Francois Marie Arouet: Voltaire's Impact On Society

Imagine a world in which there is no free speech, a world in which the church was law. This could be our world if not for the help of one man. Voltaire, born Francois Marie Arouet, was a philosopher, historian, playwright and writer. Throughout his life he had a great impact on society with his ideas on freedoms, punishments, free thinking, and separation of church and state. According to Philosimply.com, he was born in Paris on November 21, 1694 and died eighty-four years later, on May 30. Throughout those eighty-four years, he wrote over seventy books of political essays, philosophical ideas, dramas, and historical accounts. Voltaire took part in influencing our laws and ways of life today. He pushed forward a free-thinking movement, and

He wrote books of political essays with reasons to question and speak out against the government and church. These writings were spread, along with his ideas and slowly but surely people began to question laws and practices for themselves and some felt the need to speak out against the misuse of power. Voltaire was exiled repeatedly for pointing out corruption in the government and for rallying people to do the same. His repeated exiles show that him speaking out struck fear into the hearts of church and government officials. Voltaire promoted freedom of speech and religion through his writings and his open questioning of the church and government, this later influenced our country 's leaders when writing the first

Also, Voltaire brought to light the issues within the church and used science for reasoning behind events. He questioned the reasons for church ceremonies, collections of money and the reasoning behind church officials being above the law. This allowed the masses to see the dark side of their religious leaders. Voltaire was not against the belief in a god, nor was he against the reading of religious texts. He took part in religious ceremonies and even built a chapel. He practiced Deism, which is the belief of a supreme deity who does not directly impact the world. Voltaire wished to allow the people to see their own ability to read and interpret religious texts for themselves without the church being able to twist the meaning to fit their needs. He called most religious teachings just mere superstition and believed highly in the use of science. He was amazed by the cosmos and any science, he spun the theories of those such as Locke, for his own experimentation. He used the results of these trials to disprove some of the Catholic Church 's faith related claims. Without Voltaire 's questioning og the church and scientific experimentation and explanations later scientific revolutions and religious upheavals may have been delayed if not undiscovered all