A closer look
Jean Meslier spent 40 years as a quiet, unassuming Catholic priest in rural France, diligently serving communion and baptizing babies. But when he died in 1729, authorities found his secret 600-page philosophical manuscript hidden away. It wasn’t just a diary; it was a furious, eloquently written atheist manifesto calling religion a massive scam designed to enslave the poor, and boldly suggesting all kings should be strangled with the guts of priests. He successfully collected a church salary his entire life while covertly plotting the intellectual destruction of his own employer.
