(May 6, 2012 at 3:07 pm)tobie Wrote: If you want examples of atheists being persecuted, here are a few:1) Oh heavens no, you mean they couldn't be citizens in the 18th century. What should we do?
1) As late as the 18th century, atheism was regarded as detrimental to society, with even the more libertarian theologians wanted to rescind the citizenship of atheists
2) If you were provably atheist, you could be denied custody of your children ( as happened to Percy Shelley )
Generally, it is difficult to find examples of Atheist "martyrdom", because it was generally called "Satanism" or "Witchcraft". Atheists have been persecuted as long as religion has existed, and in some countries, still carries a prison sentence, even a death sentence.
2) Christian persecution goes back to the 1st century AD, and it was far worse than "losing your baby" or citizenship.
If that was the case then how come you cannot give an example other than a baseless assertion of "satanism" or "witchcraft" charges were generally against atheist.