Talk:History of atheism

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In many countries, denying god was included as a crime of blasphemy. In several countries, such as Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, these laws remain.

I study law in Spain and, as far as I know, "these laws" do not remain in Spain... I would check the sources. --Virso2 01:48, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Why is there no mention of the Indian sage charvaka, who is the earliest known proponent of atheism? The first link refers to his works, but there is no mention of him in the text.--59.95.30.56 09:45, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jean Meslier

If there is no objection I will add this paragraph to the text:

The parish priest Jean Meslier (1664–1729) was the first to formalize the systematic rejection of all deities and religions in the early 18th Century. In a dense book written to be published after his death he clearly states the fallacy of all religious organizations and the imposibility of the existence of god. The full title of his testament is:

"Memorandum on the thoughts and feelings of Jean Meslier, priest of the parish of Étrépigny and Balaives, on some of the errors and abuses of human behavior and government where can be seen clear and obvious demonstrations of the vanity and fallacy of all divinities and religions of the world, to be adressed to his parishioners after his death, and to serve them as a testimony of truth, to them and all their fellow men."

What came to be know as The Testament of Priest Meslier circulated in underground circles of thinkers and had a huge influence notably on Voltaire, d'Holbach, Emperor Frederic II, Rousseau, Diderot, d'Alembert and all the encyclopedists. Baron d'Holbach summarized the priest's dense and sometime confused arguments in Superstition in All ages. Keria 20:08, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Holbach or Łyszczyński?

The first open denial of the existence of god and avowal of atheism since classical times may be that of Paul Baron d'Holbach (1723–1789) in his 1770 work, The System of Nature.

I don't think he was first. Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_%C5%81yszczy%C5%84ski —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.134.160.229 (talk) 15:11, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

In any case d'Holbach's was not an open denial as he wrote under pseudonyms. The Polish guy is mentioned in some of the literature, but it's not clear that his atheism was *published*, let alone published openly. --Dannyno (talk) 18:24, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

"De non existentia Dei" probably was not published in print but certainly it was read in the parliment and disscussed. It was not the same as *publishig* but text was widely known at this time and then forgotten. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.134.160.229 (talk) 20:45, 12 January 2008 (UTC)