List of converts to nontheism - Wikipedia

Name Country Notes John Abraham India Bollywood actor born to a Zoroastrian mother and a Marthomite Syrian Christian father; left Christianity and became an agnostic atheist.^[2][3][4] Amy Adams United States American actress; raised as a Mormon until her parents divorced in 1985 and left the church.^[5][6] Sami Aldeeb Switzerland Swiss lawyer and author of many books and articles on Arab and Islamic law born to a Palestinian Christian family; left Christianity and became a nontheist.^[7] Jacinda Ardern New Zealand Prime minister of New Zealand; raised Mormon, became agnostic.^[8] Javier Bardem Spain Actor; raised Catholic, became an agnostic.^[9][10] Dan Barker^[11] United States Former preacher turned atheist activist and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Ingmar Bergman^[12] Sweden Film director whose father was a parson; stated he lost his faith at age 8, but did not fully come to terms with that until making Winter Light. Napoleon Bonaparte^[13] France Emperor of France from 1804 to 1815; was raised Catholic.^[14] Martin Bormann^[15][16][17] Nazi Germany Nazi official and right-hand man of Adolf Hitler; raised Protestant.^[18] Bob Brown^[19] Australia Australian senator and former Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens. Dan Brown^[20] United States American author, raised Episcopalian but gravitated away from religion. Warren Buffett^[21] United States American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist, who is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world^[22][23] and has a net worth of US$88.9 billion as of December 2019, making him the fourth-wealthiest person in the world.^[24] Was raised as a Presbyterian, but has since described himself as agnostic.^[21] Bart Campolo^[25] United States Humanist chaplain and son of pastor Tony Campolo. Fidel Castro Cuba Cuban communist revolutionary and politician; Prime Minister of Cuba (1959–1976), and President (1976–2008); baptized into the Roman Catholic Church at the age of eight; later became an atheist.^[26] Nikolay Chernyshevsky^[27] Russia Revolutionary democrat, materialist philosopher, critic, and socialist. Helen Clark New Zealand Prime Minister; raised Presbyterian, became an agnostic.^[28] George Clooney United States Actor; raised Catholic, became an agnostic.^[29] Pat Condell United Kingdom Writer, political commentator, comedian and atheist internet personality.^[30] Marie Curie Poland Physicist and chemist; raised Catholic, became an agnostic.^[31] Charles Darwin^[32][33] United Kingdom British naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution; raised as a Unitarian, later became an agnostic. Richard Dawkins United Kingdom British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author; was brought up as an Anglican until ceasing to believe in a deity in his teens, concluding that the theory of evolution was a better explanation for life's complexity. Emily Deschanel United States American actress.^[34] Jerry DeWitt United States Former pastor of two evangelical churches; publicly converted to atheism in 2011 after twenty-five years of Christian ministry.^[35] He has written a book based on his career and experiences entitled Hope After Faith.^[36] Matt Dillahunty United States Public speaker, raised Southern Baptist, considered becoming a minister. His religious studies, instead of bolstering his faith as he intended, led him to no longer believe in Christianity and then all religions. Jonathan Edwards^[37] United Kingdom Former British triple jumper; former Olympic, Commonwealth, European and World champion; formerly a devout Christian, and even presented episodes of the BBC Christian worship programme Songs of Praise. Anthony Fauci^[38][39][40] United States American physician-scientist and immunologist who served as the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical advisor to the president, grew up Catholic, but then considered himself a humanist Ricky Gervais United Kingdom Actor, abandoned Christianity at the age of eight.^[41] Julia Gillard Australia Prime Minister; brought up in the Baptist faith, then became an atheist^[42][43] Mikhail Gorbachev Soviet Union Ruler of the USSR; baptized Russian Orthodox, became an atheist.^[44] Bob Hawke^[45] Australia Former politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. Francois Hollande France French president, was raised Catholic, but became an agnostic later in life.^[46] He now considers himself to be an atheist,^[47] but still professes respect for all religious practices.^[48] Kim Il Sung^[49][50] North Korea North Korean leader, was raised in a Presbyterian family. Abraham Kovoor^[51] India Indian professor and rationalist, noted for Abraham Kovoor's challenge. Vladimir Lenin^[52] Soviet Union Russian revolutionary, then ruler of the Soviet Union; was baptized into Orthodox Christianity but later renounced his belief in God. Glenn Loury^[53] United States American academic and scholar. Emmanuel Macron France President of France, raised in a non-religious family, he was baptized a Roman Catholic at his own request at age 12.^[54] Karl Marx Germany Philosopher; baptised into the Lutheran Church. Joseph McCabe^[55] United Kingdom Ordained as "Father Antony", but left the Catholic priesthood and abandoned theism; then wrote The Totalitarian Church of Rome and stated that "Atheism will in this century be the common attitude of civilized people." Jennette McCurdy^[56] United States American singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and former actress; was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but left the religion in her early adulthood, citing fundamental disagreements with church doctrine. François Mitterrand France President of France; his family was devoutly Catholic,^[57] became agnostic following an observation of Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II.^[58] Benito Mussolini^[59] Italy Italian politician, journalist and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 to his ousting in 1943. Friedrich Nietzsche^[60] Germany German philosopher, poet, cultural critic and classical philologist. Millosh Gjergj Nikolla Albania Albanian poet and writer; trained to be an Orthodox priest, but became an atheist.^[61] Nathan Phelps^[62] Canada American Canadian author and LGBT rights activist; son of Fred Phelps. Brad Pitt^[63] United States Actor; raised as a Southern Baptist. Alfred Rosenberg^[15][64][65] Nazi Germany Leader of NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs; raised Protestant. Maikel Nabil Sanad^[66] Egypt Egyptian political activist, blogger, and a former political prisoner. Michael Shermer^[67] United States American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and editor-in-chief of its magazine Skeptic. Morgan Spurlock^[68] United States American documentary filmmaker, humorist, television producer, screenwriter and playwright, raised Methodist but became agnostic later in life. Joseph Stalin Soviet Union Russian revolutionary, then ruler of the USSR; studied to be an Orthodox priest but became an atheist after reading Karl Marx's books.^[69] Meryl Streep^[70] United States American actress. Julius Streicher^[71] Nazi Germany Nazi official and founder of the antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer; raised Catholic. Chris Stuckmann^[72][73][74] United States American film critic, filmmaker and YouTuber; raised as a Jehovah's Witnesses, but abandoned the faith around 2011, due to the faith's authority have been suppressing his hobby on film reviewing. And since referring himself as a areligious. Julia Sweeney United States American actress, comedian and author.^[75][76] Charles Templeton Canada Co-founder of Youth for Christ; rejected Christianity for agnosticism after a struggle with doubts.^[77] Josip Broz Tito Yugoslavia Leader of the Yugoslav Partisans (Europe's most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement); revolutionary and statesman; Roman Catholic^[78] who became an atheist.^[79][80] Michael J. Totten United States American journalist and author.^[81]