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Are there any inspiring atheists? I can't think of any?

I have a project in which I must compare famous inspiring atheists to famous inspiring believers. I always hear stories about inspiring believers of all sorts of religions who devote their lives to social justice and unquestionable love for the less fortunate. A few that I can name off-hand include Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Thich Nhat Hanh, Padre Pio, Father Damien of Molokai, Pope John Paul II, Jeremiah McAuley, and Ignatius de Loyola. And I'm sure that I could find many more than that. Not only that, but I also know many believers who inspire me in my personal life. So my question is, could anyone possibly point out some famous inspiring atheists who’ve led lives similar to Mother Teresa’s or Gandhi’s, or could you share some of your stories about inspiring atheists whom you know personally? Also, do atheists ever go on mission trips to help the AIDS victims in Africa or the poor in South America? Almost everyone healthy enough at my parish has been on at least one of these mission trips, and I was wondering whether atheists ever participate in these types of things. (continued...) I found a site of famous atheists, but none of them seem too inspiring. The most inspiring atheist on this list is Abraham Lincoln. http://www.wonderfulatheistsofcfl.org/Quotes.htm#nietzsche The rest are just famous politicians, scientists, and celebrities. However, none of them really accomplished anything that reveals a deeper passion for the less fortunate and social justice. Yes, a scientist is a necessary and note-worthy profession, but most of them lived isolated lives and never sought to reach out to those in suffering. If I just talked about boring scientists who dedicated their lives to studying in isolation, I think that would misrepresent atheists as a rather dull group of people (considering that I’ll have to compare them to the famous inspiring believers mentioned earlier). But I’d still like to hear of some inspiring atheists you know on a personal level. Thank you, and I’m looking forward to your insights. "just curious"- yes, please do go on, because none of those can be compared to Mother Teresa or Gandhi. I don't think Richard Dawkins is too inspiring. Intelligent? Yes. Inspiring? No. Nemesis- Inspiration in people preaching? Mother Teresa certainly didn't preach. Great Gazoo- I think you gave some good examples, but once again, is Bill Gates comparable to Mother Teresa? To say that he's done more than my whole Church combined is obviously narrowed to the perspective of money donations, and I would still have to say that Mother Teresa's contributions are all together much greater than Bill Gates's. sweet sweet jane- 10 years!? Wow. *You* inspire me. I like your list too. They're all great examples. Don Printninja- You definitely have the most complete list, but many of these people were already on the website that I referenced. And I probably should've but I failed to mention that my audience is primarily comprised of Christians (it's for a potential Christian website), so your reasoning doesn't work out too well for my project, considering that you believe their accomplishments surpass the capabilities of religion. Personally, I agree with that in scientific and political terms, but I know a lot of fundies who wouldn't. lol

Public Comments

  1. Mother Teresa
  2. carl sagan, albert einstein, richard dawkins, lance armstrong, shall i go on? edit: the beatles, charles darwin, marie curie... edit2: as far as living lives similar to mother teresa or ghandi. i don't believe any of those i mentioned live up to the "high standard" of exploiting people's sickness while at the same time using their authority for their own personal gain. sorry, i guess you have me there. edit3: inspiring is a question of taste then. frankly, i don't find people like ghandi or mother teresa too inspiring. greedy? yes. self-serving? definitely. but definitely not inspiring. i didn't realize you meant inspriring only to you. my bad. in that case, no, i can't name any atheists that are inspiring to you. that's a question only you can answer.
  3. Thomas Jefferson, Susan B. Anthony, Ernest Hemingway, Arthur C. Clarke, Ayn Rand, Carl Sagan, Bertrand Russell, Clarence Darrow, Elizabeth Cady-Stanton, Galileo Galilei, Freidrich Nietzsche, George Bernard Shaw, Gloria Steinam If you can't find people on that website that weren't inspiring, then you have a problem that nobody can help you with.
  4. Look up Helen Keller. Jefferson and Einstein were not atheists, they were deists.
  5. Mother Teresa is not an Atheist. anyway, I find Friedrich Nietzsche inspiring: http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkkSb2YpHRtkAQAxXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE4NmRsbWV1BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA0Y3NTVfOTAEbANXUzE-/SIG=11q99jqgn/EXP=1200368411/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nietzsche EDIT: Mother Teresa certainly preached! she preached the love of God through her ACTIONS. preaching doesn't necessarily mean you should use words! and AGAIN, Mother Teresa is NOT, I repeat, NOT atheist!
  6. Carl Sagan Richard Dawkins
  7. What inspires you is obviously religious in nature. Many people have been very inspired by people like Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Steven Hawkins. It's all how you look at it. Also, please look into Doctor's Without Borders. These are doctors that contribute their services internationally to nations in need. Many of these doctors are atheist and they provide aid without Bible thumping. This project will do you some good if you take the positive approach. Maybe it will help you to understand how it is that others are capable of believing differently than you and they are still good people. Good luck!
  8. your question is biased. you find inspiration in people preaching. Inspiration may come from other sources too. I am inspired by Carl Sagan for example because , not only was he an excellent scientist, he brought science to the common man in terms that he could understand. You need to look outside you tiny world and experience what the rest of us do
  9. If you dont think Einstein .. Galileo ...Hellen Keller .. Tolstoy .. Mark Twain ...Van Gogh .. aren't inspiring .. then I have no clue ..
  10. Many nonbelievers do charitable works.....personally, I have spent the past 10 years specifically working with the homeless and disaster victims around the world...... Anderw Carnagie is one Pat Tillman Lance Armstrong Primo Levi Indumati Parikh
  11. Maybe you should check just how much inspiration you're needing there sir. Don't let people tell you atheists are less inspiring than others, that would be well, just ridiculous. But that's not too far out of the norm in this specific forum.
  12. Bill Gates, Bob Geldof, Lenin, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzche, Salman Rushdie, Theo Van Gogh.
  13. Carl Sagan, unless anything he has written about the cosmos does not inspire you? This depends on what YOU specifically define as inspiring?
  14. I found Carl Sagan to be very inspiring. If you are looking for charity Bill Gates or Andrew Carnegie would be a great examples. They both have done more than your whole church put together.
  15. Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Albert Eisenstein, Thomas Edison, Benjamen Franklin, Bill Gates, to name a few. For all intents and purposes deism and atheism are the same thing.
  16. Anaxagoras Democritus Albert Einstein Thomas Edison Robert Frost Charles Schultz Bill Gates Warren Buffett Steve Wozniak Andrew Carnegie Mao Tse-tung Aldous Huxley Voltaire Freidrich Nietzsche Gene Roddenberry George Bernard Shaw Helen Keller Ernest Hemingway Charles Darwin Ayn Rand Carl Sagan Karl Marx Leo Tolstoy Dr. James Watson Dr. Francis Crick Noam Chomsky Richard Leakey Frank Lloyd Wright Irving Berlin George Orwell Mark Twain Sigmund Freud Arthur Schopenhauer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Marie Curie Richard Feynman Richard Dawkins Charles Darwin Benjamin Spock Stephen Jay Gould William Shatner Sir Alfred Hitchcock Jodie Foster If not one person on this list inspires you, than you are just a troll looking to be argumentative. Some of the people on this list have changed the world in profound ways that religion couldn't have imagined, let alone achieved. EDIT: In defense of Bill Gates, not ONLY did he and Warren Buffett together change the face of health care in many 3rd world nations, Gates created the Microsoft Widows revolution, which has brought the world together in ways whose future implications cannot even be predicted. Granted another computer company would have taken the reigns, but Gates still did something that revolutionized worldwide communication and information sharing. Mother Theresa's altruistic work pales in comparison. Frankly, I find Robert Frost's poetry more inspiring.
  17. The question that keeps running through my head is “what of the believers of God who were executed for publicly promoting science” I am inspired by their bravery in the face of such penalties for simply saying the world is round. I truly wonder where we might be now if only the Church allowed free thought, to be free.
  18. the dailha lama
  19. Personally I'm more inspired of people like Einstein. A majority of our best scientists, inventors, technologist are atheists, agnostics, non-theist, non-religious, and I find them more inspiring. What you find inspiring is to me really are not inspiring people. Mother Theresa for example maybe very charitable but also taught people self-abnegation and sacrifice in such a way that they put others above themselves. Altruism is not a virtue, compassion is. Padre Pio and Ignatius de Loyola are highly mystical personalities, who witnessed things of questionable reality.
  20. There's a wonderful site called Wikipedia - maybe you've heard of it. ~
  21. being atheist isn't about inspiring others. its a personal goal to know the truth, not to assist others. atheist is just being informative to others.
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