Atheist Hall of Fame

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Dead as a fried peanut butter and banana sammich.

Boru

[Whateverist]

I don't do hero worship on any other grounds. Don't think I'll start doing so for atheists. Heros are for people who prefer to witness courage rather than participate in it. Perhaps they also like to think it is something for which some are properly constituted while they are not? Weird stuff.

[Jackie]

The one thing about notable people in history more should understand, they stood on their parents and teachers and countless others that gave them the support and education to allow them the setting to contribute their ideas we now find valuable. 

My biggest influence and supporter is my mom. If it had not been for a lifetime of support, and education, I would not have met the non famous atheists, such as Jake and Infidel Guy back in 01 nor John or Bob, all huge influences whom lead me to read famous authors like Hitchens and Harris and Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Victor Stenger in my online history I never see enough of mention. His two books "God The Failed Hypothesis" and "The New Atheism" are under mentioned but to me, solidified my position after reading the God Delusion, that our morality is in evolution and can be scientifically explained.

I am no fan of hero worship. I value those writers but as much and  even more, all the non famous individuals whom without seeing their posts, would not have investigated further. I value their contributions most certainly, but they are not my friends. I am not part of their family nor know them personally. I can only say I value the facts they convey. 

Nobody does it all by themselves ever. My mom had teachers who taught her and without them she wouldn't have the ability to do what she did. No different with famous atheists. They had help too. And while I like Richard Dawkins work, I would not want to hang out with him on a regular basis like I would my personal friends. He has a far different personality than I do from what I see of his interactions in public, and even at the convention where I met him. I also don't like Sam Harris's Buddhism fetish while I do like his criticism of religion in America. Same with Hitchens, loved his bluntness and fearlessness on going after religion, but don't think he was right about the Clintons, and was too much of a war hawk for me. 

But all of them had a foundation of support and still needed peers to see value in their work, much like any boss sits at a desk and reviews several applications only to select one to fill that slot. To me their contributions are a matter of work yes, but it also took shoulders for them to stand on, and being in the right place at the right time as well.