Monday, May 22, 2006

The Celebrity Atheist List

This is a link to the celebrity atheist list. I found it odd that they included Monica Lewinsky among the "ambiguous." Atheists, I thought, we eager to argue that atheism is morally benign, if not morally beneficial. Has anyone forgotten WHY Monica Lewinsky is a celebrity? Should religious skeptics really be touting her lack of faith?

Celebrity status in our culture comes pretty cheap sometimes. It all reminds me of the words of one of my favorite Country-Western philosophers, Brad Paisley.

Someday I'm gonna be famous, do I have talent, well no
These days you don't really need it thanks to reality shows
Can't wait to date a supermodel, can't wait to sue my dad
Can't wait to wreck a Ferrari on my way to rehab

[1st Chorus]
'Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
You can act just like a fool
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
I can throw a major fit
When my latte isn't just how I like it
When they say I've gone insane
I'll blame it on the fame
And the pressures that go with
Being a celebrity

I'll get to cry to Barbara Walters when things don't go my way
And I'll get community service no matter which law I break
I'll make the supermarket tabloids, they'll write some awful stuff
But the more they run my name down the more my price goes up

[2nd Chorus]
'Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
No matter what you do
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
I can fall in and out of love
Have marriages that barely last a month
When they go down the drain
I'll blame it on the fame
And say it's just so tough
Being a celebrity

[Bridge]
So let's hitch up the wagons and head out west
To the land of the fun and the sun
We'll be real world bachelor jackass millionaires
Hey hey, Hollywood, here we come

[3rd Chorus]
'Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
No matter what you do
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
Being a celebrity
Yeah celebrity

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some people are famous for....well...being famous. ;-)

But what about the list of celebs who are Christians? Would Jimmy Swaggart and Bilk'em Baker still be on that list? Or would they be on it because it's simply a fact?

Victor Reppert said...

There are plenty of Christians who have celebtiry status whose conduct I am not terribly proud of. (This would include the current occupant of the White House). I don't know of anyone who has posted a celebrity Christian list. But who knows what's out there on the Internet. Maybe I should do a google search to see. Well, now I found one. http://www.djchuang.com/on/celebs/

My main point is that celebrity endorsement in the area of theism vs. atheism means about as much as celebrity endorsement of, say Pepsi as opposed to Coke.

Anonymous said...

I agree. Actually, the truth is that these celebs think the rest of America believes what they think is important, or so it seems. So they speak out on Pepsi, politics, religion, ethics, the environment, and animal rights. And while every person has their say and their influence, I don't believe what celebs think is all that influential, except for the fact that most of them are well-off to rich and can change things by where they put their money.