HOW THINGS WORK – A Brief History of Reality
Book I – Dualism (Voltaire & Religious Tolerance)
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Tuesday, March 8, 2022
“God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh” – Voltaire
CONSIDERATION #21 – “VOLTAIRE” (RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE)
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
Voltaire is perhaps the most quoted of all the Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers. He was imprisoned in the infamous Bastille twice and lived most of his life in fear of government retribution. Nevertheless, Voltaire publicly fought for religious tolerance and freedom of thought and expression his entire life.
“Voltaire established himself as one of the leading writers of the Enlightenment… Often at odds with French authorities over his politically and religiously charged works, he was twice imprisoned and spent many years in exile… Embracing Enlightenment philosophers such as Isaac Newton, John Locke and Francis Bacon, Voltaire found inspiration in their ideals of a free and liberal society, along with freedom of religion and free commerce… Voltaire, in keeping with other Enlightenment thinkers of the era, was a deist — not by faith, according to him, but rather by reason.”
Biography.com – Voltaire
Voltaire’s focus centered around two specific Enlightenment values, freedom and tolerance. Voltaire was a prolific writer whose collective works fill over 200 volumes; much of which was considered extremely controversial and offensive at the time. This meant that he was often in trouble with the authorities:
“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”
– Voltaire
Voltaire was a major proponent of freedom of expression including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. While many people have heard, or even used the words “I totally disagree with what you say, but I would fight for your right to say it!” they are simply paraphrasing Voltaire:
“I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write”.
– Voltaire
Voltaire believed that the ability to think for yourself and express those thoughts freely was the key to Enlightenment and the future of the modern world. For Voltaire, freedom and tolerance of thought and expression were more than a political ideal, they were moral imperatives:
“Toleration has never been the cause of civil war; while, on the contrary, persecution has covered the earth with blood and carnage.”
– Voltaire
Voltaire was essentially opposed to organized religion, particularly the Catholic Church, who he believed was responsible for the Crusades. In Voltaire’s eyes, the Church represented repression and intolerance of individual thought and expression. However, Voltaire was not an atheist who did not believe in God; he was a deist who argued for diversity in religious thought. Although Voltaire believed there was a societal need for God and religion; he also believed that Christianity had been severely corrupted by the institution of the Church. Voltaire’s problem was not so much with God as it was with His current earthly representatives.
“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
– Voltaire
Voltaire’s public struggle against authority and the intolerance of thought became the embodiment of the Age of Reason. It also became a major influence in both the American and French Revolutions. However, the American Revolution would be more successful in actually implementing the ideals of the Enlightenment. When we think of the American Revolution, we are likely to think about the Declaration of Independence. When we think of the French Revolution, we are likely to think of the guillotine. Much of what Voltaire fought for ended up in the United States Constitution, particularly the Bill of Rights.
“Voltaire opened a broad spectrum of beliefs and practices in our world today. In our constitution we are granted the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, the freedom of the press, etcetera. Voltaire contributed to this by fighting for what he believed in no matter the consequence. The right to think freely has developed a major diversity in humanity, and it has now created science and knowledge to back up beliefs.”
How Did Voltaire Impact Society (IPL.com)
Although Voltaire, like his Enlightenment contemporaries, argued in support of freedom and liberty for the individual; it was Voltaire who focused on tolerance as the key to making such liberty possible. Voltaire was one of the first to advocate for the tolerance of all religions and the equality of all human beings; even those outside of European heritage and descent, or Institutional Christian influence.
CONSIDERTION #21 – Voltaire & Religious Tolerance
Voltaire
“If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.”
– Voltaire
Voltaire was a prolific writer and thinker with over 2,000 books and 20,000 letters advocating civil liberties at a time when strict censorship laws placed him in extreme danger and risk of punishment by the authorities. Although a critic of Christianity, or any “revealed” religion, Voltaire was not an atheist, only a believer in a “rational” God:
“It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason.”
– Voltaire
Like many influential contemporaries, Voltaire was a “Deist,” who believed that the universe was certainly created by a divine, intelligent being. However, once the Creator started the process based on divine logical principles, it was left to run on its own without additional “interference” from the Creator.
Voltaire did not see religion itself as evil, but he did recognize the power structure behind it, particularly the Catholic Church, as corrupt and antagonistic to the “true faith” it professed. Although Voltaire recognized the great harm that institutional religion had brought into the world, particularly religious wars, he felt that the essence of religion was essentially good, and if understood correctly, could bring great good into the world. In fact, Voltaire suggested that the main purpose of religion was to encourage people to treat each other better and help bring more love, understanding, and happiness into our lives.
In order to unemotionally investigate the greater possibilities of religion in the world, religious tolerance was essential. Voltaire became a consistent advocate and supporter of religious freedom and tolerance:
It does not require great art, or magnificently trained eloquence, to prove that Christians should tolerate each other. I, however, am going further: I say that we should regard all men as our brothers. What? The Turk my brother? The Chinaman my brother? The Jew? The Siam? Yes, without doubt; are we not all children of the same father and creatures of the same God?
– Voltaire
POSTSCRIPT
Voltaire’s influence on the Enlightenment was more charismatic compared to the academic philosophical work by contemporaries such as Kant. Voltaire constructed his philosophy in public, through a plethora of his writings including plays, poetry, novels, essays, histories, and scientific expositions in addition to more than 20,000 letters and over 2,000 books and pamphlets. Therefore, the best way to understand Voltaire is through his writings and quotations. Here’s a baker’s dozen of my favorite Voltaire quotes:
“To hold a pen is to be at war.”
“We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.”
“The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good are the two most important aims of philosophy.”
“Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too.”
"Truly, whoever can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
“No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for.”
“When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, that is metaphysics!”
“God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.”
“Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all.”
“Prejudices are what fools use for reason.”
“Discord is the great ill of mankind; and tolerance is the only remedy for it.”
“A State can be no better than the citizens of which it is composed.
Our labour now is not to mould States but make citizens.”
“Man is free at the instant he wants to be.”
Next week the French social philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau proposes using Enlightenment ideas and concepts to form a new “Social Contract” between citizens and their government.
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