Persecution of atheists
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| Religious discrimination and persecution |
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| By victimized group
Anti-clericalism |
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Abuse · Censorship · Desecration |
| Historical events
Inquisition · French Wars of Religion |
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Atheists have experienced persecution throughout history. Persecution may refer to unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, beating, torture, or execution. It also may refer to the confiscation or destruction of property.
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[edit] Historical persecution
[edit] Roman Empire
During the late Roman Empire, atheism — a capital crime — was a common legal prosecution against Christians by henotheists.[citation needed] Christians rejected the Roman gods, and henotheists rejected the exclusivity of Christian monotheism.
[edit] Middle Ages
In the European Middle Ages people were persecuted for apostasy, especially in countries where the Inquisition was active. Medieval impiety and godlessness were closer to weak atheism than avowed strong atheism, and hardly any expression of strong atheism is known from this period. Medieval beliefs that most closely approach strong atheism were probably held by some members of the pantheistic Brethren of the Free Spirit. A man called Löffler, who was burned in Bern in 1375 for confessing adherence to this movement, is reported to have taunted his executioners that they would not have enough wood to burn "Chance, which rules the world."[citation needed]
[edit] 18th to 20th Century Europe
Among those imprisoned for atheism was Denis Diderot (1713–1784), one of the Enlightenment's most prominent philosophers, and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopédie, which sought to challenge religious (particularly Catholic) dogma: "Reason is to the estimation of the philosopher what grace is to the Christian", he wrote. "Grace determines the Christian's action; reason the philosopher's". [1]
For fear of persecution, the French philosopher Baron d'Holbach had to publish his books anonymously in Amsterdam. His book Systeme de la Nature was burned by an angry mob[citation needed].
On March 25, 1811, Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from Oxford University for not refusing authorship of the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.
[edit] Nazi Germany
Once appointed to the Chancellorship of Germany, Adolf Hitler banned freethought organizations and launched an “anti-godless” movement. In a 1933 speech he declared: “We have . . . undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out.”[2]
[edit] Current persecution
[edit] Iran
In Iran, Irreligious people are not recognized as citizens. While Jews, Christians and other minorities have the right to take part in university entrance exams and can become members of parliament or city councils, irreligious people are not granted even their basic rights. Most irreligious people, however, hide their beliefs and pretend to be Muslims. Non-believers—atheists—under Islam do not have "the right to life". Apostasy in Iran is punishable by death.[3]
[edit] United States
A rarely enforced law in the US state of Texas only allows public office to those who "acknowledge the existence a higher being," although such religious tests for public officials are explicitly prohibited by the United States Constitution.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Denis Diderot, "The Philosopher" (1750s). Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
- ^ Council for Secular Humanism
- ^ Kamguian, Azam. "The Fate of Infidels and Apostates under Islam", International Humanist and Ethical Union, 06-21-2005.
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