The Contributions of Freethinkers

The Contributions of Freethinkers I: Giuseppe Verdi (May 23, 2008)
The great Romantic composer Verdi, author of many famous operas and a powerful interpretation of the Requiem Mass, was described by his wife as a freethinker and very nearly an atheist.
The Contributions of Freethinkers II: Albert Einstein (July 30, 2008)
The famous scientist Albert Einstein, who was also renowned for his political and humanitarian contributions, was an unabashed nonbeliever. He drew the scorn and ire of theists of his own day, but later generations of apologists have deceptively tried to claim him as their own.
The Contributions of Freethinkers III: W.E.B. Du Bois (September 27, 2008)
One of the founding figures of the American civil rights movement was a proud freethinker who was unafraid to buck religious orthodoxy.
The Contributions of Freethinkers IV: Frances Wright (January 16, 2009)
A fearless progressive and social reformer, Frances Wright fought for the causes of feminism, equal rights, science, abolitionism, and freethought long before any of those ideals were popular in wider society.
The Contributions of Freethinkers V: Ann Dunham (February 25, 2009)
The mother of President Barack Obama was a humanist and a freethinker who taught her son ethics and reverence without recourse to the supernatural.
The Contributions of Freethinkers VI: Abner Kneeland (May 13, 2009)
A former Universalist preacher turned freethinker and the last man jailed in America for blasphemy, Abner Kneeland’s life upheld the freedom to think and to speak however we see fit.
The Contributions of Freethinkers VII: Zora Neale Hurston (July 15, 2009)
Zora Neale Hurston, a famous black author of the Harlem Renaissance, was a freethinker who recognized the glory of the cosmos and the tragic beauty of our own mortality long before later scientific popularizers like Carl Sagan made the same point.
The Contributions of Freethinkers VIII: Pearl Jam (December 28, 2009)
The famous, trend-setting American rock band Pearl Jam has many songs whose lyrics contain themes of science, progressive causes, and atheism.
The Contributions of Freethinkers IX: Richard Leakey (April 21, 2010)
Richard Leakey, the renowned paleoanthropologist and passionate conservationist, is an atheist motivated by a sense of deep connection to the natural world.
The Contributions of Freethinkers X: Gene Roddenberry (August 13, 2010)
The creator of Star Trek was a humanist whose famous sci-fi series reflects his ethical and utopian vision of a peaceful world without religion.
The Contributions of Freethinkers XI: Ursula K. LeGuin (March 26, 2011)
One of the 20th century’s most beloved and popular authors of science fiction and fantasy is also an outspoken feminist and freethinker.
The Contributions of Freethinkers XII: Asa Philip Randolph (July 4, 2011)
While Martin Luther King Jr. couched his call for equal rights in the language of religion, there were other prominent civil-rights leaders who were outspoken freethinkers and humanists, such as the tireless and influential labor organizer A. Philip Randolph.
The Contributions of Freethinkers XIII: Wole Soyinka (September 30, 2011)
Wole Soyinka, the first African writer ever to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, is also a staunch advocate of peace, democracy and transparency who’s stood up to dictators and fought against corruption in his home country of Nigeria.