Ancient Times
Historians including Lucien Febvre agree atheism in its modern sense did not exist before the end of the seventeenth century. However, as governmental authority rested on the notion of divine right, it was threatened by those who denied the existence of the local god. Philosophers such as Plato argued that atheism (as we understand it today) was a danger to society and should be punished as a crime. Those labeled as atheist, which included early Christians and Muslims, were as a result targeted for legal persecution.
Read more about this topic: Discrimination Against Atheists
Famous quotes containing the words ancient and/or times:
“You are our surety to immortal life,
God’s hatred of the universal stain—
The heritage, O Fear, of ancient strife
Compounded with the tissue of the vein.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“Many times man lives and dies
Betweeen his two eternities,
That of race and that of soul,
And ancient Ireland knew it all.
Whether man die in his bed
Or the rifle knocks him dead,”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)