Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe an atheist?

Or maybe he wanted to come out of the closet so to speak.

Atheism means the absence of a belief in God.

a - without
theism - belief in a god or god(s).

That's it. Every atheist is an individual and being an atheist implies nothing else.

I think the real news story is - the fact that this newspaper/website (I'm not familiar with it) thought that this is a story worth publishing. Because it reflects the zeitgiest. Or something.

I agree it doesn't matter at all. But someone thinks it does. Enough to put it in print.

It actually happens to be important to me. This isn't just about him BEING atheist, it's about him announcing that he's atheist.

America with its religious right frightens me as well and I live here. At least I don't find them where I live...yet.

While I haven't checked any statistics, I think it's safe to say that religious fundamentalists are part of a dying breed in America. The younger generation seems to be much less religion-focused than previous generations, with many claiming no religious affiliation and the ones that do tend to keep their beliefs more of a private matter, not to be conflated with public life.

me too and I live there.

Hell yeah, Daniel.

I have never met a Christian who has ever said Harry Potter is evil, but that is speaking for myself.
You may have met some who have, but don't believe that all Christians think that.

Atheism is when you don't support any religion or any god, so why should Christianity be the one to take the brunt of you hatred?

@TheEmpireGuy

Most Christians probably don't have a problem with the movie. However some do (don't you remember the very public call to boycott the movie?), and it is precisely because of their Christianity. I understand that not all sects of Christianity are the same, and further that every individual person must necessarily have their very own unique belief system -- i.e. their own interpretation of their religion.

Just because some christians are shitheads doesn't mean that all christians are shitheads. The particular shitheads that legalizit mentioned were the ones that said that Harry Potter is evil, so if you don't think that, and apparently none of the Christians you know think that, then you are not shitheads. You don't have to take this as an attack on all Christians because (obviously) it is not.

As to why it may seem to you that atheists attack Christians alone, that speaks to your personal bias, and also to the fact that in America, most people are Christian, so of course Christianity is going to be talked about more here in America. But, again, specifically in this case, it was Christians (again, not all of them in the entire world), who had a problem with Harry Potter, and it is ridiculous, so it is fair game to make fun if those particular Christians.

In short, what I'm saying is that I don't think that legalize it was talking about you or your friends, so there is no reason for you to be offended.

I do. Voted up.

I don't freak out, but those movies do make me roll my eyes.

You don't think that Christians or other religious groups have been the victims of hate and prejudice?

In the USA Christians have been the dominate religion, hence they have not suffered any significant oppression.

Where as atheists were held in public contempt until quite recently.

The therefore isn't consistently applicable. It might possibly apply in general but a lot of specific groups have had problems. Catholics and Mormons are the biggest ones.

yes. This guy has been hounded and threatened by fundamentalists since he was a young child for his participation in the films. him agreeing with them would be news. Or as close to news as this celebrity gossip crap ever is.

seconded.

Thirded

I agree to the extent that It doesn't matter what his religion is, or rather it *shouldn't* matter at all. It only matters in light of the fact that atheists are one of the most, if not the most discriminated against demographic in America, and further because Harry Potter has already been under religious fire for being 'evil'.

The way that people react to this speaks to the state of our society. And whether or not we treat all people as being equal in their humanity, whether or not we believe in the first amendment, or what kinds of fictions the people around you believe in that are used to categorize people as evil matters because it partly defines the society we live in. That's my opinion.

lol

That's starting to sound like a slogan...

I like!

"My momma is an atheist If I stay out late she don't get pissed"

the behavior does seem to support the whole "atheism is a religion" argument fundamentalists sometimes make though

@bombastinator: In what way does it support the misconception that atheism is a religion? I don't see it myself. Atheism is rejection of religion (or more accurately the absence of a belief in a god or gods) and has no tenets or ceremonies, etc of its own. Atheism just doesn't fit the definition of religion.

Plus, we all know that theists say that atheism is a religion (and some add that it required faith) in order to make atheism seem like a paradox, or to make it seem like atheists are more like a cult akin to satanism or something like that. However, this is no paradox because atheism is definitely not a religion, and it doesn't require faith (in fact, in most cases it is the rejection of accepting god due to lack of proper evidence -- i.e. rejection of religious faith, which is believing in god without requiring proof), so I don't really see how anything at all can lend credence to the misconception that atheism is a religion. It isn't -- by definition.

Saying "I am an atheist" is equivalent to saying "I don't believe in god(s)", with absolutely no implications as to what I do believe or what kind of code I live by. "I don't believe in god(s)" is not a religion. There is no religion for not believing in the tooth fairy, right?