Religious Tolerance

    Voltaire once said, “If one religion were allowed, the government would become arbitrary; if there were two, the people would cut each other’s throats.” In this questionably structured quote, Voltaire wanted to let the public know exactly how he thought about religion. He was a nice guy, and wanted to inform everyone that the government should be neutral when it comes to religion. He strongly believed that anyone should be able to practice whichever religion they chose to, and not have to worry about someone hunting them down for wrong doing. In addition to being tolerant of all religions, Voltaire was just as passionate about having a melting pot of religions in all of Europe. Although religious diversity was forbidden in nearly all of Europe at the time, Voltaire had his mind set on making things right once and for all.

    François-Marie Arouet (later using his pen-name, Voltaire) was born in Paris, France to a middle-high class family on November 21, 1694. (Chew) He grew up questioning and scorning everything he was taught. He was educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit college, where he claims he learned nothing but “Latin and the stupidities…”, and stopped attending school altogether at age 17. (Perry) Instead, he would mingle with Parisian aristocrats, using his intelligence and sharp wit to win the hearts of many people. Some people however, found their way to Voltaire’s bad side, calling him a nonbeliever of God and the Catholic Church. One of his well-known sayings was, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” (Chew) This was appropriately focused toward the corrupt Church and Voltaire’s belief that they brainwash people into believing their lies. Rather than being a man of religion, he was a man who believed in freedom of religion.

    Voltaire was undoubtedly one to criticize, stating  that “common sense isn’t so common”. It’s not a very nice thing to say, but it’s not much of an exaggeration. Almost every chance he got he was saying what was on his mind. If he were alive today, it wouldn’t surprise me if I saw him strolling down the street, complaining about our laws and our customs. Voltaire was known for speaking out about the government’s flaws and satirizing them. Putting himself into situations like this didn’t help him in instances that involved the law and unfortunately jail. In the year 1717 he was thrown into the French Bastille, the famous prison in Grenoble. (Perry) Time and time again Voltaire would end up in prison for not adhering to the ever-so-strict Catholic Church. While some view that as disobedience, I simply realize that Voltaire was courageous and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind when everyone else was.