You can seldom reach more perfect heights of nonsense than when atheists attempt to cite historical justification for their paranoid projections about the Christian thirst for atheist blood. Since it’s hard to say whether they’re weaker on logic or history, combining the two makes for the ultimate entertainment. From ExecutedToday, courtesy of the Carnival of the Godless:
1689: Kazimierz Lyszczynski, the first Polish atheist
On this date in 1689, in a Warsaw marketplace, Kazimierz Lyszczynski had his tongue torn out, his head struck off and his body burned to ashes which were shot from a cannon — all for scratching a few words with the whiff of atheism.
Consider a few facts:
1. Poland is generally considered to have converted to Christianity in 966.
2. The first “atheist” was executed only 723 years later.
3. Kazimierz Lyszczynski vehemently denied being an atheist and there is no evidence that he actually was one.
4. Pope Innocent XI condemned the affair.
Naturally, this sad incident is cited as some sort of example of the dire danger which theists pose atheists should a new Dark Ages of religious oppression ever arise. Never mind that the Lyszczynski execution took place 689 years after the Dark Ages are considered to have ended, if they had ever existed at all. Which, according to the historical consensus of the last 70 years, they didn’t.