Many atheists have experienced persecution, mainly from Christians and Muslims. Persecution may refer to unwarranted arrest, imprisonment, beating, torture, or execution. It also may refer to the confiscation or destruction of property, or incitement to hate atheists. Atheism, in its broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of gods. ...

During the late Roman Empire, atheism — a capital crime — was a common legal prosecution against Christians by henotheists. Christians rejected the Roman gods, and henotheists rejected the exclusivity of Christian monotheism. For other senses of this name, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... // Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is governmental killing by execution as punishment for a crime often called a capital offense or a capital crime. ... In religion and philosophy, henotheism is a term coined by Max Müller, meaning devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods. ... Monotheism (in Greek μόνος = single and θεός = God), in contrast with polytheism, is the belief in one god, simply put it is the belief in a single deity. ...

In the European Middle Ages people were persecuted for heresy, 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." Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to some dispute as to Europes actual borders. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the Catholic or Orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ... Representation of an Auto de fe, (1475). ... Weak atheism (also called negative atheism) is the lack of belief in the existence of deities, without a commitment to the necessary non-existence of deities. ... Strong atheism, sometimes called positive atheism, hard atheism or gnostic atheism, is the philosophical position that no deity exists. ... Pantheism (Greek: pan = all and Theos = God) literally means God is All and All is God. It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent. ... The Brethren of the Free Spirit (Brüder und Schwestern des Freien Geistes) was a medieval heretical pantheistic movement. ... Location within Switzerland The city of Bern, English traditionally Berne (Bernese German Bärn , German Bern , French Berne , Italian Berna , Romansh Berna ), is the Bundesstadt (administrative capital) of Switzerland, and is the fourth most populous Swiss city (after Zürich, Geneva and Basel). ... Events October 24 - Valdemar IV of Denmark dies and is succeeded by his grandson Olaf III of Denmark. ...

The term athéisme itself was coined in France in the 16th century as adopted from the Greek term Áthèos (Á meaning not or non, and thèos meaning religious or religion). Athéisme was initially used as an accusation against scientists, critics of religion, materialistic philosophers, deists, and others who seemed to represent a threat to established beliefs. Historical and modern deism is defined by the view that reason, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God. ...

In 1766, the French nobleman Jean-François de la Barre, was tortured, beheaded, and his body burned for alleged vandalism of a crucifix, a case that became celebrated because Voltaire tried unsuccessfully to have the sentence reversed. 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Jean-François, knight de la Barre (1745 - July 1st, 1766) was a French nobleman, famous for having been tortured and burnt at the stake for not having removed his hat before a Catholic procession. ... Torture is any act by which severe pain, whether physical or psychological, is intentionally inflicted on a person as a means of intimidation, a deterrent, revenge, a punishment, or as a method for the extraction of information or confessions (i. ... A caricature of Gustave Courbet taking down a Morris column, published by Le Père Duchêne illustré magazine Vandalism is the conspicuous defacement or destruction of a structure or symbol against the will of the owner/governing body. ... A crucifix amidst the cornfields near Mureck in rural Styria, Austria A handheld crucifix A crucifix in front of the Holy Spirit Church in KoÅ¡ice, Slovakia A crucifix is a cross with a representation of Jesuss body, or corpus (plural, corpora). ... The last of Voltaires statues by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1781). ...

Among those accused of atheism was Denis Diderot (1713–1784), one of the Enlightenment's most prominent philosophes, and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopédie, which sought to challenge religious (particularly Catholic) dogma: "Reason is to the estimation of the philosophe what grace is to the Christian", he wrote. "Grace determines the Christian's action; reason the philosophe's". [1] Diderot was briefly imprisoned for his writing, some of which was banned and burned. Portrait of Diderot by Louis-Michel van Loo, 1767 Denis Diderot (October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French philosopher and writer. ... // Events April 11 - War of the Spanish Succession: Treaty of Utrecht June 23 - French residents of Acadia given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia Canada first Orrery built by George Graham Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713... 1784 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Fig. ...

The freethinker Charles Bradlaugh (1833–1891) was repeatedly elected to the British Parliament, but was not allowed to take his seat after his request to affirm rather than take the religious oath was turned down (he offered to take the oath, but this too was denied him). After Bradlaugh was re-elected for the fourth time, Parliament did relent. In several countries, such as Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, these laws remain. Likewise, some American states, such as Massachusetts, retain such laws; however, these laws are rarely enforced, if at all. Charles Bradlaugh (26 September 1833 _ 30 January 1891) was a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century. ... The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ... Official language(s) English Capital Boston Largest city Boston Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 44th 10,555 mi²; 27,360 km² 183 mi; 295 km 113 mi; 182 km 13. ...

During the Cold War, the United States often characterized its opponents as "Godless Communists", which tended to reinforce the view that atheists were unreliable and unpatriotic (an example of the fallacy known as affirming the consequent). In the 1988 U.S. presidential campaign, Republican presidential candidate George H. W. Bush said, "I don't know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God Even though he is a satanist who has been part of a secret society that is satanic called the skull and crossbones. he had joined is college and still is part of this group, sick huh." [2] The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their alliance partners. ... The term fallacy is used in two senses. ... Affirming the consequent is a logical fallacy in the form of a hypothetical proposition. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... George Herbert Walker Bush, GCB, (born June 12, 1924 in Milton, MA) was the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). ...

In the United States, there is widespread disapproval of atheists. For example, according to motherjones.com, 52% of Americans claim they would not vote for a well-qualified atheist for president. [3] More recently, a 2006 study at the University of Minnesota showed atheists to be the most mistrusted minority among Americans. [4] Notwithstanding such attitudes, atheists are legally protected from discrimination in the United States. They have been among the strongest advocates of the legal separation of church and state. American courts have regularly, if controversially, interpreted the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state as protecting the freedoms of non-believers, as well as prohibiting the establishment of any state religion. Atheists often sum up the legal situation with the phrase: "Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion;;." [5] The separation of church and state is a political doctrine which states that the institutions of the state or national government should be kept separate from those of religious institutions. ...

In the 1994 case Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, Justice Souter wrote in the opinion for the Court that: "government should not prefer one religion to another, or religion to irreligion." [6] Everson v. Board of Education established that "neither a state nor the Federal Government can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another". This applies the Establishment Clause to the states as well as the federal government. [7] However, several state constitutions make the protection of persons from religious discrimination conditional on their acknowledgement of the existence of a deity, apparently making freedom of religion in those states inapplicable to atheists. These state constitutional clauses have not been tested. Civil rights cases are typically brought in federal courts; so such state provisions are mainly of symbolic importance. Holding --- Court membership Case opinions Laws applied --- Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. ... Everson v. ...

In the Newdow case, after a father challenged the phrase "under God" in the United States Pledge of Allegiance, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found the phrase unconstitutional. Although the decision was stayed pending the outcome of an appeal, there was the prospect that the pledge would cease to be legally usable without modification in schools in the western United States, over which the Ninth Circuit has jurisdiction. This resulted in political furor, and both houses of Congress passed resolutions condemning the decision, nearly unanimously. A very large group consisting of almost the entire Senate and House was televised standing on the steps of Congress, hands over hearts, swearing the pledge and shouting out "under God". The Supreme Court subsequently reversed the decision, ruling that Michael Newdow did not have standing to bring his case, thus disposing of the case without ruling on the constitutionality of the pledge. Newdow v. ... Dorothea Lange photograph of Japanese-American students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance is a promise or oath of allegiance to the United States, and to its national flag. ... The Rev. ...