The Atheist Movement.

[Jehanne]

As to prominent atheists and their adoration.  I'm a bad atheist, I guess, lol.  With the exception of hitchens, I've never read any of their work.  I think he was a good orator and author, but not a leader of any kind.  I don't think we'd have been buddies, nor would I have expected him to return my phone calls.

This is how I feel about it, although I think he and I could have sourly cut up over some scotch.

The only "atheist" leaders I give a fuck about are the kind who are more closely aligned with science and skepticism. Sagan. Tyson. Novella. Shermer. Etc.

It's not enough to be an atheist, and how many times can you sit there and jack off to the idea that "god is not real"? You have to find something positive (and by positive, I mean the opposite of 'null', not happy feelings necessarily) to fill the void. People are always proud of themselves for not believing in god, but lack basic abilities to think critically, have little to no basic understanding of human psychology or history, and often trade god-belief for other woo.

I'd lost respect for Shermer long ago.  Don't get me wrong, he is a GREAT thinker!  About 10 years ago he made a public solicitation that he would have dinner with anyone for a mere $2500.00  Now, I am not sure if the patron was supposed to pay for the meal in addition to the $2.5K or not!  Ironically, I recently got a canned email from the Democratic Party saying that one could enter a FREE lottery to have dinner with President Obama.  Bit of a contrast with Dr. Shermer, a Libertarian and President Obama, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat.

P.S. Have no idea what the hourly rate for a good prostitute is!