Professed Atheists who have helped society (page 4)

Seeker4

Thomas Edison can go on the list.

The greatest inventors, scientists and thinkers of the past few hundred years have included a lot of atheists. Hmmm, wonder why??

Hey, this is an impressive bunch of people!!

S4

Highlander

I would like to add: We need to consider that some of the influential people throughout history that professed a religious affiliation may not have done so honestly.

Throughout most of history, the act of declaring yourself an athiest came with harsh consequences. At worst, it would come with the penalty of death, at best, you could lose credibility

with the majority population. For a person that wanted to bring good to himself and the world, they may have kept hidden their lack of belief in 'god'.

Satanus

Mother teresa was plagued by doubts about god's existence. Atheists could claim her, or try, at least.

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Mother Teresa, put on the fast-track to sainthood by the Pope after her death five years ago, was tormented by a crisis of belief for 50 years, her writings reveal.

Her letters and diaries present a completely different picture of the nun and Nobel peace laureate from her public image as a woman confident of her faith.

It is being said in Rome that biographies will have to be rewritten to take the revelation into account.
The previously unpublished material is to be brought out as a volume in Italy. It was collected by Roman Catholic authorities in Calcutta after her death, aged 87.

Mother Teresa, who worked among the poor of Calcutta, wrote in 1958: "My smile is a great cloak that hides a multitude of pains." Because she was "forever smiling", people thought "my faith, my hope and my love are overflowing and that my intimacy with God and union with his will fill my heart. If only they knew"

Mother Teresa said in another letter: "The damned of hell suffer eternal punishment because they experiment with the loss of God. In my own soul, I feel the terrible pain of this loss. I feel that God does not want me, that God is not God and that he does not really exist."

Rome's daily newspaper Il Messeggero said: "The real Mother Teresa was one who for one year had visions and who for the next 50 had doubts - until her death."

Her years of doubt coincided with the period when, after the visions, she decided to leave her teaching post at a privileged Calcutta school to help India's poor.

After her death, the Pope waived the Vatican rule that prohibits investigation of the cause for beatification until five years after the subject's death.

Australian church leaders say Mother Teresa's period of doubt only strengthens the case for her beatification.
Francesco Canalini, the Pope's representative in Australia, said: "Many saints throughout history had times of trouble. The message from God is that many holy people have had to face difficulties, but they have fought them despite the darkness."

Sydney Columban priest Cyril Hally describes Mother Teresa's doubts as the "dark night of the soul". "It is a purification process. Doubt is part of the growth of holiness," he said, adding that it is also a part of sainthood.

http://www.cyberindian.com/mother-teresa/does-god-really-exist.php

S

AllAlongTheWatchtower

Elsewhere said:

"Any entity, whether an individual person, business, government or anything else that claims to be secular in nature rather than religious is inherently atheistic in nature.

Now think of every beneficial person, company or organization that ever existed, subtract all of the churches and religious organizations and you have your list of beneficial atheistic entities.

When you stop and think about it, that's a long list!

I am only asking for professed atheists who have supposedly done good deeds to be identified.

Wow... I find it interesting that you inserted "supposedly" in there. " I noticed that too Elsewhere...and maybe I just have a chip on my shoulder because I detest it when people say things like "there's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole", but I find the use of the word 'professed' a bit questionable, too. As in, they only said they were atheists, but really weren't? Or was that just to mean those who admitted to being atheist publicly or were outspoken about it?

Nathan Natas

...and as a counterpoint, I propose a list of all the benefits humanity has enjoyed that materialized out of the 'spirit realm.'

An empty set, that.

Satanus

Perhaps mother teresa was missing the foxhole experience to get her believing again.

S

RWC

I used "professed" to mean those who have expressed their athiesm publically.

As for "supposedly", a benefit to society is a relative term in some instances and what one person views as a benefit others would not, thus the ambiquity.

RWC

I know I started this discussion to have some professed atheist named, but thought it would be helpful to balance that list with some individuals who have professed their religious faith and who have helped society:

Johann Gutenberg

Christopher Columbus

Albert Einstein

Louis Pasteur

Nicolaus Copernicus

James Watt

Martin Luther

George Washington

Abrham Lincoln

Orville and Wilbur Wright

William Shakespeare

John Dalton

Alexander Fleming

Ludwig von Beethoven

Joseph Lister

Thomas Jefferson

Michelangelo

Johann Sebastian Bach

Leonhard Euler

John F. Kennedy

Ronald Reagan

Henry Ford

Charles Babbage

Benjamin Franklin

Gandhi

Ferinand Magellan

Martin Luther King Jr.

Just to name a few

funkyderek

Just a small selection, I've tried to pick people who have done some good for the world beyond mere entertainment:

Douglas Adams - Writer and activist, once climbed Kilimanjaro in a rhino suit to raise awareness of their plight

Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Writer and film producer, outspoken critic Islamic subjugation of women

Lance Armstrong - Cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France winner, and founder of a cancer research charity

David Attenborough - The voice of wildlife documentaries, has taught us about the natural world for over half a century

Warren Buffett - Businessman and philanthropist, donated $46.5 billion to charities last year

Richard Dawkins - Populariser of science, defender of rational thought

Bob Geldof - Punk musician and the guy who organised Live Aid!

James Randi - Professional conjurer and debunker of frauds

Linus Torvalds - Creator of the Linux open-source operating system

Ted Turner - Media mogul and humanitarian

Gore Vidal - Writer and political activist

As well as the above, there are hundreds of other well-known people who have declared themselves to be atheists or agnostics. See http://www.celebatheists.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

Caedes

Albert Einstein

Thomas Jefferson

RWC,

I would have a closer look at the inclusion of these two since I doubt that either would wish to be on it, The rest of your list has a distinctly historical bias (strangely enough) Since the church traditionally had a huge hold over the world it isn't entirely unusual to see that historical figures have proclaimed themselves as being theists since proclaiming to be anything else could be dangerous (or simply not conducive to an illustrious career) in the lifetimes of many of your examples.

Do you seriously think that the next hundred years of human endeavour is going to see theists become major contributors to science or world peace, the worlds top thinkers tend to be atheists (There have been a number of studies proving this) and that is likely to continue until the church start burning heretics again when you will see a tendency toward theism emerge once more. I think that a lot of the people mentioned on your list might have had quite different views if they had been born in a different age.

Professed Atheists who have helped society

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