G.W. Foote was a 19th century British secularist who attacked religious thought and founded The Freethinker newspaper. He was charged with blasphemy for his cartoons criticizing the church and sentenced to hard labor. Foote argued against the idea that it "pays" to be religious on one's deathbed, as popularly believed. He believed that what one is taught as a child in matters of faith tends to remain with them throughout their life and in death. Foote advocated for freethought and maintaining one's own beliefs independently rather than reverting back to childhood religious teachings due to pressure near the end of life.