Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. His 1976 book The Selfish Gene popularised the gene-centred view of evolution, as well as coining the term meme. Dawkins has won several academic and writing awards.
Arno Schmidt was a German author and translator. He is little known outside of German-speaking areas, in part because his works present a formidable challenge to translators. Although he is not one of the popular favourites within Germany, critics and writers often consider him to be one of the most important German-language writers of the 20th century.
The God Delusion is a 2006 book by British evolutionary biologist and ethologist Richard Dawkins. In The God Delusion, Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator, God, almost certainly does not exist, and that belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion, which he defines as a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence. He is sympathetic to Robert Pirsig's statement in Lila (1991) that "when one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion." In the book, Dawkins explores the relationship between religion and morality, providing examples that discuss the possibility of morality existing independently of religion and suggesting alternative explanations for the origins of both religion and morality.
Karl Heinrich Leopold Deschner was a German researcher and writer who achieved public attention in Europe for his trenchant and fiercely critical treatment of Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular, as expressed in several articles and books, culminating in his 10 volume Christianity's Criminal History.
The Central Council of Ex-Muslims is a German association (Verein) advocating for the rights and interests of non-religious, secular persons of Muslim heritage who have left Islam. It was founded on 21 January 2007 and as of May 2007 had about 200 members, with "hundreds" of membership applications yet to be processed.
Martin Perscheid was a German cartoonist. He created a main character in 1994, who appeared from 1998 under the title Perscheids Abgründe. More than 4,300 strips appeared in several German newspapers and magazines. He is known for his "fearless glimpses into human abysses of sexism, racism, ignorance, corruption and stupidity, captured with black humour."
Gerhard Streminger is an Austrian philosopher and author. From 1970, he studied philosophy and mathematics in Graz, Goettingen, Edinburgh with G.E.Davie and Oxford with J. L. Mackie. He gained his PhD in 1978 at the University of Graz, where he held posts from 1975 until 1997. In 1981 he was Visiting Professor at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Streminger was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Graz in 1988 and received the title of University Professor in 1995.
Michael Schmidt-Salomon is a German author, philosopher, and public relations manager. As chairman of the Giordano Bruno Foundation, a humanist organization that is critical of religion, he has been identified as Germany's "Chief Atheist." His books include the Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism: A Plea for a Contemporary Culture, and Die Kirche im Kopf. His children's book Wo bitte geht's zu Gott?, fragte das kleine Ferkel caused controversy for its depiction of religion.
Several alternatives to the Ten Commandments have been promulgated by different persons and groups, which intended to improve on the lists of laws known as the Ten Commandments that appear in the Bible. Lists of these kinds exist in many different cultures and times. They are sometimes given names – for example, the Hindu Yamas.
The term New Atheism describes the positions of some atheist academics, writers, scientists, and philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries. New Atheism advocates the view that superstition, religion, and irrationalism should not be tolerated. Instead, they advocate the antitheist view that the various forms of theism should be criticised, countered, examined, and challenged by rational argument, especially when they exert strong influence on the broader society, such as in government, education, and politics. Critics have characterised New Atheism as "secular fundamentalism" or "fundamentalist atheism". Major figures of New Atheism include Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett, collectively referred to as the "Four Horsemen" of the movement.
Maria Böhmer is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Under the leadership of successive ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2013-2017) and Sigmar Gabriel (2017), she served as Minister of State in the Federal Foreign Office, primarily responsible for cultural relations and education policy.
Reinhard Merkel is a professor in criminal law and philosophy of law and a retired West German swimmer. He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 200 m and 400 m individual medley and finished in sixth place in the latter event.
Rolf Schwanitz is a German politician. From 1998 till 2005, he served under Federal Chancellor Schröder as a Minister of State in the Federal Chancellery. He was then, from 2005 till 2009, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Health ministry under Federal Chancellor Merkel.
Ulla Wessels is a German analytic philosopher working in practical philosophy, particularly ethics. She is a Professor of Practical Philosophy in the Philosophy Department of the Saarland University in Saarbrücken.
The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology's Plön Evolution Path is an educational public works project that presents the history and evolution of life on Earth. It is one of a number of Evolution Paths in Germany.
Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism is work of naturalistic philosophy by Michael Schmidt-Salomon. It was originally published in German in 2005, and later in translation in Polish and English.
Atheist Refugee Relief is a non-governmental organisation founded in Cologne, Germany in 2017 in defence of the human rights of apostates and nonreligious people. The board consists of Rana Ahmad, Mahmudul Haque Munshi and Stefan Paintner. Further groups and associations were formed in Munich (2019), Austria (2019), Hamburg (2019), Stuttgart (2020) and Switzerland (2020).
Institute for Secular Law is a non-governmental organisation founded in Oberwesel (Germany) in 2017, that promotes the principles of secularism, separation of state and religion, and the neutrality of the state as referred to in the Basic Law.
