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List of atheists (surnames E to G)

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Main article: Lists of atheists
Name Dates Known as / for Who Reference
Christopher Eccleston 1964– English stage, film, and television actor, known for his roles in Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later, and as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who. "I'm an atheist. My mother is very religious, a churchgoer. She would often encourage me to go to church as well, but never forced it upon me, which I thought was quite decent of her. [...] There was no defining moment in which I decided there was no god for me, it was more of a growing process. I do feel that whatever religious beliefs I had as a child were foisted upon me. It's like when you ask where Grandma went when she died, and you'd be told that she went to heaven. I wouldn't necessarily view that as a bad thing, but it was stuff like that which I think hindered my intellectual development. Now that I've grown, I prefer a different interpretation."[1]
David Edgar 1948– British playwright, noted for his adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Nicholas Nickleby. "Earlier this year David Edgar wrote an unforgettable account of the death of his wife, Eve Cook, for a BBC radio talk during Easter week. An avowed atheist, Edgar said that he was trying to express 'that most human need to tell the dead what we would want to say - but know we couldn't say - if they were still alive'."[2]
Paul Edwards 1923–2004 Austrian-American moral philosopher and editor of The Encyclopedia of Philosophy "'There is no God, there is no life after death, Jesus was a man, and, perhaps most important, the influence of religion is by and large bad,' he wrote in the current issue of Free Inquiry, a magazine about secular humanism, a school of thought that emphasizes values based on experience rather than religion.".[3]
Fan Zhen 450–515 Chinese philosopher "...Fan Zhen, the great atheist..."[4]
Jodie Foster 1962– Actress American film actress, director, and producer. [5][6][7][8]
Joseph Fouché 1759–1820 French statesman and Minister of Police under Napoleon I. Helped established the Cult of Reason. Established the policy of inscribing "Death is an eternal sleep" over the gates to cemeteries.[9]
Sigmund Freud 1856–1939 Austrian neurologist, "father of psychoanalysis" "The man who would become an atheist..."[10]
Stephen Fry 1957– British author, comedian, television presenter, actor, journalist, film director, broadcaster and political activist "The most important philosophy I think is that even if it isn't true you must absolutely assume there is no afterlife. You cannot for one second I think, abrogate the responsibility of believing that this is it because if you think you’re going to have an eternity in which you can talk to Mozart and Chopin and Schopenhauer on a cloud and learn stuff and you know really get to grips with knowledge and understanding and so you won’t bother now. I think it’s a terrible, a terrible mistake."
Anu Garg 1967– Author American author, speaker, engineer, and founder of Wordsmith.org. [11]
Gao Xingjian 1940– Author Chinese émigré novelist, dramatist, critic, translator, stage director and painter. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000. "Putting aside discussion of the existence or non-existence of God, I would like to say that despite my being an atheist I have always shown reverence for the unknowable."[12]
Theo van Gogh 1957–2004 Film director Dutch film director, television producer, publicist and actor, murdered following the broadcasting of his film Submission. "This book is called "Allah knows best" because it is my dark suspicion we are on the verge of the new Middle Ages of Mecca; and because I feel, as a professional atheist, very unsafe in a climate that is dominated by ambitious mayors who are happily busy "keeping things together". Since 11 September, the knives are sharpened and the fifth column of goatfuckers marches ahead unhindered."[13]
Ricky Gervais 1961– Actor English comedian, actor, director, producer, musician, writer, and former radio presenter. "I'm basically a 'do unto others' type person. I don't have any religious feelings because I'm an atheist, but I live my life like there's a God. And if there was he'd probably love me."[14]
Shenae Grimes 1989– Canadian actress Annie Wilson on 90210, Darcy Edwards on Degrassi: The Next Generation. [15]
Herb Grosch 1918–2010 Computer scientist Grosch's law [16]
Brion Gysin 1916–1986 Painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique. [17]

Notes and references

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  1. ^ Christopher Eccleston, The Heaven and Earth Show, BBC1, Sunday April 3, 2005, 10:30.
  2. ^ Sean French, 'Dust to dustjacket', The Guardian, April 30, 1999, Pg. 18.
  3. ^ Paul Edwards, Professor and Editor of Philosophy, Dies at 81, by Jennifer Bayot, The New York Times, December 16, 2004 (Accessed April 21, 2008)
  4. ^ 李, 鴻雲; 朱, 利. 中國盤古之鄉 歷史文化厚重 (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Wen Wei Po. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  5. ^ "Jodie Foster: Unbreakable". Entertainment Weekly. 2007-09-07. Archived from the original on March 5, 2008. Retrieved 2013-01-18. EW: Are you religious? JF: No, I'm an atheist. But I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God.
  6. ^ Valby, Karen (August 30, 2007). "Jodie Foster: Unbreakable". Entertainment Weekly.
  7. ^ The Georgia Straight, Interview with Jodie Foster by Dan McLeod, July 10–17, 1997; page 43.
  8. ^ Interview with Charles Gibson, Good Morning America, July 7, 1997.
  9. ^ David Andress, The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005)
  10. ^ "The Question of God . Two Different Lives . The Life of Sigmund Freud | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
  11. ^ "330 million gods, and you can't find one to suit you?". vimeo. 2011-03-26. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  12. ^ Nobel Lecture by Gao Xingjian
  13. ^ Theo van Gogh, 'What they have said about Islam', in 'Netherlands braced for Muslim anger as politician releases 'anti-Islam' film', The Independent (London), 25 January 2008, Pg. 32.
  14. ^ "I'm basically a 'do unto others' type person. I don't have any religious feelings because I'm an atheist, but I live my life like there's a God. And if there was he'd probably love me." [1]
  15. ^ "'90210's' Shenae Grimes sometimes begs for spare change on the street - Zap2it". Blog.zap2it.com. 2011-04-02. Archived from the original on 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
  16. ^ Grosch, Herbert (July 15, 1970). "Smithsonian National Museum of American History - Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 - Interview with Herbert R. Grosch" (PDF). Retrieved 12 April 2012. I made them quit essentially. When I was nine years old I decided that I was an atheist. So I told them, "Well you shouldn't go to church anymore, it's silly." Well, apparently they'd been going to church primarily for my benefit. So after I refused to go, they quit going too.
  17. ^ John Geiger (2005). Nothing Is True-Everything is Permitted: The Life of Brion Gysin. Red Wheel/Weiser. p. 5. ISBN 9781609258719. Brion's view of Creating soon changed. By age fifteen he was an avowed atheist attending St. Joseph's Catholic High School.
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