31 Celebrity Atheists

Daniel Radcliffe, Keira Knightley, and other stars who don't believe in God
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2013 10:15 AM CDT
31 Celebrity Atheists
Daniel Radcliffe: "I'm an atheist, but I'm very relaxed about it. I don't preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do."   (Photo by Jon Furniss/Invision/AP)

Not all celebrities are thanking God when they practice their Oscar acceptance speeches. CNN rounds up 31 famous atheists:

  • Daniel Radcliffe: "I'm an atheist, but I'm very relaxed about it. I don't preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do."
  • Julianne Moore: Asked what she'd want to hear God say at the pearly gates, she responded, "Well, I guess you were wrong. I do exist."
  • Javier Bardem: "I've always said I don't believe in God; I believe in Al Pacino."
  • Keira Knightley: "If only I wasn't an atheist; I could get away with anything. You'd just ask for forgiveness, and then you'd be forgiven."
  • Paul Giamatti: "My wife is Jewish and I'm fine with my son being raised as a Jew. ... I will talk to my son about my atheism when the time is right."
  • Emma Thompson: "I'm an atheist; I suppose you can call me a sort of libertarian anarchist. I regard religion with fear and suspicion. It's not enough to say that I don't believe in God. I actually regard the system as distressing: I am offended by some of the things said in the Bible and the Koran, and I refute them."
  • Billy Joel: Asked if he believed in God, he kept it simple. "No. I'm an atheist."

  • Penn Jillette: "If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true, and someone would find a way to figure it all out again."
  • James Cameron: "I've sworn off agnosticism, which I now call cowardly atheism."
  • Hugh Laurie: "I don't believe in God, but I have this idea that if there were a God, or destiny of some kind looking down on us, that if he saw you taking anything for granted, he'd take it away."
  • Jodie Foster: Though she's an atheist, she says, "I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God, we celebrate pretty much every religion in our family with the kids."
  • Seth MacFarlane: "It's like the civil rights movement. There have to be people who are vocal about the advancement of knowledge over faith."
  • Kathy Griffin: She calls herself a "militant atheist," and she said while accepting her Emmy, "A lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. He didn't help me a bit. ... So all I can say is suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now."
  • Katharine Hepburn: "I'm an atheist, and that's it. I believe there's nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for each other."
Click for the complete list. (More celebrity stories.)

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