Today I came across a list of the fifty greatest atheists.
Here are some of my favorite atheists, in no particular order:
Charles Darwin. For having "the single greatest idea ever to occur to a human being".
Andrew Carnegie. for his good works and generosity.
Robert Ingersoll. for his common-sense writings against Christianity and his reputation for generosity.
James Watson and Francis Crick. Yep, itwo atheists discovered that DNA was the hereditary molecule for life.
James Randi. For his skepticism and upstanding character.
Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett, Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould, Stephen Hawking, PZ Myers and Eugenie Scott for their work in science and for bringing science to a level which everyone can understand.
Thomas Edison is probably my favorite.
ReplyDeleteHe was not a well educated man,but still invented many wonderful electronic devices. In my opinion, he was the American father of invention.
His most famous atheistic quote was, "Religion is all bunk!"
Watson & Crick stole their research from Rosalind Franklin.
ReplyDeleteAre you quite sure Darwin was an atheist? Or merely not a Christian?
ReplyDeleteIsaac Asimov, for his contributions to literature and to popularizing science.
ReplyDeleteDarwin was agnostic for most of his adult life, and most certainly not religious in any sense. Here is what he wrote in a letter to a friend:
ReplyDelete"Though I am a strong advocate for free thought on all subjects, yet it appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity & theism produce hardly any effect on the public; & freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science. It has, therefore, been always my object to avoid writing on religion, & I have confined myself to science. I may, however, have been unduly biased by the pain which it would give some members of my family, if I aided in any way direct attacks on religion."
BTW, if you watch the final episode of "The Genius of Charles Darwin" with Richard Dawkins, you'll see some things that indicate Darwin was, toward the end of his life, probably an atheist.