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Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her multi-award-winning talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show which was the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century the greatest black philanthropist in American history. and is currently North America's only black billionaire.[8] She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.[1]
In an interview with Diana Nyad we learned that Oprah is no Christian, Muslim, or Jew. She has created her own version of God. If society didn't provide so much comfort to the notion of faith we might expect for Oprah to be an atheist. Instead it seems she has very little understanding of atheism. She illustrated that she doesn't think atheists are capable of wonder and awe. An atheist is simply someone who lacks belief in God, but Oprah has another element she uses to define atheists. With that said, Oprah also makes it clear that she believes God is the "awe, wonder, mystery" of the Universe, "not the bearded guy in the sky."
Diana Nyad:… I can stand at the beach’s edge with the most devout Christian, Jew, Buddhist, go on down the line, and weep with the beauty of this universe and be moved by all of humanity — all the billions of people who have lived before us, who have loved and hurt…
Oprah Winfrey: Yeah…
Diana Nyad: … and suffered. To me, my definition of “God” is humanity. And is the love of humanity. And as we return to…
Winfrey: Well, I don’t call you an atheist then! I think if you believe in the awe…
Diana Nyad: Okay…
Winfrey: … and the wonder…
Diana Nyad: Okay…
Winfrey: … and the mystery…
Diana Nyad: Okay…
Winfrey: … That that is what God is! That is what God is! God is not the Bearded Guy in the Sky.
Winfrey: … Do you consider yourself a spiritual person, even as an atheist?
Diana Nyad: I do. I don’t think there’s any contradiction in those terms. I think you can be an atheist who doesn’t believe in an overarching Being who created all of this and sees over it. But there’s spirituality because we human beings, and we animals, and maybe even we plants, but certainly the ocean and the moon and the stars, we all live with something that is cherished and we feel the treasure of it.
Winfrey: Well, I believe that and feel that so deeply. It’s why every time I enter my yard or leave, I say, “Hello trees!”
Way to go Diana Nyad for enduring that outlandish line of reasoning without bursting into laughter!