I have been reading Colin Woodard's American Nations and came across a couple of passages that took me by surprise. I had heard of state-enforced atheism with certain Communist regimes, but I had never heard it in connection with the French Revolution. I admit that this is very likely a product of my ignorance.
The passages in question are from page 163 and page 165 of the paperback edition in Chapter 14 "First Secessionists". The first passage reads:
"In 1789 the people of France had risen up in revolution, captured and beheaded their king, and declared themselves a republic. But their revolution had descended into chaos and terror, with state-enforced atheism, arbitrary arrests and executions, and, finally, a military coup by Napoleon Bonaparte."
The second passage on page 165 reads:
"Under President Jefferson the federation embraced France, turned its back on Britain, and expanded westward, all of which contributed to alienating Yankeedom. Allying with Bonaparte's atheistic, imperialistic regime was amoral, Yankees argued."
Is Woodard saying that the revolutionaries/Bonaparte forced people to give up all religious beliefs? Or does he mean that the Yankees thought this was the case? Or was Bonaparte's regime anti-Catholic or anti-clerical, repudiating the divine right of kings? Or was it an enforced secularization, keeping religion and government separate?
Thanks!
EDIT: typos
The French Revolution was never properly Atheistic nor did it enforce a "State-Enfroced Atheism".
A common misconception about the French Revolution revolves around the Church and the French Republic. The French Republic didn't declare "God Dead" or denounce religion but rather denounced the systems of religion that were often used by the nobility to hold their place. As such, priests and other clergy of the Catholic Church were under suspicion of preaching pro-royalist propaganda. It is important to remember that Absolutist Monarchy has legitimacy not from the people but rather birthright and God; God has deigned that King [Name] ## reign." As a result, priests were required to give State approved Masses that were clean of pro-Royalist ideology and rather emphasized on the equality of everyone. This doesn't mean that there wasn't violence against the Church and the forced marriage between priests and nuns is also an attempt to deny the Church power by enforcing State rules. Rather the Republic wasn't anti-Catholic, it was anti-Papal authority.
Conversely the introduction of the Cult of the Supreme Being is an odd foray into an attempt to create a state deistic religion that's meant to funnel the people's religious energies into. The Supreme Being was deistic and non-denomination but quickly it was ignored and seen as a mistake by Robespierre.
The tension of the power of the Church and the French Republic continues after the fall of the Committee of Public Safety. It would boil over with the Vendee where Royalist Frenchmen and priests would fight French troops attempting to pacify the region.
It would take Napoleon to pacify the Vendee not through warfare or oppression but a concord. Upon the succession of First Consul, one of Napoleon's first acts was to seek peace with the Pope. With concessions on both sides the Catholic Church was allowed to return as a religious authority figure (rather than having state assigned theology) while conceding some powers to France. This was the Concordat, a major piece of peace that brought all of France into the fold and prevented the needless bloodshed of the Vendee.
Napoleon would continue to support the Church in a minor way but never making it a major corner stone of his Empire. Was it Atheistic? Never, Napoleon didn't trust rabid Jacobins and thought that the Church was a useful tool in ensuring his reign would last. As such, there could never be a major state-enforced atheism.
Sources:
Napoleon A Life by Andrew Roberts
The Oxford History of the French Revolution by William Doyle