What Daniel Everett has said about Atheism

Everett rejects the idea that he abandoned his faith merely because a primitive tribe was unconvinced, stressing the Pirahã's intellectual sophistication.

“First of all, the Piraha are sophisticated intellectually, and if you have a long talk with them, first you have to learn their language”

Danny Jones Podcast: #439 - Bible Expert Rejects Religion After Decoding Ancient Amazon Language | Daniel Everett (Oct 12, 2026) · Listen from 1:06:11

Everett explains his atheism by appeal to parsimony, saying the God hypothesis explains nothing in his life.

“There has been nothing in my life that I need God to help me explain”

Danny Jones Podcast: #439 - Bible Expert Rejects Religion After Decoding Ancient Amazon Language | Daniel Everett (Oct 12, 2026) · Listen from 1:23:22

Everett says he struggled with faith from 1982 to 1988 and publicly stopped pretending to believe after Iraq War-era emails in 2002.

“So from about 1982 to 1988, I was struggling with faith. 1988, I went over to the dark side of science”

Danny Jones Podcast: #439 - Bible Expert Rejects Religion After Decoding Ancient Amazon Language | Daniel Everett (Oct 12, 2026) · Listen from 1:45:55