There have been many atheists who have been active in advocacy or education. This is a list of atheist activists and educators. Living persons in this list are people whose atheism is relevant to their notable activities or public life, and who have publicly identified themselves as atheists.
Atheist activists and educators
Clark Adams (1969–2007): prominent American freethought leader and activist."In college, after reading material from American Atheists, he became, in his words, 'a pretty hard core atheist.'" Clark Adams: 1969–2007 , American Humanist Association News Flash, May 24, 2007 (Accessed April 14, 2008) Seth Andrews (born 1968): American author and host of The Thinking Atheist radio podcast. Natalie Angier (born 1958): nonfiction writer and science journalist for The New York Times; 1991 winner of Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting. Dan Barker (born 1949): American atheist activist, current co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, alongside his wife, Annie Laurie Gaylor. Peter Brearey (1939–1998): British secularist, socialist and journalist, Editor of The Freethinker from 1993 until his death."He was an old-fashioned rationalist and radical. He detested modern politics and despised Blairite froth, spin-doctoring and cloned MPs and betrayal of principles. I share Peter's doubts about the milk-and-water term "humanism." He and I called ourselves atheists." Karl Heath, 'Obituary Letter: Peter Brearey', The Guardian, May 30, 1998, Pg. 21. William Montgomery Brown (1855–1937): Episcopal bishop and Communist author."An ecclesiastical court [...] sitting at Cleveland, Ohio, yesterday, found Dr. William Montgomery Brown, retired Bishop of Arkansas, a self-styled "Christian Atheist", guilty of heresy." 'U.S. Heresy Trial. A "Christian Atheist."' The Times, Monday, June 02, 1924; p. 13; Issue 43667; col C. Richard Carlile (1790–1843): English activist. He was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom. Richard Carrier (born 1969): American author, public speaker, and atheist activist. Robin Cavendish (1930–1994): British disability rights advocate, a pioneering developer of medical aids for the paralyzed, and known for being one of the longest-lived "responauts" in Britain.Renton, Alice; Renton, Tim (August 10, 1994). "Obituary: Robin Cavendish". The Independent. Greta Christina (born 1961): American blogger, speaker, and author. Chapman Cohen (1868–1954): English freethought writer and lecturer, and an editor of The Freethinker and president of the National Secular Society."Cohen was a witty, courteous, and effective public speaker and debater, and a prolific writer with over fifty titles to his credit. Typical of his writings are A Grammar of Freethought (1921), Theism or Atheism (1921), Materialism Restated (1927), and four series of Essays in Freethinking (1923–38), culled from occasional pieces in the Freethinker. His achievement was to transform Victorian freethought from an emphasis on anti-biblical argument to the positive advocacy of materialism [...]". Edward Royle, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/47685 'Cohen, Chapman (1868–1954)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (accessed May 2, 2008). Note that there were actually five series of Essays. Matt Dillahunty (born 1969): former president of the Atheist Community of Austin until May, 2013. He is a former host of the live internet radio show "Non-Prophets Radio" and of the Austin Public-access television cable TV show The Atheist Experience. He is also the founder and contributor of the counter-apologetics encyclopedia Iron Chariots and its subsidiary sites.Iron Chariots - the counter-apologetics wiki. Margaret Downey (born 1950): atheist activist who is a former President of Atheist Alliance International.National and International Contacts , Atheist Alliance International website, 2008 (Accessed April 14, 2008) Joseph Edamaruku (1934–2006): Indian journalist, author, leader in the rationalist movement, and winner of the International Atheist Award in 1979.Edamaruku dead: A staunch campaigner of rationalism, The Hindu, 2006 (Accessed March 31, 2008)Honorary Associates of Rationalist International: Joseph Edamaruku (India) , profile at the website of Rationalist International (Accessed March 31, 2008) Sanal Edamaruku (born 1955): Indian rationalist, president of the Indian Rationalist Association.On March 3, 2008, Edamaruku challenged a tantrik on TV to kill him using only magic. After two hours of failure, "[t]he tantrik, unwilling to admit defeat, tried the excuse that a very strong god whom Sanal might be worshipping obviously protected him. "No, I am an atheist", said Sanal Edamaruku." The Great Tantra Challenge , Rationalist International article (Accessed March 31, 2008) Reginald V. Finley, Sr., (born 1974): ("The Infidel Guy"): internet radio host and pioneering podcaster based in Atlanta, Georgia, co-founder of the Atheist Network and founder of FreethoughtMedia.com. Mr. Finley is a lifetime educational activist, critical thinker, humanist and atheist. During his show's tenure (1999–2010), he produced over 500 media programs that challenged his listeners as well as himself. He's also well known for his appearance on ABC's Wife Swap (2005) when his spouse (Amber Finley) swapped places with a fundamentalist pastor's wife, Kelly Stonerock.Thinking Beyond The Standard (accessed April 14, 2008). Stephen Fry (born 1957): English actor and media commentator. Fry has frequently expressed opposition to organised religion in the media. In 2010, he was made a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. Annie Laurie Gaylor (born 1955): co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and, with her husband Dan Barker, is the current co-president."Air America... last Saturday aired its first Freethought show, hosted by [Dan] Barker and his wife, Annie Laurie Gaylor, who co-chair an atheist activist group called the Freedom of Religion Foundation." Atheist Radio Show Goes National on Air America, With Ron Reagan as Guest, by Catherine Donaldson-Evans, foxnews.com, October 12, 2007 (Accessed April 14, 2008) Emma Goldman (1869–1940): Lithuanian-born radical, known for her writings and speeches defending anarchist communism, feminism, and atheism. Debbie Goddard (born 1980): Director of African Americans for Humanism. Gora (1902–1975): Indian atheist leader, co-founder with his wife of the Atheist Centre in Andhra Pradesh.The Atheist Centre (official website). Saraswathi Gora (1912–2006): Indian social activist, wife of Gora and leader of the Atheist Centre for many years, campaigning against untouchability and the caste system.
John William Gott (1866–1922): English trouser salesman and leader of the Freethought Socialist League, the last person in Britain to be sent to prison for blasphemy."Inspector Elphick said the defendant [John William Gott] was considered to be a Socialist and Atheist of the worst type, and had been convicted many times." 'Blasphemer Sent To Prison', The Times, 10 Dec 1921; p. 7; Issue 42900; col B.
E. Haldeman-Julius (1889–1951): American author, editor and publisher of the Little Blue Books seriesThe Militant Agnostic. Haldeman-Julius, E. Prometheus Books. 1995. Erkki Hartikainen (1942–2021): Finnish atheist activist. He is the chairman of the Atheist Association of Finland (Suomen Ateistiyhdistys) and former chairman of the Union of Freethinkers of Finland (Vapaa-ajattelijoiden liitto), the biggest atheistic association in Finland.Erkki Hartikainen's profile, hosted at the website of the Atheist Association of Finland (Accessed April 15, 2008) Rebecca Hensler: founder of Grief Beyond Belief, a support group for grieving people who do not believe in God or an afterlife, which she founded in 2011. Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011): British-American columnist, polemicist, and free-thought activist. Author of New York Times best seller God is not Great - How Religion Poisons Everything. George Holyoake (1817–1906): English secularist. Life and letters of George Jacob Holyoake by Joseph McCabe, pp 201, 221 A history of atheism in Britain: from Hobbes to Russell, by David Berman, pp 212-213 Holyoake was the last person in England to be imprisoned (in 1842) for being an atheist. He coined the term "secularism" in 1846.Feldman, Noah (2005). Divided by God. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pg. 113 Penn Jillette (born 1955): one half of debunking illusionist team Penn & TellerHis cars' license plates read "atheist", "nogod", and "godless". Ellen Johnson: President of American Atheists, 1995–2008. Edwin Kagin (1940–2014): lawyer, activist, founder of the Camp Quest secular summer camp, and American Atheists' Kentucky State Director.American Atheists: Kentucky (Accessed April 30, 2008) Paul Kurtz (1925–2012): Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, best known for his prominent role in the United States humanist and skeptical communities."It's not that these atheists [Julia Sweeney, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Paul Boyer, Paul Kurtz] expect to rid America of religion." The New Atheists, Betty Rollin (reporting), Bob Abernethy (anchor), Religion and Ethics Newsweekly (pbs.org), January 5, 2007 Episode no. 1019, (Accessed April 14, 2008) Viktor Emanuel Lennstrand (1861–1895): leader of the Swedish Freethought movement in the 1880s and early 1890s.Robertson, J. M. (2006). A History of Free Thought in the Nineteenth Century, Volume 2. Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing Co. p. 487. , . Joseph Lewis (1889–1968): American freethinker and atheist, president of Freethinkers of America 1920–1968.Lewis wrote extensively on atheism, including Atheism (1930), An Atheist Manifesto (1954) and The Philosophy of Atheism (1960). From Atheism: "I came to accept Atheism as the result of independent thought and self-study." Hemant Mehta (born c.1983): author of I Sold My Soul on eBay, chair of the Secular Student Alliance and author of the blog FriendlyAtheist.com. William L. Moore (1927–1963): postal worker and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) member who staged lone protests against racial segregation. He was murdered on his final protest."In Binghamton, people always thought Moore was peculiar. He was a pacifist and an atheist, who even objected to the words 'In God We Trust' on U.S. coins." In Bill Moore's Footsteps, Friday, May 10, 1963, TIME Magazine (Accessed 18 November 2008) Maryam Namazie (born 1963): human rights activist, commentator and broadcaster. Namazie has served as the executive director of the International Federation of Iranian Refugees. She is spokesperson for the One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain. Michael Newdow (born 1953): American physician and attorney, who sued a school district on the grounds that its requirement that children recite the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance, containing the words "under God", breached the separation-of-church-and-state provision in the establishment clause of the United States Constitution. Michael Nugent (born 1961): Irish writer and activist, chairperson of Atheist Ireland.Interview with Michael Nugent Sunday Business Post, 28 June 2009: ” Atheist Ireland stands for two things. The first is promoting atheism and reason over superstition and supernaturalism, and the second is promoting an ethical and secular Ireland in which the state doesn’t fund or favour any particular religion.” Madalyn Murray O'Hair (1919–1995): founder of American Atheists, campaigner for the separation of church and state; filed the lawsuit that led the US Supreme Court to ban teacher-led prayer and Bible reading in public schools. Murdered September 1995.