John Locke entered modern politics with the mindset of complete separation of the magistrate and the Church. His hope was to make liberalism much more powerful and accessible by separating the powers. Through that separation, he advocated the preservation of property and saw the Catholic Church as a threat to that concept. During the time Locke wrote Letter Tolerance, Europe had been living decades under the holy power of the Church. Violence and persecution had brought instability into the public peace. The Church had been using his power to persecute the marginals who had differences of beliefs and force them into conformity. For Locke, a liberal society is a tolerant society. In his view, consent is the key to society, which is the opposite