One of your answerers wrote: “Being an atheist carried the death penalty until the nineteenth century”. Was there a death penalty for atheists in England?
Posted: October 15th 2008
brian thomson www
You don’t say what question that was, so I can’t see the context. Was that answer specifically about England?
Atheists were tried under Blasphemy laws for what they said, since (obviously) authorities would not know someone was an atheist unless they said so. Since the introduction of Common Law in England, I know of no cases where someone was executed there for being an atheist or for blasphemy.
In Scotland, however, it definitely happened, the last published case being that of Thomas Aikenhead, who was executed for blasphemy in 1697.
(Though Scotland is in the United Kingdom, it is not in England, and has had its own legal system all along.)
Posted: October 19th 2008
SmartLX www
Britain, yes. England, no.
Blasphemy law in England and Wales from the 16th to the 19th century held that any blasphemy against Christianity (which included stating anything one might possibly consider an atheist viewpoint) was punishable by fine, imprisonment and/or corporal punishment, rather than capital. As the article above describes, some of the corporal punishment amounted to torture, and the imprisonment could last for years. People weren’t punished directly for their convictions (atheism in private was fine) but atheists were prevented from holding public office.
In Scotland, however, blasphemy was indeed punishable by death from the beginning of British rule until 1825. Then the law was softened to bring it in line with England.
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to clear this up. Talking about atheism in England couldn’t put you on the gallows, but it could certainly stick you in the dock. So it was still no picnic.
Posted: October 19th 2008