George Carlin, interview in Idaho Statesman, Jan. 24, 2004: George Carlin was born in Manhattan in 1937 to an Irish Catholic family. He died in 2008. The salty stand-up comedian has received two Grammys, for "Fm & Am" (1972) and "Jammin' " (1993). He was arrested for disorderly conduct in Milwaukee in 1972 for performing "Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Radio or Television." A case about his right to perform this show on the radio went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Carlin was the first host of "Saturday Night Live" (1975), and has appeared in eleven HBO specials since 1977. Typical quips: "When evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve." "If churches want to play the game of politics, let them pay admission like everyone else." "I'm completely in favor of the separation of church and state. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death." Carlin inspired the Freedom From Religion Foundation's "Emperor Has No Clothes Award," honoring public figures who "tell it like it is" about religion. “ . . . this experiment, this magnificent experiment in democracy is just being shredded to pieces by these right-wing Christians, the Ashcroft branch of Republicanism. (They're) just shredding the rest of the Bill of Rights which hadn't been shredded already.” And Rooney in the Boston Globe, May 30, 1982: Why am I an atheist? I ask you: Why is anybody not an atheist? Everyone starts out being an atheist. No one is born with belief in anything. Infants are atheists until they are indoctrinated. I resent anyone pushing their religion on me. I don't push my atheism on anybody else. Live and let live. Not many people practice that when it comes to religion. Quotes and videos from famous athiests: Famous Atheists 101 Famous Atheists Wikipedia's List of Atheists Suggested web sites with links to reading: Freedom from Religion Foundation Dan Barker Victor Stenger Sam Harris Christopher Hitchens Richard Dawkins Stephen Uhl Interview with Dr. Gilbert Shapiro My Essay Click on images below for larger versions.