Freethought of the Day

Thomas Scott

On this date in 1808, Thomas Scott was born. Educated in France as a Catholic and independently wealthy, he served as a page at the court of Charles X. Scott became a rationalist as he approached the age of 40. From 1862 to 1877, he funded and distributed more than 200 pamphlets critical of religion, which were later compiled into 16 volumes. He wrote a few himself, but mainly published well-known freethinkers, such as Moncure Daniel Conway.

Scott disseminated his pamphlets to the clergy as well as the public. From his own printing house in Ramsgate, Scott published Jeremy Bentham's Church of England Catechism Examined and Hume's Dialogues on Natural Religion. According to Joseph McCabe, The English Life of Jesus (1872), which Scott published and bears Scott's name, was actually written, at least in part, by the Rev. Sir G.W. Cox. (A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists) McCabe wrote that Scott "rendered a most valuable service to the cause in England." (D. 1878)

Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor

© Freedom From Religion Foundation. All rights reserved.

Sir Terence (Terry) Pratchett

On this date in 1948, Terence David John Pratchett was born in Buckinghamshire, England. He enjoyed reading, especially science fiction, fantasy, myth and ancient history. He has said that from a young age he was skeptical about Christianity and came to the conclusion that there was no God. He won many awards, including the Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and Educated Rodents (2001), and was knighted in 2009 for his services to literature. Several of his books have been adapted as movies for television. Pratchett's first novel, Carpet People, a children's fantasy, was published in 1971.

Pratchett is best known for his "Discworld" novels, a fantasy series tied together not by characters or plot but by the setting of the Discworld, a flat world sitting on the backs of four elephants standing on the back of a giant turtle swimming through space. The first book in this series, The Color of Magic, a fantasy adventure starring a hapless wizard parodying many conventions of the genre, was published in 1983, and the 38th, I Shall Wear Midnight, a coming-of-age story featuring a strong young witch battling prejudice, was published in 2010. The Discworld, like many fantasy worlds, features gods who occasionally interfere directly in events or feature as characters in some way.

Throughout his work, Pratchett questions religion in many different ways, pointing out religious hypocrisy while at the same time illustrating how different the world would be if God, or any gods, were real. The 1992 Discworld novel Small Gods shows the god Om visiting his worshipers, and being deeply dissatisfied with the direction in which his church has gone. Good Omens (1990), co-written with fellow British fantasy author Neil Gaiman, deals with Christian mythology and the biblical book of Revelation.

It begins with an angel and a demon conversing outside the Garden of Eden and questioning God's motives regarding the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It ends with the 10-year-old anti-Christ, Adam, contemplating the raid of a neighbor's orchard and thinking, “There never was an apple ... that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it.” Pratchett said, "I read the Old Testament all the way through when I was about 13 and was horrified." (UK Daily Mail, June 21, 2008)

In 2007, Pratchett was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, but continued to write and publish new books, albeit at a slower pace. He made many public statements in support of the right to die and talked openly about his Alzheimer's experience, including his wish to take his own life before his disease was critical. He died of Alzheimer's complications at age 66. (D. 2015)

PHOTO: by © Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons under CC 3.0.

“There is a rumor going around that I have found God. I think this is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.”

—Pratchett, The Daily Mail (June 21, 2008)

Compiled by Eleanor Wroblewski

© Freedom From Religion Foundation. All rights reserved.

Jessica Alba

On this date in 1981, Jessica Marie Alba was born in Pomona, California, to Mark and Catherine (Jensen) Alba. Her father was in the military, so the family moved frequently during her younger years before settling in California when she was 9. Her father was Mexican-American and she was raised Catholic. However, she rebelled by attending an evangelical Christian church. She left the church as a teen, citing its sexism and homophobia.

At age 11 she took an interest in acting. Her first role was in the 1994 film “Camp Nowhere.” She began modeling and appeared in several national commercials. She also took a recurring role on the TV show “The Secret World of Alex Mack” and in the adventure series “Flipper.”

Her breakthrough role came in 2000 when she was cast as Max Guevera, the lead in 42 episodes of “Dark Angel.” Since then she has appeared in numerous films and television productions. She owns her own business, The Honest Company, which specializes in toxin-free bath, body and baby products; She published her first book, “The Honest Life,” in 2013.

She married film producer Cash Warren in 2008 after meeting him on the set of "Fantastic Four" in 2004. They have daughters born in 2008 and 2011 and a son born in 2017. Her charity work has included participation with Clothes Off Our Back, Habitat for Humanity, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Project HOME, RADD, Revlon Run/Walk for Women, SOS Children's Villages, Soles4Souls, Step Up and Baby2Baby. Alba is an ambassador for the 1Goal movement to provide education to children in Africa.

PHOTO: Alba at a film screening in 2008; Thierry Caro photo under CC 3.0.

"I was raised by my grandparents and my parents – my grandmother was a very religious Catholic, and my parents became born-again Christians later. So that was hardcore. It's very different than how [my children are] being raised. I was into God. I really went for it, man. … The further I got into it, it wasn't for me."

—Alba, Glamour magazine interview (May 6, 2014)

Compiled by Dayna Long

© Freedom From Religion Foundation. All rights reserved.