Religious practices were much more harsh during mideveal timespeople who did not BEILEIVE in Christianity or their local religion were often beheaded or crucified and of course nowadays that doesn't happen anymore it's crazy to think that people were killed for not believe in a specified religion. Galileo beleive it or not was a apart of this. He was atheist and he had to go to court and say to everyone that he believes in Christianity he hesitantly proclaimed that he was Cristian but before being escorted out of the court room the whispered to a guard "I'm an atheist."