If the term 'secular saint' can be thought of as a someone venerated and respected for contributions to a noble cause, but not recognized as a canonical saint by a religion (from Wikipedia), then who would you add to the list?
Here are a few to start:
Dan Savage for the It Gets Better program
Margaret Sanger for starting what became Planned Parenthood
Richard Dawkins for his Foundation for Reason and Science
Ludwik Rajchman for UNICEF
Subscription Note:
Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.
Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.
Chiune Sugihara (the "Japanese Schindler")
Sir Edmund Hillary for his philanthropic work with Sherpas in Nepal
Fred Hollows for restoring the sight of thousands of people in poor countries
Thanks for those names! I'll read up on them all.
Peter Higgs for his work to discover the Higgs Boson particle
Niel DeGrasse Tyson for his ability to clearly communicate multiple branches of science without "Dumbing it down" & one of my favorite lecture series "Inexplicable Universe"
Lawrence Krauss For the Origins Project (My apologies in advanced Truett. I know I probably stole yours, but I'm an avid follower of the origins project too)
Well, I must admit, I have a crush on both NDG and Krauss! And I'm in utter awe of Higgs.
I recently read about Dr. Eugene Lazowski and Dr. Stanisław Matulewicz. They engineered a fake typhus epidemic to save thousands of Polish Jews from the extermination camps.
That I will definitely read up on! Many of my family were killed in the camps.
This is not a person per se, but I nominate "Vaccine Women and Men." All those people who have developed, tested, manufactured and administered vaccines throughout the world. They have saved millions of lives and prevented untold suffering.
Some of the people working to administer polio vaccines in places like Pakistan have been martyred for their efforts by religious bigots.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36090891
A minute's silence perhaps.
Donald Trump (Hitler reincarnate) for reminding us of the absolute absurdity of populace nationalism.
Saint Christopher Hitchens
Father Isaac Newton
Cardinal Carl Sagan
His Holiness Stephen Hawkins
Margaret Sanger is one of the greatest mass murders of all time. While she may not have directly killed anyone (King Leopold II of Belgium didn't either but his toll was 10-12 million people) she enabled others to do her dirty work. If there's a lake of fire she needs to be in it.
@Diotrophes: "Margaret Sanger is one of the greatest mass murders of all time."
What?!! Are you an every-sperm-is-sacred catholic or a barefoot-and-pregnant-in-kitchen chauvinist?
Algebe,
Margaret's own words condemn her. She would have made a great Nazi. She was a big fan of ethnic cleansing.
7 Incredibly Shocking Quotes From Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger | LifeNews.com
http://www.lifenews.com/2015/02/23/7-shocking-quotes-from-planned-parent...
Charles Darwin for unveiling and demystifying one of natures most amazing processes.
Margaret Sanger for assisting women in freeing themselves from reproductive slavery and making sex safe for pleasurable recreation.
Einstein for blowing our minds.
Nelson Mandela for remaining firm against injustice and forgiving when the tables turned.
Humans? You want humans?
Not a profile I would know to bestow upon humans. However, if the notion could get a little traction in the lesser animals, you know, the ones that live in natural harmony within their own environments with no evil to confess, I'd start there and then see if the higher order has anything better.
Martin Luther King. he wrote some of the most memorable parts of his I have a dream speech right before he spoke. was reading an article on procrastination and sometimes its good to allow yourself to evolve. His heart was beautiful and his words powerful
JamieB,
IMO King's April 4, 1967, "A Time to Break Silence" about his opposition to the Vietnam War was 10x more powerful than his "I Have a Dream Speech". It's 53:46 minutes MLK: Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence (Full) - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qf6x9_MLD0
He was killed exactly one year later, April 4, 1968. The CIA/FBI probably did it.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/21/entertainment/bill-nye-saves-the-world-net...
Did we say Bill Nye The science guy. check out what he's doing on Netflix
Sir David Attenborough. He taught the world about nature and evolution. He invented sports television. He brings to the forefront the reason we should all appreciate and protect nature.
Michael Palin for teaching everyone how to respectful to everyone and their culture (his BBC travel series) and for teaching people how to laugh at themselves.
These two men did more for my appreciation of the world than any and everything combined.