After the French Revolution the anticlerical feeling in Catholic countries coupled with the liberalizing effect of the Napoleonic Code made it possible to sweep away sodomy laws. However, in Protestant countries, where the church was less severe, there was no general reaction against statutes that were religious in origin. As a result, many of those countries retained their statutes on sodomy until late in the 20th century. However,some countries still have retained their statutes on sodomy. for example in 2008 a case in India's high court was judged using a 150-year-old reading that was punishing sodomy.