Who's your favorite atheist?

[Ryytikki]

im torn between Terry Pratchett, Ricky Gervais and Douglass Adams

All great comedians (if you haven't read Terry Pratchet's books then you're missing out on a lot!)

[pedricero matao]

Only one?
I doubt between
Peter Atkins ("el puto amo"!!!)
John Allen Paulos (GREAT divulgator)
These three are more famous:
Bertrand Russell
Linus Pauling
Isaac Asimov
They are all so brilliant that I can't name an "absolute favorite"
(yes of course Dawkins and Feynman and a lot more are great too, but more typical)

[Tom62]

I've now also added Eric Idle on my list.  I'm just reading his book "The Greedy Bastard Diary" and it is hilarious. Some quotes:

All religions seem to dislike breasts, but it is just the opposite with me

Recently I met the lady who discovered the G-spot. She said she'd show me how to find it. She curled my fingers into an O, inserted two fingers  into the fist, and from inside pushed very hard on the fleshy part of my palm.

"That", she said, is the G-spot.
And  I was surprised, because  I'd always thought that it was in the vagina.

So be very careful ladies, next time you shake hands with me.

Internet spam is weird, isn't it? First they bombard you with with offers to enlarge your penis. Then they offer you Viagra, presumably to fill up the monstrous engine, and then they offer you another mortgage.

Well, if there is one thing guaranteed to shrink your dick, it's the thought of another mortgage.

I'm very much in favor of gay marriage. It's about time they suffered, too.

[SallyMutant]

Best girls: Julia Sweeney, Nigella Lawson, Emma Goldman.
Best boys: Tom Paine, Robert Ingersoll, Mark Twain.
The non-Sunday funnies: Lewis Black, George Carlin, Doug Adams
Best doubters: Voltaire, Sholom Auslander
Thanks for the tips in the previous posts--I'll have to check out  some of the ones that are news to me.

[jrosebud]

Joss Whedon (creator of Firefly/Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and now Dollhouse) is one of my favorites, simply because he takes the high philosophical ideas and turns them into an art that's accessible to a wider audience.  Here's his blurb on CelebAtheists:  http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Joss_Whedon  (Lots of good stuff there, so check it out.)

In a Q&A-session while promoting his movie Serenity, Whedon was asked: "What do you have against being a Christian?" He answered:

I don't actually have anything against anybody, unless their belief precludes everybody elses. I am an atheist and an absurdist and have been for many, many years. I've actually taken a huge amount of flak for that. People who have faith tend to think that people who don't don't have a belief system and they don't care if they make fun of them. It's actually very difficult: Atheists are as a group not really recognised by the American public as people to be taken seriously. This does not mean that I rail against religion, however the meaning of life and the meaning of what we do with our lives is something that is extremely important to me. I have included characters from many different religions particularly in [Firefly], but also in the other shows as well, because I'm interested in the concept. I think faith is an extraordinary thing. I'd like to have some, but I don't and that's just how that works. [...] There's one other thing I would mention, which is from Angel actually: One of the few times I really got to sort of say exactly what I think about the world was in the second season of Angel, episode 16 ["Epiphany"] when he'd gone all dark, because he does that, and hat he was getting better, and he basicly decided -- he'd been told: "The world is meaningless, nothing matters." And he said: "Well then, this is my statement: Nothing matters, so the only thing that matters is what we do." Which is what I believe: I believe the only reality is how we treat each other. The morality comes from the absense of any grander scheme, not from the presense of any grander scheme. [...] So the answer is: "Nothing, unless you've got something against me."

And if you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, take a moment to check it out:

http://www.drhorrible.com

[The Magic Pudding]

A great Atheist that has not been mentioned, Fred Hollows.

Hollows brought sight to, ultimately, millions of people in Australia and across the world.

And accordingly he has been almost deified since his death 15 years ago yesterday. Indeed, his name is substituted for God's in his own foundation's slogan "For Fred's sake".

It's the sort of joke he would appreciate. Fred Hollows, who once studied for the priesthood, died an atheist. In the end he cared too much about humans to devote his life to God.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/n ... 1115519873

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hollows

[KebertX]

The Buddha!  He's a religious figure (and he very well may not have existed) so I don't know whether or not he counts...

After that I'd probably say...

Douglas Adams
Aristotle
Issac Asimov
George Boole
George Carlin
Emperor Constantine (The most Ironic Atheist in all History!)
Charles Darwin
Richard Dawkins
Albert Einstein
Benjamin Franklin
Che Guevara
Christopher Hitchens
Robert Ingersoll
Thomas Jefferson
Seth McFarlane
John Stuart Mill
Thomas Paine
Bender B. Rodriguez (Futurama)
Mark Twain
Voltaire

Damn that's a lot... I was trying to come up with a name for every letter of the alphabet, but I don't know any good atheists with last names that begin with K.  You get the point: There have been some pretty good atheists since the dawn of man.

My favorite on that list is probably George Carlin! I have simple tastes.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Neil Peart!

Not only a sterling thinker, but a brilliant musician.

[NothingSacred]

I guess I'd have to say the two atheists who raised the bullshit alarm and made me open my eyes Derren Brown and George Carlin ( god rest his soul in HELL!!!)  

[Tank]

If I had to pick one it would be Dan Dennett, he's the granddad everybody should have.

[pinkocommie]

Dennett.  He can tickle me with his beard any time.  

[karadan]

My favourite atheist is me.  

[Tank]

Dennett.  He can tickle me with his beard any time.  

[Tank]

My favourite atheist is me.  

[karadan]

My favourite atheist is me.  

Aaaaaaw