Gurdur directed me to the Hon Toby Young's article on believers being nicer than atheists. And while Toby's probably right (and I note the typo in the URL), I am aware that his first degree was in some arts subject or another. So I've applied a bit of logic and science to this. Below I've ranked a number of famous believers and atheists in order of niceness. I'm happy to be corrected on their belief or niceness, and I've excluded all those that are generally regarded by their followers as deities or chief prophets. Except for I've ignored the protestations from those members of the Church of Marcus Du Sautoy. They're just being silly.
There is one simple rule. I've generally put anyone who would want to kill people for their beliefs, below anyone else. It's an attribute I've always found particularly nasty.
So from nicest to nastiest, I go for:
Mother Teresa (b)
Gandhi (b)
Douglas Adams (a)
Pope John Paul II (b)
Marcus Du Sautoy (a)
Abp William Temple (b)
That nun with the art and the caravan (b)
Stephen Fry (a)
Prince Charles (b?)
Richard Dawkins (a)
Tony Blair (b)
Tomas de Torquemada (b)
Queen Mary I (b)
Henry VIII (b)
Pol Pot (a)
Oliver Cromwell (b)
Josef Stalin (a)
Chairman Mao (a)
*as atheist activist, comes along*
ReplyDelete*rapidly scans list*
*checks to see if -- dreaded -- certain names appear*
*sees they don't*
*breathes huge sigh of relief, toddles off*
"the nun with the caravan and the art"... d'you mean Sister Wendy of the the Prominent Incisors?
ReplyDeleteGood list methinks.
I always find people from Maidenhead much nicer than people from Slough...
ReplyDeleteSteve, people from Maidenhead are posher than people from Slough. I take it that's what you're approving?
ReplyDeleteI think I would put 'that nun with the art and the caravan' at the top of the list and Mother Teresa would go right down, just above Torquemada.
ReplyDeleteBut what does 'nice' mean? I think Mary I was probably very nice, to her family and her friends and to everyone who met her, provided they agreed with her about religion. It was not her fault that her religion told her she should kill people.
Not at all AE, merely agreeing with the futility of generalisations. (this isn't a serious list is it?)
ReplyDeleteSteve, would you say all generalisations are futile or just some of them?
ReplyDelete