Hollywood's
Top 10 Atheists

It's a diverse, no-apologies group; their faithlessness
is a badge of honor.

By Paul Bond

You'd think hollywood stars would drop to their knees every day to give thanks for their fame, fortune, and beauty — but the ugly truth is, a surprising number are atheists.

Jodie Foster, for example, proclaims respect for the religious while not believing. Bill Maher grants that there might be a God but also ridicules worshipers. 

Surprising names pop up on any catalog of Hollywood's most irreligious.  (We've listed them alphabetically.)    

Woody Allen: He told Reader's Digest, "If you actually have faith, if you believe that there's more to life in a positive sense, then of course it's a wonderful thing." Then he added, "I can't bring myself to do it. If I'm sitting next to a guy and he has true belief, I look at him and think, ‘poor thing, you really are deluded'."

fame without faith (Top row) Bruce Willis, Bill Maher, (Middle row) Billy Joel, and Carl Reiner. (Bottom row) Woody Allen and John Malkovich. Each doubts or does not believe that a creator exists.

Jodie Foster: She told Entertainment Weekly she's an atheist but added, "I absolutely love religions and the rituals. Even though I don't believe in God." And asked by E! Online whether she ever prays to God, she answered, "No, absolutely never." Foster says she celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah with her children and that she only has questions so far and no answers.

Billy Joel: The singer publicly broached the topic early in his career, saying during an interview that he is an atheist and positing that religion is a source of many of the world's problems. Then he told Billboard magazine in 1994, "I still feel very much like an atheist in the religious aspects of things," but added, "There are spiritual planes I'm aware of that I don't know anything about and that I can't explain."

Angelina Jolie: The actress is making Atlas Shrugged, the 1957 novel by famous Libertarian-atheist Ayn Rand, into a movie. Asked during an interview with The Onion whether God exists, Jolie said, "For the people who believe in it, I hope so. There doesn't need to be a God for me."

Bill Maher: Maher co-wrote and starred in Religulous, a movie which mocked all religions, especially Christianity. On Larry King Live, Maher said that "all religious people have a neurological disorder" and that religion is "insanity by consensus."

John Malkovich: He has called himself an atheist but rarely expounds on the matter. Malkovich once said. "I believe in people, I believe in humans, I believe in a car, but I don't believe something I have absolutely no evidence of for millennia."

Ian McKellan: Tom Hanks' co-star in The Da Vinci Code said during a press tour promoting the film, "I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying, ‘This is fiction.' I mean, walking on water?" The actor, an outspoken advocate for gay rights, refers to himself as an atheist.

Keanu Reeves: He reportedly has called himself an atheist but told journalists abroad while promoting the 2005 supernatural thriller Constantine that he is less skeptical about the concept of heaven and hell. In Constantine, Reeves plays a man whose soul has been condemned.

Carl Reiner: The Emmy-winning writer and actor best known for his work on The Dick Van Dyke Show calls himself an atheist. On occasion, he has said that "man invented God, not the other way around." He jokingly said, "There are 15 things I know about God, and one is that he is allergic to shellfish." He also complains of too many commandments. "You only need one: Do not hurt anybody."

Bruce Willis: That's right. Even Hollywood's conservatives sometimes are hostile to religion (granted, Willis' conservative credentials often are exaggerated). In 1998, he told now-defunct George magazine that organized religions "are dying forms" and that "modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology."

Jon Voight IS OUT THERE,
EDUCATING HIS adoring PUBLIC

Oscar winner Jon Voight is a lonely voice in Hollywood. He tells Newsmax that Sarah Palin was the victim of a "mindless smear campaign." He says also that he's proud of daughter Angelina Jolie's humanitarian efforts and wishes Hollywood's progressives were interested in discussing the issues rather than personalities. The actor, a conservative, has been making the rounds following last month's debut of the comedy An American Carol. He talked with Newsmax.

VOIGHT One of Hollywood's few conservatives.

David Zucker, who directed An American Carol, says his ideology hasn't changed, but that things in Hollywood have become so exaggerated it's funny.

It's like a craziness. At the time of the civil rights movement, the ACLU had a meaning. Since that time, it's just been corrupted, and it's now a little bit of the lunatic fringe. It's run by Marxist atheists, as far as I'm concerned.

What are your thoughts about Sarah Palin?

I think she's proven herself to be as remarkable as we would have hoped. And they've created this mindless smear campaign, calling her every kind of name, and inventing things, and just figuring that if they throw enough sh** on the wall that something will stick.

What's it like being a Hollywood conservative?

You don't go far into a conversation and they have to bail out and say, "Well, gee, I don't know much about that." Then you have to say, "You should get educated because these are the bases for the things that you're saying. You would know that they were out of line if you got an education."

Your daughter Angelina Jolie has been involved in humanitarian activities. She's given real money and placed herself in harm's way. How do you feel about that as a father?

Well, I'm very admiring of her humanitarian efforts and for her ability to put her money where her mouth is, and step up and try to do something. You know, it's to be admired. Certainly Brad [Pitt] is involved in many nice, humanitarian efforts, and it's a caring group.

Do you get along well with Pitt?

I don't know him well, but I do like him.

She came back from Iraq praising General Petraeus. Do you think you've been an influence?

I don't know if I've been an influence. I think that she's very concerned about the refugees. I think she has great respect for our military there and what they're doing, and she's talked to General Petraeus.

— Jim Meyers