### Clue: Dissenter beaten to a paste (8)
### Answer: APOSTATE 
 ### Explanation: Definition: Dissenter
  **Anagram of**(beaten) TO A PASTE.
Answer: A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue, as such dissenters were, and in some cases are, if not beaten to a paste, executed in other ways.  The word originally was used in the religious sense, until the 14C when it also applied to non-religious situations, eg. politics.