Are you asking about me personally? Or in general? Because if the latter, here ya go : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition
And if you live in America, surely you know that it is very difficult to be elected to public office if you are an outspoken atheist. Correct me if I'm wrong about that, I have been away from the USA for some time.
Really? Because I don't believe things are like that, even in a blue state. This link has a lot of info - see the USA section, where it says this : "Few politicians have been willing to identify as non-theists, since until recently such revelations would have been considered "political suicide", until Democratic California Representative Pete Stark's 2007 decision to come out as the first openly nontheistic member of Congress." That's 2007 - the very first openly atheist member of Congress.