Out and Proud Atheist

[rlrose328]

We just got the September 7 issue of Entertainment Weekly today, with Jodie Foster on the cover.  The Jodes... LOVE her, have for 36 years.  And she says it, right there, in black and white:  "I'm an atheist."  I was so excited, I had to call my hubby right away to share it.

***
EW:  Are you religious?

JF:  No, I'm an atheist. But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God. We celebrate pretty much every religion in our family with the kids. They love it, and when they say, ''Are we Jewish?'' or ''Are we Catholic?'' I say, ''Well, I'm not, but you can choose when you're 18. But isn't this fun that we do seders and the Advent calendar?''

****

Isn't she the dreamiest?   :wink:   I knew she was a non-believer of some sort... all of that came out when she did "Contact" with Matthew McConnaughey, but I can't remember if she put it out there like that.  I wrote a letter to EW tonight saying how refreshing it is to see a personality not dodge that kind of thing in these conservative Christian times... she's so classy.

Here's the whole article online:

Jodie Foster Interview in EW Magazine

[izult]

Wow that excites me so much!! I've always loved her as an actress and a person.

[pjkeeley]

http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

This website has a list of atheist celebrities and quotes in which they have 'come out' in favour of atheism. I don't know how complete or accurate it is though. Some of them are pretty obvious but there are a lot of pleasant surprises.  

[childprime]

Jodie Foster just scored some points with me too. But I have to say, all this celebrating of ritual and letting her kids choose at 18... sounds like she is an atheist UU like me! ;-)

[SteveS]

Its funny how my opinion of celebrities changes when they've "outed" themselves as atheists.  Makes me wonder if I'm guilty of prejudice?  For example, up until now I really didn't think much about Jodie Foster --- didn't particularly like her, didn't particularly dislike her.  So I find it troubling when I discover she's an atheist, and my ears perk up, and I find myself thinking "Really?  Hey, that's pretty cool, right?".

Eh - guess I'm just not into celebrities too much - the way people fawn over them seems far too "religious" for my tastes.  That, and the fact that the bulk of them seem depressingly hypocritical.  Anyway, I'm not about to "worship" anything; especially not other human beings.

Man, I must be feeling just plain grouchy or something lately....  :wink:

[rlrose328]

CelebAtheists was gone for quite awhile, glad to see it back.  I had made my own list and only put on those whom I could verify by finding quotes in reliable interviews, news sources, etc.  I knew I'd read those quotes from her during the "Contact" media frenzy... I love that she speaks her mind.  So many other celebrities may not believe but they wouldn't deign to admit it to the press.

It's also important to note (at least to me) that she is a highly intelligent person who has plenty of education under her belt.  I get the feeling from her interviews and press, however, that she would probably be an atheist anyway.  :-)

SteveS, you sound like my husband.  LOL!  He's not so much into any type of hero-worship, but he "loves" Jodie Foster, admires her talent and intellect.  He too let out a "YES!" when I told him her quote.  ;-)  

Me, she was already the number one actress on my list of favorites (next to Susan Sarandon), so this was just icing on the cake, so to speak.

[donkeyhoty]

I don't know, that new movie she's in looks terrible.

Although, in re: SteveS' prejudice, I only have it when someone's talking about something they've done/accomplished and they thank god.  If they're athletes I immediately hope they lose every game/competition they ever enter.

[MommaSquid]

So, Jodie is an atheist...good for her!  But she loses points for this quote from the article:

Here's my commentary: I don't believe that any gun should be in the hand of a thinking, feeling, breathing human being. Americans are by nature filled with rage-slash-fear....

She doesn't believe in using guns, but she will take a huge paycheck for running around with weapons in a movie.  That's convenient.

[SteveS]

If they're athletes I immediately hope they lose every game/competition they ever enter.

Man - I heard that!  Okay, here's a geeky story, when I was in high school I was in the marching band (only because I really wanted to play in the symphonic band, but you don't get a choice: if you wanted to be in band you had to accept the marching season - but at least I got to watch the football game for free).  Anyway, marching bands have marching band competitions (oh what fun), and I was at one of these where a competing school was Catholic.  During the judges announcements, a girl from that band stood up, closed her eyes, and held up a crucifix at arms length.  I remember being utterly horrified!  Give me a freakin' break!  Believing in god is bad enough - believing god, if he existed, would actually give 2 shits about who won a marching band contest is just outright ridiculous!

[rlrose328]

Oh attributing everything to god really creeps me out.  I believe in personal responsibility, regardless if it's good or bad.  

Maybe that's why we have tsunamis and floods that kill people, because god is busy helping that marching band win.

[scepticus]

It would be interesting if someone kept a list of atheist celebrities.

[Squid]

It would be interesting if someone kept a list of atheist celebrities.

http://www.celebatheists.com/?title=Main_Page

[donkeyhoty]

Those last two posts made me laugh hysterically.

[scepticus]

Thanks Squid it's refreshing to see so many of my favorites on the list.

[Squid]

Thanks Squid it's refreshing to see so many of my favorites on the list.

No problemo.