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:
“Even as fog continues to lie in the valleys, so does ancient sin cling to the low places, the depressions in the world consciousness.”
—Dewitt Bodeen (1908–1988)
“I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)