An Analysis Of Voltaire's Treatise On Toleration

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An advocate for religious toleration, Voltaire worked against institutionalized religious sects and those who condemned citizens for their religious beliefs. A progressive work banned hastily by the French government, Voltaire’s “Treatise on Toleration” focused on his ideal of a society devoid of institutionalized religion and encouraged complete religious freedom. Voltaire’s France played host to countless clashes between Catholic and Protestant groups. Voltaire, citing one of these in his treatise, espouses religious toleration and slanders the church and its involvement in the execution of Jean Calas, a merchant who suffered a biased trial due to his Calvinist beliefs in a predominantly Catholic area of France. Speaking of the affair, Voltaire