My favorite atheist for a long time has been Ayn Rand, but the more that I read about her, the more I think it's necessary for some collectivism. I'm not denying the individual is important. In fact, the individual is what makes the collective whole, but the simple fact is that there are some jobs not fit for just one man. I still support capitalism by and large. Another fault of hers is that she was in many extramarital relationships with other people while married, although she had her husband's consent. Ultimately though, it's her abhorrent view on abortion that doesn't get my respect. She believes that life begins at birth, which she bases this off of nothing. That, and she didn't believe in evolution and she did not care much for materialism because in her opinion it denied consciousness (which eliminative materialism does, but materialism in general does not). I can't think of any other atheists though that come close to her wisdom. I would like to know if there are any other interesting atheists, because the only famous ones I know of are Richard Dawkins, Michael Newdow, and Douglas Adams, as far as I can recall and none of these atheists appeal to me.
It's rather odd to follow a "My favourite athetist is ____" claim with everything you don't like about the person. Also, there are many more atheists than those. Jury's still out on Einstein, however. I'm not surprised by your pick though. I don't think you'd be surprised by mine either.
Richard Dawkins is my favorite. He's partially responsible for me becoming an atheist. He got the ball rolling with his documentary called "Religion: the root of all evil?". In it, he exposed how irrational faith is and the effects of faith. That documentary got me interested in learning about different religions to see if his claims were true. I love learning about them, but that doesn't negate the fact that I see faith as purely poisonous to the mind.
My favorite atheist is Jean Meslier, because during a time period when almost everyone was scared of being labeled an atheist, and often hid behind deism, Meslier embraced the term, and he gets major props for that in my opinion.
Carl Sagan was an agnostic, although I would argue that most agnostics are atheists too, because many people associate atheism with the belief there is no god.
Any that aren't evangelicals actively trying to win converts. :P
(And yes, that goes for theists too.)
GabuEx
Sorry to nitpick, but you're getting the words 'evangelical' and 'evangelist' confused. An evangelist is a preacher, but an evangelical is a christian who holds a conservative view of the Bible. I hear where you're coming from; I don't believe that any atheist should deliberately try to convert people.
ugh... i hate ayn rand. her books are a bunch of neocon propaganda. chopperdave447
You must be confusing her with someone else. She once wrote, "Wars are the second greatest evil that human societies can perpetrate. (The first is dictatorship, the enslavement of their own citizens, which is the cause of wars.)" Neoconservatives are generally viewed as being very militant.
ugh... i hate ayn rand. her books are a bunch of neocon propaganda.
GabuEx
"Neocon"?
I can think of many descriptions I might form of Ayn Rand, but "neoconservative" is certainly not one of them.
Yeah, neconservatism is basically just reformed Trotskyism and Wilsonianism. It doesn't emphasize self-interest or selfishness like Objectivism does - in fact it pretty much emphasizes the opposite.Â
sorry guys i was thinking about some other word... i can't seem to find it. but i still hate ayn rand.chopperdave447
Libertarian? Although she hated the people that called themselves libertarians back in her day, her political philosophy would best be described as what modern libertarianism is now.
Any that aren't evangelicals actively trying to win converts. :P
(And yes, that goes for theists too.)
dracula_16
Sorry to nitpick, but you're getting the words 'evangelical' and 'evangelist' confused. An evangelist is a preacher, but an evangelical is a christian who holds a conservative view of the Bible. I hear where you're coming from; I don't believe that any atheist should deliberately try to convert people.
Â
One who is evangelical is an evangelist; the latter is just the noun form of the former.
Although in looking it up I suppose you're correct that "evangelical" usually refers to a religious person when used as a noun.
Not only is he a fantastic author, but his position really well-matches my own.
"I certainly can't see any sensible position to assume aside from that of complete scepticism tempered by a leaning toward that which existing evidence makes probable. All I say is that I think it is damned unlikely that anything like a central cosmic will, a spirit world, or an eternal survival of personality exist. They are the most preposterous and unjustified of all the guesses which can be made about the universe, and I am not enough of a hair-splitter to pretend that I don't regard them as arrant and neglible moonshine. In theory I am an agnostic, but pending the appearance of rational evidence I must be cIassed, practically and provisionally, as an atheist. The chance's of theism's truth being to my mind so microscopically small, I would be a pedant and a hypocrite to call myself anything else."Lovecraft
What I also like about Lovecraft, is that there is the idea that we might not be able to explain some things, but that does not necessarily make it "supernatural" only "supernormal" i.e. it is out of our range of explanation currently, but that doesn't mean it cannot be explained eventually. "Supernatural" implies the inability to explain things, which within the natural and science, does not work.
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