Talk:List of atheists in film, radio, television and theater

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Wil Wheaton[edit]

I'm a bit unsure about adding Wil Wheaton. He made direct reference to being an atheist via his Twitter entry on September 12th, but I'm not sure how valid a source that would be considered. Does anyone know of any other references he's made to his personal beliefs in the past? -=Worloq=- (talk) 00:12, 16 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Doesn't look solid enough to me, because I'm not sure how we know that comment is actually from Wheaton (rather than someone using the name). But others might know better than I how to check that: if it's him, in he goes. Oolon (talk) 08:17, 16 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

He's confirmed that via his blog (which is his blog), it is his twitter account. My biggest concern is simply whether he should be taken seriously or not. He'd hardly be the first person to out himself without screaming it to the world. -=Worloq=- (talk) 18:00, 17 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I see no reason to think he's joking about being an atheist, though he is joking about worrying about his soul. --Replysixty (talk) 09:18, 17 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

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Hugh Laurie[edit]

Why's he listed as an agnostic on his page? 67.243.5.234 (talk) 21:22, 10 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Seems there is an ongoing argument about it on the talk page for him. He's clearly an atheist by the standards used here, though. Oolon (talk) 11:27, 11 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

True, most people from Britain would be considered atheist by US standards —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.30.40.74 (talk) 20:38, 7 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That's funny :D
Agnostic is not the same as atheist, but calling it a nontheist is OK, I think... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.87.148.133 (talk) 01:34, 20 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Iain Lee[edit]

Someone added him, unreferenced. He may well be, so it might be worth digging around, which is why I'm raising it here rather than just deleting him. Oolon (talk) 11:54, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Darren Aronofsky[edit]

In reading the referenced link, it doesn't really sound to me as though Aronofsky is an atheist. In fact, not only do the quotes not suggest this, but nowhere does he confirm it. I suggest removing his name, unless the talk page on the site provides additional information which I don't have access to. Sventington the Second (talk) 08:12, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Daniel Radcliffe, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie[edit]

These actors are also atheists - here is one reference - http://www.examiner.com/x-8928-Philadelphia-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m7d14-The-importance-of-Daniel-Radcliffes-atheism I would have included these names myself in the article, but I don't know how to. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.238.95.242 (talk) 07:14, 15 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Radcliffe is already in the list. Might be worth digging about the other two. Oolon (talk) 09:34, 15 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Seth Green[edit]

I am overly not familiar with wiki etiquette but while listening to the 11/24/2009 Adam Carolla's Podcast Seth Green said at about 46:45 "...I don't really consider myself confined to any particular religion but I definitely have a belief in god...." Here is the direct link to the podcast MP3 File Link it usually avaliable for 3 to 4 month after its release date.

I haven't taken the time through read all of what is or isn't a credible source, I will do that in next of couple of days but if there is nothing explicit about podcasts I will remove his name from the list. Please offer any feedback. Ralajer (talk) 07:47, 25 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for finding that. He must have changed his mind from the time of his Onion interview, when he said God was a myth. Either that, or we misinterpreted his former statement. I've removed him. Nick Graves (talk) 16:15, 25 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Atheists or nontheists in the title[edit]

In 22 August 2009, Nick Graves moved the article "List of atheists (film, radio, television and theater)" to "List of nontheists (film, radio, television and theater)".

He say: "Per consensus at main list discussion page" when there is not discussion about this. I just start this one.

Why change the word atheists to nontheists? The two words mean the same thing but "Atheist" is the most used word to describe absence of belief in the existence of God, so we need to keep with the established word. —Preceding unsigned comment added by InterlinkKnight (talk • contribs) 06:53, 13 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See Talk:List of nontheists#People who deny being atheists?. If you'd like folks to reconsider the move, you should start a discussion at the main talk page. Nick Graves (talk) 20:31, 13 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]


The imposition to change the meaning of the atheist with "People who deny being atheists?" is a social stigma, not a concept issue.

I mean, the definition of Atheism is the absence of belief in the existence of deities, the same meaning to nontheists.

The word Atheist mean the same to Nonatheist. No matter if the person don't like the word Atheist, if you don't believe in a god you are an Atheist/Nonatheist.

Atheist/Nonatheist mean the same but the problem I found is that many people don't know what theist mean, so the word "Nonatheist" confuse a lot of people (is not a word used generally is common live). We need to be clear and don't let our feelings interfere with decisions like this.

Atheist or Nonatheist? Who cares! It means the same... Let's choose the most knowing word: Atheist

Many people that don't believe in god say is atheist or agnostic, no nonatheist. And many other people don't like the word Atheist for social stigma (for the notion that atheism is a religion or is the absolutely denial of god) so they just simply say they don't believe in god. I know! Let's call the article: "List of people that don"t believe in god (film, radio, television and theater)" [That's a joke].

Here is a discussion about changing this article title: http://www.atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/list-of-atheists-removed-from --InterlinkKnight (talk) 12:13, 16 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Here's a brief explanation of why the article was renamed (not removed, as is claimed in the above-linked forum): Like it or not, the term atheist is still regarded by many as having a stigma. Also, many reliable sources disagree as to the type of disbelief necessary for one to be an atheist (Is it enough to merely lack belief in deities, or must one assert that deities do not exist?). Consequently, not all of those people whom we would consider atheists according to the broadest definition are universally regarded by reliable sources as true atheists. Even more critically, some people who qualify as atheists according to the broadest definition specifically deny being atheists. Because of Wikipedia's policy on biographies of living people, we must be especially cautious about putting inaccurate or potentially pejorative content about living people here. Use of nontheist in the article title addresses these issues. It is no judgment against the term atheist, nor is it an implication that the broad definition of atheist is incorrect. Indeed, from what I can tell, most of the people involved in the list renaming consider themselves atheists, and accept the broad definition.
The folks at atheistnexus have an agenda to de-stigmatized the term atheist and promote a certain definition of the term. For what it's worth, I personally agree with that agenda, and I imagine most of the other editors of this list do too. But Wikipedia content must not be agenda-driven, but maintain a neutral point of view. Nick Graves (talk) 18:40, 16 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
My final thoughts about this: I still think this issue is silly letting the stigma run this encyclopedia, but I understand the point.
In this case we can add Albert Einstein to this list. He never calls himself atheist but he say "I do not believe in a personal God". Although that's another subject. InterlinkKnight (talk) 08:03, 25 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

He was a nontheist. If you do not believe in a fucking Prime Mover, if you do not live your life as if there is a God, are Buddhist, Naturalist, Deist, do not believe in an afterlife and/or if you're merely spiritual, then you are nontheist. Nontheist covering both the weak and strong spectrum of atheist.


Definition of atheist[edit]

As there is not a single example of one ever disbelieving in a God while simultaneously disbelieving in the afterlife (as both are Supernatural and believing in one contradicts the disbelief of the other), I think wiki should start excepting the indirect admission of a disbelief in an afterlife as disbelief in God as well. To reject God is still a very controversial subject as an overwhelming majority of Americans are still religious and I do not think that because someone is careful in their wording that this makes them any more or less nontheist than a militant atheist in the vein of a Dawkins or Hitchens. Nontheists come in all forms, passive being the most common.

The true definition of atheism/nontheism is the rejection of historically religious evidence. Why? Because the only logical defense of the Bible is archeological and if that constitutes evidence, then that makes The DaVinci Code a bio.

Stop acting like religious nuts. A disbelief in an afterlife is synoymous w/ a disbelief in God. Like a baby, one can not be had w/o the other, for it would be as irrational as 2 hads or 2 others (from a natural animalistic stand-point of course).

my9dreamkeyMy9dreamkey (talk) 16:06, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

@my9dreamkey I can't quite follow your point due to the errors in its statement. Some of the 'dis' are clearly out of place, I wouldn't presume to correct it since there are different ways it could be done. It seems your point may be that these are equivalent, that belief in god implies belief in afterlife and vice versa, and conversely for disbelief; I'm not sure everyone would agree with that, though I too see them as two forms of supernatural. Also (and as an atheist) I don't agree with your 'true definition' of atheism, the rejection of 'sacred texts' as authority certainly follows from atheism but that doesn't make them the same by any means. 174.89.100.123 (talk) 04:43, 31 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I agree wholeheartedly here, but I really don't see the reason the afterlife should be such a big point here. Not to mention the "rejection of 'sacred texts'" is by no means atheist, if anything its inherent to most religious movements. I really don't understand this page. Yashujiro Ozu for example isn't atheist at all, he isn't even agnostic. First time I read it on this page I laughed. Looking into it I found this and it was just laughable. First off, why would we take analysis of movie themes over the word from the director's mouth? Are the Wachowski siblings Gnostic because of their work on the Matrix? Why is western atheism so hard for people to differentiate from eastern practices and concepts? He's just the go to standard Japanese Nationalist Zen Buddhist. Being Buddhist, Dao, Confuscian, Hindu, or otherwise doesn't make you atheist. Is it really not as simple as an Atheist is someone who consciously does not believe in a higher power, and ascribes themselves to the group. An Agnostic is someone who may be skeptical or critical to the idea of a higher power, but is awaiting more physical/tangible results, disinterested towards considering themselves either a believer or not, and considers themselves agnostic. Someone uninterested in the whole idea is just plain uninterested. Dabrams13 (talk) 14:51, 14 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Oh my god. (Pun intended) The word atheist is a description of a single point of debate: a belief or no belief in god(s). Period. Anything else is icing. Of course there are people who believe in a god but no afterlife and visa versa. To say otherwise exposes a deep misunderstanding of history, theology, and reality. For the most part the pre-Christian Jews fit the description of a God w/o an afterlife. And there are modern Hindus on the flip-side, belief in reincarnation but no god figure. Please see here for the definition of the word: The dictionary definition of atheist at Wiktionary!

Non-religious or Atheist?[edit]

It seems many people listed here are simply non- religious rather than flat-out Atheists, they are not the same. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.19.110.68 (talk) 16:29, 30 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Not all listed here are necessarily atheists. However, it has been confirmed in reliable sources that they do not believe in deities, which means they're nontheists (which includes atheists and the vast majority of agnostics). Were someone to list a person here based on a source that merely said that they were irreligious, the entry would be swiftly deleted. I've done it many times before, as have other editors. That said, there might be a few that have been overlooked. Have you found any? Nick Graves (talk) 01:11, 1 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The definition of atheist is not well understood by many people but if anyone searches a dictionary will know that atheist means they don't believe in any god. Even if someone say "I am not an atheists but I don't believe in any god" that persons is still, by definition, an atheist. With that kind of statement the persons tray to say that he/she is not a strong atheists (wish means believing that is impossible that can be a god).--InterlinkKnight (talk) 03:00, 12 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Kevin Bacon[edit]

Griswaldo: What definition of "atheist" are you using to conclude that the statement "I dont believe in God" does not make Bacon an atheist? --Noleander (talk) 15:41, 8 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

See Atheism. Multiple definitions are documented there, including at least one that excludes some who don't believe in God. Besides, was it not already determined that only living people who used the magic word "atheist" with regard to themselves were to be listed? Nick Graves (talk) 16:08, 9 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
People who say, "I don't believe in God" might not consider themselves "atheists". Per WP:BLPCAT living people need to self-identify as "atheists" specifically to be included in this list or to be categorized as such. So Nick's second point above is correct.Griswaldo (talk) 16:11, 9 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
No, there is no WP policy that says the magic word "atheist" must be used. To the contrary, the WP policy is that plain english meanings are used. --Noleander (talk) 17:15, 9 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
That particular meaning has been disputed repeatedly, and you have absolutely no consensus for inclusion when people say "I do not believe in God". The consensus is in the other direction, that "atheist" is needed.Griswaldo (talk) 17:28, 9 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
See Miliband for example.Griswaldo (talk) 17:29, 9 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Neither of you seem to know what an atheist is because it doesn't have anything to do with the Abrahamic god that was brought up several times. An atheist is a person that is not a theist. This is every person that does not have a belief in supernatural deities. 68.83.48.55 (talk) 14:35, 23 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

George Carlin[edit]

According to Wikipedia, comedian George Carlin was an atheist.

(Will come back to give proper sourcing unless someone else who has the time to do it can. A number of You Tube performance and interviews confirm Mr. Carlin's atheism).

Peter Romersa 68.195.0.169 (talk) 10:45, 3 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hopeglory@aol.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.120.95.229 (talk) 16:42, 23 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

What a comedian says during a stand-up routine intended to entertain an audience cannot (in my, and others opinion) be considered a reliable indication of a person's actual beliefs. And I wish you good luck finding Carlin saying he's an athiest anywhere outside of his act. I've tried and failed. Marteau (talk) 22:56, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]
@Marteau: since you asked, here is the source mentioned in the article, from a short interview with him made by the AV Club: "No. No, there's no God, but there might be some sort of an organizing intelligence, and I think to understand it is way beyond our ability. It's certainly not a judgmental entity. It's certainly not paternalistic and all these qualities that have been attributed to God." Thompson, Thompson (Sep 6, 2000). "Is There a God?". The A.V. Club.

Kari Byron[edit]

http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Kari%20Byron/ "KB:I am an atheist, but I don’t begrudge anyone for whatever belief systems they hold" 174.89.100.123 (talk) 03:50, 30 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

John Landis[edit]

Just seen that someone's beaten me to adding him... but has done it with a reference that might be disputed (it's unclear that the magic word came from Landis himself). So this is a quick note to say that he specifically calls himself an atheist twice (at least) in his new book Monsters in the Movies when interviewing other horror film people. I just haven't gotten around to writing up the actual quotes yet. Coming ASAP :-) Oolon (talk) 11:50, 30 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Daniel Craig[edit]

http://www.zeit.de/2012/03/Interview-Craig/seite-2

The interview is in German, but "Ich bin Atheist" should be clear. Is this noteworthy? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.224.79.65 (talk) 20:47, 15 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Ricky Gervais[edit]

Surprised that Ricky Gervais isn't on here. Surely he should be added?

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Not-so-new media of podcasting is missing[edit]

At least one atheist podcaster is represented here, so I believe the article title needs to be updated to reflect this media. RobP (talk) 13:38, 19 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Can we Organize this page somehow?[edit]

I'm thinking I'm going to arrange this page by the people's year of birth. Does anyone have any objections? Monkeytheboy (talk) 14:34, 26 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

"List of atheists, agnostics and other nontheists (film, radio, television and theater)" listed at Redirects for discussion[edit]

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