The more scientifically literate, intellectually honest and objectively sceptical a person is, the more likely they are to disbelieve in anything supernatural, including god. This is a compilation of some of the best examples of such individuals with their thoughts on the divine. They include in order of appearance:

Professor Stephen Hawking is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, and was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for 30 years.

Lord Martin Rees is the Astronomer Royal and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was President of the Royal Society between 2005 and 2010.

Dr Sam Harris is an American author, neuroscientist and CEO of Project Reason. He holds a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA, and a BA in philosophy from Stanford University.

Professor Richard Feynman was an American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.

Professor Noam Chomsky is an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at MIT and well known as one of the fathers of modern linguistics.

Stephen Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director.

Professor Leonard Susskind is Professor of Theoretical Physics at Stanford University, and widely regarded as one of the fathers of string theory.

Sir Bertrand Russell was an English philosopher who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950. He is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy and is widely held to be one of the 20th century’s premier logicians.

Dr Richard Carrier is an American historian who received his PhD in ancient history from Columbia University.

Sir David Attenborough is a broadcaster and naturalist. He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, and his distinguished career in broadcasting now spans more than 50 years.

Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History and Visiting Research Scientist and Lecturer at Princeton University. He attended Harvard College (B.A), University of Texas (M.A.) and Columbia University (M.Phil.), (Ph.D.).

Professor Vilayanur Ramachandran is a neuroscientist, Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, and Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Neurosciences Graduate Program at the University of California, San Diego. He obtained his PhD from Trinity College, Cambridge.

Professor Sir Harold Kroto is a British chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996.

Steven Pinker is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, known for his advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind.

John Smythies is a neuropsychiatrist and neuroscientist. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatric Research at the University of Alabama Medical Center.

Sir Richard Friend is Cavendish Professor at the University of Cambridge. His research concerns the physics and engineering of carbon-based semiconductors.

Peter Atkins is a British Chemist and was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. He is a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks.

Marcus du Sautoy OBE is the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford.

Sir Patrick Bateson is an English biologist and science writer. Bateson is emeritus professor of ethology at Cambridge University and president of the Zoological Society of London since 2004.

Professor AC Grayling is a British philosopher, supernumerary fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford, and first master of New College of the Humanities in London. He was previously Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London.

Brian Cox OBE is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester. He works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Alan Macfarlane is a renowned social anthropologist and a Professor Emeritus of King’s College, Cambridge. He is the author or editor of 20 books and numerous articles on the anthropology and history of England, Nepal, Japan and China.

Alan Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history.

Quentin Skinner is Professor of the Humanities at Queen Mary, University of London, and was previously Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge. The author or co-author of more than 20 books, his works have been very widely translated.

51. Gita has the concept of four castes (Chathurvarnyam).  So who has created the other castes and religions?

Hindu God Krishna said, ‘Chathur varnyam maya sritam’. OK, agreed. But who has created the other castes in Hindu? And who has created Christians, Muslims etc?

52. Theists say God is beyond Logic. Then, how they have decided God’s existence? Was it imagination or Logic?

53. Theists say “God bless you”. But we see non-blessed in every religion. Why?

Did that God has no power? One or two persons say “By God’s grace I passed the examination”. But another 24 or 36 persons failed in that examination. Are they not fit for God’s grace?

54. Don’t you know that killing will cause pain to animals? How will you justify killing animals for food?

We have enough vegetarian food in the world. Then why should you kill (or make others killing) animals for food? If you are a believer of a kind hearted God, stop the sin of eating his own children. If you are a rationalist, think that pain is same to all creatures which have mind and brain (Excluding plants) and stop killing your dear domestic animals for food.

55. When will people become civilized enough to stop eating meat while Religions failed to make them kind-hearted?

There is no use of religion if it is not able to teach you to stop eating meat. If God can not stop pain in the world, what is the use of pray? Are you tiger or lion? Are you not civilized enough to avoid the painful killing of animals for food? Will you agree if somebody eat your meat telling that it is tasty and telling that God had created you for his food? Why can’t you stop that dirty habit of making your stomach a crematorium?

56. Why should human eat meat and make the stomach a crematorium? Why no God comes to save the poor animals?

Plants have life but they don’t have brain to know pain. So please don’t compare. Pain will be the same for humans and animals. What is your justification in eating meat? If it is your taste, then human meat also may be tasty. Dear Theists, please think that killing is a sin and desist from that habit. Dear Atheists, please think that your cattle, goat, rabbit, etc. believe in you. They come to you when you call them. They think you are his owner and you will protect them. But you put the knife on its neck! Are you lion or tiger? If it is painful to you, it will be the same for them as well. So please desist from the habit of eating meat. I want to know your justification in killing animals. Please keep in mind that everybody will see your answer. So give the answer logically.

57. How can you claim your religion is good if it has not prevents you from killing and eating innocent animals?

Those who do not believe in any religion may also give their justification in eating meat. Pain is the same to all living things which had a brain to feel it. Then why do you follow that cruel habit?

58. We know great people worked for humans. Do you know anybody worked for animals which cannot give fees or fame?

I am not talking about dog lovers etc. But about such great personalities who give importance to all animals from ants to elephants. I hope a religious person cannot think so.

59. Hindus are running behind everything to worship it. Do you agree with these words of Swami Vivekananda?

Hindus could not survive without worshiping something, he said. Was he right?

60. Why Muhammad couldn’t follow Jesus and Budha couldn’t accept Hinduism? What was wrong with Christianity/Hinduism?