Cayetano Ripoll: Martyr for Deism and Freethought

July 26, 2012, was the 186th anniversary of the murder of the Deist hero Cayetano Ripoll.

Cayetano Ripoll was murdered by the Christians on July 26, 1826 for being a Deist and for teaching other people about Deism. His martyrdom reminds us of the importance of Deism and the importance of keeping the "revealed" religions in check. He was the last person murdered on orders of the Spanish Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church. This is of great historic significance and should be common knowledge. And if we as Deists DO what we should to get the word out about Deism, Cayetano Ripoll's martyrdom will become the beginning of the end of the dark days of the rule of "revealed" religions and the dawn of Deism and reason based natural progress!

Cayetano Ripoll became a Deist after he was captured by the French army during France's war with Spain which was known as the Peninsular War (1807-1814). The French exposed him to Deism and he embraced it. After the war he lived in Valencia, Spain and took the position of schoolmaster. He taught his students about Deism which made him guilty of heresy in the eyes of Christianity and the Spanish Inquisition.

After his arrest for heresy he was held prisoner for close to two years prior to being murdered on orders of the Spanish Inquisition. It was routine for prisoners to be tortured while being questioned about their heresy/free thinking. It is unlikely that Ripoll was an exception to this rule.

On July 26, 1826 under Church orders the civil authorities hanged Cayetano Ripoll for his Deism and for teaching other people about this most beautiful and sublime religious/spiritual philosophy. His last words before being martyred were, "I die reconciled to God and to man."

The Church had wanted the civil authorities to burn Cayetano Ripoll alive as they did Giordano Bruno and thousands of other good, kind, caring and intelligent God-loving people before him. However, the civil authorities refused and instead carried out the murder for the Christians by hanging. The imbecilic Church then cut down his dead body and put it in a barrel on which they had painted flames! This makes clear the brutal and unforgiving mentality of Christianity (the Catholic Church still has not forgiven Bruno nor Ripoll for their "sins" of promoting the importance of God's gift to us of reason and teaching other people about this wonderful gift) and its reliance on violence and magical thinking. It is also a warning to us of what happens when we mix religion and government.

I'm asking all Deists and freethinkers to mention Cayetano Ripoll and what happened to him because he was an active Deist to at least one person today. We can't allow his ultimate sacrifice for Deism and God-given reason to be in vain.

Bob Johnson

Bob Johnson founded the World Union of Deists in 1993. Since then, the organization has grown worldwide, with contacts throughout the United States and in 24 nations. "This continued growth of the World Union of Deists has helped many people free themselves of the heavy weight of fear and superstition put on them by the 'revealed' religions,'" Johnson reflects. "We have given a home to people who felt lost regarding their beliefs in God and educated them to the fact that they are not limited to either 'revealed' religions or to Atheism or Agnosticism." Bob is the author of Deism: A Revolution in Religion, A Revolution in You and An Answer to C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. He also wrote the introductions to The Age of Reason, The Complete Edition, Principles of Nature and Reason: The Only Oracle of Man. Visit the World Union of Deists (linked as website) for more information.

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