List of atheists (surnames N to Q)

Atheists with surnames starting N, O, P and Q, sortable by the field for which they are mainly known and nationality.

1939–MusicianBritish (English) music producer, songwriter, journalist and author, best known as manager of (among others) The Yardbirds, Marc Bolan, T. Rex and Wham!."Bob was arguing the point but Dick was having none of it. 'Look, I'm telling you. There'll be no fucking religion – not Christian, not Jewish, not Muslim. Nothing. For God's sake, man – you were born Jewish, which makes your religion money, doesn't it? So stick with it, for Christ's sake. I'm giving you 20 million bucks – it's like baptising you, like sending you to heaven. So what are you fucking moaning about? You want 20 million bucks from us? Well, you gotta do what we tell you. And what we're telling you is... No Torah! No Bible! No Koran! No Jesus! No God! No Allah! No fucking religion. It's going in the contract.' As a devout atheist, I could hardly object, though it seemed tough that a contract should include such specific restrictions."Simon Napier-Bell, 'The life and crimes of the music biz', The Observer (England), 20 January 2008, Observer Music Magazine, Pg. 41.1962–ActivistBangladeshi physician, writer, feminist human rights activist and secular humanist."I was born in a Muslim family, but I became an atheist."For freedom of expression, Taslima Nasreen, 12 November 1999 – Taslima Nasreen took the floor during Commission V of UNESCO's General Conference, as a delegate of the NGO International Humanist and Ethical Union (Accessed 23 December 2006).1889–1964PoliticianIndian prime minister (1947–1964).Nehru says that he does not believe in a god in any form. (see sources)In Jawaharlal Nehru's autobiography, An Autobiography (1936), and in the Last Will & Testament of Jawaharlal Nehru, in Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, 2nd series, vol. 26, p. 612, 1915–1995AuthorTurkish humorist and author of more than 100 books."He [Salman Rushdie] emphasised that the direct cause of the riot seemed to be a speech by Nesin, rather than The Satanic Verses. "I'm damned if I'm going to carry the can for this one," he said. Versions of the speech that Nesin delivered differ, but all agree that he said he was an atheist, that religion should be adapted to modern times and that there was no reason to obey books written hundreds of years ago, including the Koran."Hugh Pope, 'Turks say publisher provoked 35 deaths', The Independent (London), 4 July 1993, Pg 15.1900–1954Political scientistGerman political scientist, known for theoretical analyses of National Socialism, and considered among the founders of modern political science in Germany.1946–PhilosopherAmerican professor of philosophy at Trent University, noted for his work on utilitarianism, rationality and antisemitism.1953–Atheist activistAmerican physician and attorney.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. 1949– Activist British (English born) animal rights activist, author, and president and co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the world's largest animal rights organization. "I do have a personal philosophy. I'm an atheist."Ingrid Newkirk. What do you Believve? Ingrid Newkirk, Big Think. 21 February 2008.1926–2021PhilosopherCanadian adjunct professor of philosophy at Concordia University in Montreal and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Calgary."Since my mid-undergraduate days, I have been an atheist. By now I suppose there are some who would call me a professional atheist troikaing me with Antony Flew and Michael Scriven."Kai Nielsen, God and the Grounding of Morality, p.155 books.google.co.uk1907–2012ArchitectBrazilian architect, considered one of the most important names in international modern architecture."Niemeyer turns up the volume on architecture to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. In 1987, when I first visited Brasilia and walked into the cathedral, it was a revelation. Stepping from the sunlight into the dimly lit nave and out again into the glorious light-filled, blue-glazed cathedral, alive with doves and angels, was exhilarating, an electrifying play upon light and shade. "Earth meets space. The nave opens up to infinity," Niemeyer explains. So what if he is an atheist?"Nonie Niesewand interviewing Niemeyer, 'Architecture: The city that Oscar built', The Independent (London), 3 October 1998, Pg. 24–25.1844–1900PhilosopherGerman philosopher whose Beyond Good and Evil sought to refute traditional notions of morality.Nietzsche penned a memorable secular statement of the Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence in Thus Spoke Zarathustra and is forever associated with the phrase, "God is dead" (first seen in his book, The Gay Science).Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, aphorisms 108 and 125 gutenberg.spiegel.de)1961–Writer and activist Irish writer and activist, chairperson of Atheist Ireland."As far back as I can remember, I have been an atheist. I probably stopped believing in God around the same time – and for the same reasons – as I stopped believing in Santa Claus. It seemed to me to be just another fictional story. 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."Interview with Michael Nugent Sunday Business Post, 28 June 20091949–ScientistBritish (English) winner of the 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine."I gradually slipped away from religion over several years and became an atheist or to be more philosophically correct, a sceptical agnostic."Nurse's autobiography at Nobelprize.org1972–ComedianIrish comedian and television presenter. Describes himself as an atheist, but "ethnically Catholic" for comic effect. "I'm staunchly atheist, I simply don't believe in God. But I'm still Catholic, of course. Catholicism has a much broader reach than just the religion. I'm ethnically Catholic, it's the box you have to tick on the census form: ‘Don’t believe in God, but I do still hate the Rangers.'" dara o'briain the atheist catholic retrieved 11 August 20081950–2001JournalistBritish (Northern Irish) journalist, the most prominent journalist to be assassinated during the Troubles."Marty really rattled the paramilitaries because he had such good contacts," said John Keane, a friend and colleague of O'Hagan's. "He'd be able to tell you what they had for breakfast before they went out to kill. He had a cynical eye and he was very aware of the sub-structure of society, the unusual alliances, the way people weren't always what they seemed. He was an atheist and a Marxist, liable to start spouting Hegel if you gave him a chance. He used to say, my enemy's enemy is my friend. Very little that happened in Northern Ireland would have surprised Marty."Susan McKay, 'Faith, Hate and Murder', The Guardian, 17 November 2001, Weekend Pages, Pg. 19.1919–1995Atheist activistAmerican 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.1947–AuthorBritish author, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature."He had been very religious as a boy – 'You have to be to survive being brought up in a vicarage' – but he became, on discovering Darwin at 14, not merely an agnostic, but a militant atheist, much to his father's distress. They still don't talk about it. His mother, he says, is also very religious but in an emotional way: 'She believes that in heaven she will be reunited with every spaniel she has ever owned.' While O'Hanlon was away in Africa, his older brother, a book rep, took Belinda and the children to communion. O'Hanlon was shocked, but 'I decided not to be angry about it. A real atheist, you see, is not exercised about it.' "Lynn Barber interviewing O'Hanlon, 'Carry On Up the Congo', The Observer, 13 October 1996, The Observer Review Page, Pg. 7.1938–AuthorAmerican author and Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton University.Q: "I noticed that nobody uses the "A-word"—atheist—for you. Perhaps it is a step beyond nontheist or humanist. Do you identify as an atheist? Oates: "That's a good question. I have met Christopher Hitchens once or twice, and he has a book that I'm sure you've either read or are aware of titled God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. He is very adversarial, very eloquent, and very funny in his interviews. And, of course, he is very much a self-declared atheist.