in her underwear unless her pants were returned. They called her bluff, likely thinking she wouldn't dare... well, she did dare. The 30's and 40's were an era when such things as that were unheard of. I admired her filmwork at the beginning, and then her maverick approach to life later. One more... I saw her receive an award once, life time achievement I think, and she attended the formal awards show wearing her gardening clothes. The fact she attended at all was quite amazing, since she was said to have disliked award shows, and until then had declined all invites to them.
In my view, she is the greatest actress ever, and at the moment, I can't name an actor whom I admire as much as her.
One other thing I find appealing about her is that her name was on the list of 'communist appeasers' published during the McCarthy era.

 

I don't know why he did, but if he did, then that is what he feels to be true. Might he have been mistaken? Maybe. Or, maybe its a case of differing definitions on what an 'atheist' is. The lyrics, 'last night the wife said oh boy when you're dead, you don't take nothing with you but your soul. Think!', suggest that he believed in the concept of the soul. It is not conclusive though, and taken literally, he is only stating that Yoko felt that way. But, it is my view, not at all a fact though, that John also believed in reincarnation, and was of the belief that he and Yoko had been together in past lives. I know he saw a ufo over New York, and also know that he spent some time consulting astrologers, and numerologists. That is, imo, very 'un-atheist' behaviour. If Bono is right, and he may well be, then it is possible that he separates faith in a soul, and an afterlife, from belief in God. Whether or not John Lennon was an atheist, though, makes no difference to me. He is a person whom I greatly admire either way, who has taught me a lot, and set an example which a great many people would do well to read up on. The mistakes he may have made just show me he is human, and the key thing, imo, is that he was ever learning, ever growing, and ever seeking a future in which people saw each other as family. No countries, no possessions, no religion, all people living life as one, in peace. Belief in God is not needed in order to achieve that state, just belief in love. We all shine on.
PS. In 'The Last Days Of John Lennon', Fred Seaman wrote that he heard John once call himself a 'born-again Pagan', but was also to have said that he felt that it didn't matter whether one believed in God or not.

 

Bg13

That quote and a love of the movie 'african queen' is all occam really knows of her...
Though have seen her in other movies like 'guess whos comming to dinner' which was very good. Loved Poitier and Tracy in that one.
More of a Bogart and Mitchum fan. [and drool over bacall]

That she was labled 'sympathiser' by McCarthy is
3 gold stars on the forehead.
That pack of political manipulative agenda ,,,,thugs had all
the style and smarts of a turd.

Occam

 

Funny you should mention Bogie and Bacall, since it was just yesterday that I was on a ferry and was telling a friend that a little cabin on an island we passed was once used by the couple as a secret hideaway. It has since been enlarged and a deck added, but its still there. I love Mitchum too, he was great in both Cape Fear movies.
I have enjoyed all the Hepburn/Tracy films I have seen. They worked very well together. Guess who's coming to dinner was very much enjoyed by me also, and it was so very similar to reality later in my life when I brought home my new beau who happened to be black. In the year 2000, at least at my house, the various odd and uncomfortable reactions weren't very different at all.