2007-07-01 08:45:58 · 14 answers · asked by That Guy Drew 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Actually there have probably been many. A long time ago Christians used to kill all kinds of people that didn't believe in their god. They could all be considered martyrs.
some known martyrs of atheism: Socrates, Bruno (A companion of Galileo), atheist and scientific thinker Giulio Cesare Vanini, and the last atheist martyr in Britain was Thomas Aikenhead, executed in Edinburgh in 1697.
2007-07-01 08:54:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
When you consider what happened during the Inquisitions and the burnings at the stake of heretics, there are likely to have been atheists among the victims. Can someone who was not remembered be considered a martyr? I don't know.
2007-07-01 08:53:30 · answer #2 · answered by Pascha 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This question presupposes that being a martyr is somehow something to aspire to. Just remember that Mohammed Atar and his eighteen cronies are considered martyrs and you'll rethink just what sort of mind values that aspiration.
2007-07-01 08:51:14 · answer #3 · answered by Bad Liberal 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd have to say there probably have been. I am thinking, in particular, about the Crusades when people were persecuted for not accepting the Catholic religion. A lot of them were Muslim, some were pagans, etc. But, I am sure there must have been some people who didn't believe in a higher power at all and would have not wanted to accept Catholicism. It just seems to stand to reason.
2007-07-01 08:52:00 · answer #4 · answered by Simon Peter 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A martyr is someone who dies rather than renounce thief faith or belief.
An atheist martyr is an oxymoron.
2007-07-01 08:49:53 · answer #5 · answered by Linda R 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Probably not. Atheists are generally smart enough to figure out that living now and escaping later is a better choice.
OTOH, Socrates might be considered one.
2007-07-01 08:49:33 · answer #6 · answered by Brent Y 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Lots of people have been killed for not believing.
Apostacy was punished by death in the christian church for centuries, and still is in Islam. All major branches of Islam hold to the death penalty for apostacy.
Does anything on Earth get more sick than religion?
2007-07-01 08:57:45 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No faith or religion to denounce, no martyr.
2007-07-01 08:50:56 · answer #8 · answered by punch 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
couldn't tell ya, atheists don't believe in life after death so i would guess they want to hang on to this life as long as possible.
2007-07-01 08:49:12 · answer #9 · answered by Ryan K 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They don't stand for anything, why be martyrs?
2007-07-01 08:50:31 · answer #10 · answered by Me 6 · 2⤊ 4⤋