Who are your favorite current Atheists?

[undoctrinated]

I liked Carl Sagan.

But he wasn't an atheist. He was agnostic.

Sagan was simply a smart guy. Neil Degrasse Tyson also does not like calling himself "atheist'. If Sagan didn't like saying "I am an atheist" because of his rightful admission he didn't know the future, he made a mistake.

You can hold positions of the past and present while "technically" admitting you don't know the future.

I would bet my life, RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, that all past and present claims of god/s are man made. I am only "technically" "agnostic" about the future.

I think Tyson avoids using "off" which is all the word "atheist" means because of the stigma others attach to it. But neither Sagan or Neil believe in a personal god, much less the gods of those violent books.

You can reject past claims, you can reject current claims, and still while being sure about the future being highly unlikely while "technically" admitting you don't "technically" know.


 Agreed. Just wanted to add Sagan never said "By some definitions Atheism is very stupid". That was made up probably for someone's own agenda. Just doesn't sound like Sagan.  After having that one thrown in my face I dug around and found its source but not with that line in it.

"Those who raise questions about the God hypothesis and the soul hypothesis are by no means all atheist. An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do know to be sure that no such God exist ..."





From other quotes of his I think its pretty clear what his take was.


"“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”  

  "You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe."

  Bob