Changes

{{cquote|Between 1700 and 1750 thousands of atheistic clandestine manuscripts circulated across [[Europe]] (although still only read by a very small minority)...

{{cquote|Between 1700 and 1750 thousands of atheistic clandestine manuscripts circulated across [[Europe]] (although still only read by a very small minority)...

The French Revolution (1789-94) would dramatically transform the power relationship between belief and unbelief in [[Europe]]: whereas before atheism had been 'high brow', discussed in the cafes and salons of Paris, henceforth it would set itself down among the people. A strident unbelief became a real political factor in public life, as the anticlerical 'dechristianisation' period following the revolution would demonstrate. The impact of the French Revolution in inspiring people to put the irreligious ideas of the [[Enlightenment]] into practice would extend beyond [[France]] to other [[Europe]]an countries, and to the American colonies (although in the latter it would take a [[deism|deistic]] rather than atheistic form).<ref>The material was formerly at the University of Cambridge's Investigation Atheism website. A website which closed down. The material has been transferred to [http://www.mmfase.com/18th-century.html 18th Century History], Investigating Atheism</ref>}}

The French Revolution (1789-94) would dramatically transform the power relationship between belief and unbelief in [[Europe]]: whereas before atheism had been 'high brow', discussed in the cafes and salons of Paris, henceforth it would set itself down among the people. A strident unbelief became a real political factor in public life, as the anticlerical 'dechristianisation' period following the revolution would demonstrate. The impact of the French Revolution in inspiring people to put the irreligious ideas of the [[Enlightenment]] into practice would extend beyond [[France]] to other European countries, and to the American colonies (although in the latter it would take a [[deism|deistic]] rather than atheistic form).<ref>The material was formerly at the University of Cambridge's Investigation Atheism website. A website which closed down. The material has been transferred to [http://www.mmfase.com/18th-century.html 18th Century History], Investigating Atheism</ref>}}

The [[Reign of Terror]] of the [[French Revolution]] established established a state which was anti-[[Roman Catholicism]]/Christian in nature<ref>

The [[Reign of Terror]] of the French Revolution established established a state which was anti-[[Roman Catholicism]]/Christian in nature<ref>

*Tallet, Frank [https://books.google.com/books?id=aL4lsWdd-rAC&dq=&hl=en Religion, Society and Politics in France Since 1789], pp. 1-17 1991 Continuum International Publishing

*Tallet, Frank [https://books.google.com/books?id=aL4lsWdd-rAC&dq=&hl=en Religion, Society and Politics in France Since 1789], pp. 1-17 1991 Continuum International Publishing

*SPIELVOGEL, Jackson [http://books.google.com/books?id=ni4PSpOxb6MC&dq Western Civilization: Combined Volume] p. 549, 2005,Thomson Wadsworth

*SPIELVOGEL, Jackson [http://books.google.com/books?id=ni4PSpOxb6MC&dq Western Civilization: Combined Volume] p. 549, 2005,Thomson Wadsworth

Lampooning of the Bible, Christian doctrine, and clergy dates back almost 400 years to the “strong thinkers,” French learned skeptics in the 16th century. The primary target of anti-religious satire was France’s official religion, Catholicism, the Church’s ties to the state, and its control over education. And the ridiculing wit long directed against these targets would eventually play a central and crucial role in reducing the status and influence of religion in the French Republic...

Lampooning of the Bible, Christian doctrine, and clergy dates back almost 400 years to the “strong thinkers,” French learned skeptics in the 16th century. The primary target of anti-religious satire was France’s official religion, Catholicism, the Church’s ties to the state, and its control over education. And the ridiculing wit long directed against these targets would eventually play a central and crucial role in reducing the status and influence of religion in the French Republic...

The method of the forerunners of Charlie Hebdo—unrelenting and vicious satire of religion and clergy — proved so effective that France became a fully secular state, to such an extent that certain of its practices, laicité, would be regarded as unsettlingly alien and intolerant by most Americans.<ref>[http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/01/13/charlie-hebdo-and-frances-irreligious-tradition/ Charlie Hebdo and France’s Irreligious Tradition] by Kenneth R. Weinstein]</ref>}}  

The method of the forerunners of Charlie Hebdo—unrelenting and vicious satire of religion and clergy — proved so effective that France became a fully secular state, to such an extent that certain of its practices, laicité, would be regarded as unsettlingly alien and intolerant by most Americans.<ref>[http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/01/13/charlie-hebdo-and-frances-irreligious-tradition/ Charlie Hebdo and France’s Irreligious Tradition] by Kenneth R. Weinstein</ref>}}  

{{See also|Atheism and mockery}}

{{See also|Atheism and mockery}}

==Recommended Reading==

==Recommended Reading==

*Dimitry Pospielovsky, (December, 1987), ''A History of [[Karl Marx|Marxist]]-[[Vladimir Lenin|Leninist]] Atheism and [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] Antireligious Policies'', Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312381328

*Dimitry Pospielovsky, (December, 1987), ''A History of [[Karl Marx|Marxist]]-[[Vladimir Lenin|Leninist]] Atheism and Soviet Antireligious Policies'', Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312381328

*Dimitry Pospielovsky, (November, 1987), ''Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions (History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol 2)'', Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312009054  

*Dimitry Pospielovsky, (November, 1987), ''Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions (History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol 2)'', Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312009054  

*Dimitry Pospielovsky, (August, 1988), ''Soviet Studies on the Church and the Believer's Response to Atheism: A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol 3'', Palgrave Macmillan, hardcover: ISBN 0312012918, paperback: ISBN 0312012926

*Dimitry Pospielovsky, (August, 1988), ''Soviet Studies on the Church and the Believer's Response to Atheism: A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol 3'', Palgrave Macmillan, hardcover: ISBN 0312012918, paperback: ISBN 0312012926