Megan Boccardi's Discussion Questions for Oct. 18/19
This week in section, I am going to bring the pain, Thomas Paine that is. Please read Paine’s “The Age of Reason,” (p.174-180) and Voltaire’s “Reflection on Religion (p115-117 and 125-131.) What position does Paine take on religion? How is it different or similar to Voltaire’s position? Why were these ideas disliked by colonists? How would the different colonies (Puritans, Quakers, Jamestown) respond to their philosophy? What role does Enlightenment thinking play in our society today? Remember to bring your Enlightenment Reader to class!!
posted by Megan Boccardi at 11:25 AM
37 Comments:
Both Thomas Paine and Voltaire share similar feelings about religion. Voltaire claims that, "The institution of religion exists only to keep mankind in order..." While Thomas Paine states that "All national institutions of churches...appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind." Both of these ideas are very similar and state that they inheritly don't trust the church, and believe that one of their goals is to take advantage of and control the people. Both share similar feelings about different sects and the scriptures that they use, Volataire proclaims that "Every sect, of every kind, is a rallying point for doubt and error. While Thomas Paine states that, "The Word of God is the Creation we behold, and it is in this word, which no human invention can counterfeit or alter", Paine is implying that the scriptures are tainted and alter by the certain sect of Christianity, agreeing with Voltaire about the questionable beliefs of the different sects
Paine takes a free position on religion and claims that everyone has the right to hold their own views on their faith no matter how independent. He goes on to mention that he sides with no church and that his own mind is his church. This view is similar to Voltaire's view on religion in that Voltaire believes churches to be centers of error, where people can gather at an institution and be led by what they believe is supreme while others believe it to be superstition. Colonists most likely disliked these ideas because they were the masses who followed their faith in the church and supported the "superstitions" that Paine and Voltaire discussed. Sects like the Puritans would not accept these ideas presented by Paine and Voltaire at all, because they were very narrow minded when it came to their faith. Quakers however, would accept Paine and Voltaire for their beliefs regardless of whether or not they supported it because that is what their movement was all about, religious tolerance. I see some strong points with Paine's philosophy in that there are some powerful Biblical references with very little real evidence. It is all "Gospel" with only ancient story tellers' words to present it.
As previously stated, both Thomas Paine and Voltaire take similar positions on their views of religion and the bible. Both philosophers highly criticized the institution of the church, believing it to be influenced by some sort of political gain. They also found the bible to be full of inconsistencies, and thought of the bible to be a regular piece of literature, written by man, not some divine being. Although the two were not staunch puritans, and/or fundamentalists, they were not atheist. Paine believed that everyone should believe in some sort of natural god, and Voltaire believed in a freedom of religion. The positions of these two philosophers were greatly disliked by the colonists, because their opinions, views on the bible and the church conflicted very core beliefs within Christianity.
Thomas Paine and Voltaire hold very similar views on religion and the church. They viewed religion as a social organization to keep control and order. They believed that religion is a manmade structure that in essence tries to instill a certain set of beliefs and values in the people. Both Voltaire and Paine openly discuss their distrust for the church, and its hidden motives to gain power over the people. These radical thinkers went against the church, which in turn lead to their dislike by the colonists. Their views challenged the structure of Christianity, which was the very structure many individuals based their life off of. Although they challenged the fundamentals of religions both agreed that individuals should believe in some sort of religion or God.
- Moira Evens
Voltaire and Paine greatly agreed on many ares even though they themselves said it differently. Voltaire states that the church is meant "to keep mankind in order..." Paine, on the other hand, states that churches "terrify and enslave mankind." Voltaire gives it more positive reason why religion exists while Paine does not try to butter it up. In then end, they both believe religion is there to institutionalize people and make them civilized, working class people as well as give them a sense of hope that they will not be punished after they die. They questioned the validity of the scriptures as they were changed due to the sect of Christianity those people were in. Their arguments were valid and led to many true statements. Their arguments challenged religion and still do today.
Like everyone has pointed out, Paine and Voltaire have very similar views on religion. They both believe that it is necessary in peoples lives, but they also believe that too much of it can be a bad thing. They are aware that the church cannot become too involved in peoples lives, and to not put too much trust in them because their motives aren’t always good. Thomas Paine’s ideas are one that greatly affect our society today. His idea of separation of church and state is the fundamental ideas of our government today. His way of thinking was far beyond his time and it shows with its lasting power.
-Brianna Beccue
Emily Wagner
Thomas Paine's position on religion is that he believes in one God and no more. He doesnt believe in the other views or churches of the Jews, Romans, Greeks or Turkish. He feels that "my own mind is my own church". He says that most things that people believe in are based upon words that people have said, and that they never witnessed it first hand ceasing revelation. He also believes that the word God comes from creation, or first cause. Everything wasnt created by itself, something did. Man doesnt know how or what, so they call the first cause, God. Thomas Paine's views are similar to Volatire's position. They did both believe that the church was something to keep people in order and that everything outside of the religion was "alien or dangerous". They both made points that nothing has a right to force on into religion. I believe, especially from the quakers and puritans, that they would both disagree greatly from both philosophies. Puritans and Quakers were very religion based, especially from the bible and lived their lives in that way. The enlightenment reader, i believe, helps us to really think about religion and what we ourselves believe in rather than what a religion tells us to believe.
Paine’s position on other religions is revealed when he says “my own mind is my own church.” I think that by saying this he means that no other religious beliefs matter to him. This can also be proven by Paine’s statement “Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and, for my own part, I disbelieve them all.” Another quote by Paine that could back this idea would be when he said that because he did not physically see the angel bring down the Koran from heaven to Mahomet there is no way that we would believe it. These examples give us an idea of the position Paine took on religion. Paine is a man who writes about his own opinions and is one who sticks with them.
-corey mueller
Paine and Voltaire have very similar views of religion and the bible. Both of these philosophers criticize the institution of the church, along with the bible being full of inconsistencies and saw it as a regular book that was created by man. Paine believed that everyone had the right to hold their own views on their faith. Where Voltaire believed in freedom of religion. The main reason that the colonists disliked Paine and Voltaire was that their views on the bible and the church didn’t agree with the beliefs of Christianity. As a result of their conflicting views they have still not been accepted by the Christian faith today.
Paine belived that no religion was completely right. He only belived that the only true reveleation from God was his creation of the Earth. Voltaire also believed that no sect of religion was right. He belived that since they all fight that none of them are right. This went against almost everything the Christian colonists had said.
As most everyone has already said, Paine and Voltaire have similair views on the role of religion in society. Both individuals believe that it is necessary, but too much is not a good thing in society. His idea of the separation of church and state would not have gone over well with Early American societies that revolved around their beliefs because in the Puritan and Quaker colonies religion was a major aspect of how they ran their society. His ideas have influenced how we run society today especially more recently.
HAHAHAHAHA holy crap! Megan you are hilarious!! PAIN=PAINE HAHAHAHA
Oh god...anywho, after I read the readings I decided that Paine and Voltaire were utterly similair in their views towards religion. Both believe it to be a needed aspect in the world but they don't believe that a person should be forced to accept a religion or religious story. The colonists were freaking furious with them because most colonists came to America with religious freedom in mind and when someone sits there and says that their religion doesn't mean anything, they get mad. The different colonies had different responses to the duo; Puritan colonies totally ignored them because of their super-strong faith, and Quakers allowed them to be heard because of their religious and belief tolerance. Enlightenment thinking is the underground basis for our society today, its a known fact. Our founding fathers researched their butts off to create perfect documents, and it is guarenteed that Paine and Voltaire's work went in with the thinking process. All in all, they helped create, another brick in the wall.
Paine and Voltaire had similiar ideas on the way religion should be in the United States. The colonists did not fully agree with this because they were very big people on their religion and they wanted everyone to be religious and follow the ways of God. The Quakers were probably the most tolearant of Paine and Voltaire's ideas because they were all for religious toleration and accepting everyones beliefs. The ideas of Voltaire and Penn created alot of thinking for the United States and for the way things should go about.
Paine and Voltaire had similiar ideas on the way religion should be in the United States. The colonists did not fully agree with this because they were very big people on their religion and they wanted everyone to be religious and follow the ways of God. The Quakers were probably the most tolearant of Paine and Voltaire's ideas because they were all for religious toleration and accepting everyones beliefs. The ideas of Voltaire and Penn created alot of thinking for the United States and for the way things should go about.
Voltaire and Paine feel that an established religion is a rediculous concept. Voltaire believes that the church is something that people make up to keep their society in order. Voltaire seems to think that those who believe in an organized religion are foolish. Paine does not seem quite as critical in his writing. He states that he believes in God, but not in any one creed. He thinks that churches were merely formed for power and profit. However, he does not look down on those who believe differently then him, feeling that they are entitled to their own opinion. These ideas were strongly disliked by colonists. This is because all they knew was organized religion. To have people claiming that any established church was an odd concept seemed disrespectful.
Thomas Paine took an 'Enlightened' view on religion in that he, unlike most, disbelieved in it. In The Age Of Reason, Paine points out that his "mind is [his] own church." He strongly believed that religion in general was a concept conceived of by humans in order to earn the submission of mankind and gain power and money. He implores that believing in religion is nothing more than lying to yourself and that it is "destructive to morality." Paine points out that the only real proof of Christianity is the Bible, and that, which consists of the accounts of eight to nine men who wrote about the world as they saw it, is hearsay, and therefore should not be so easily believed. One of Paine's further reasons for not believing in religion is that all churches disbelieve in each other, which is proof to Paine that some aspects of religions are false.
The Enlightened thinker Voltaire is, in a lot of ways, similar to Paine. Voltaire believed in concordance with the thought that if churches disbelieve each other, then there is no reason to believe in individual churches. He didn't agree with all the disputes among religions, but instead believed in definite things that had observable proof like mathematical theorems. Voltaire, like Paine, said that indefinites like the hearsay of the Bible leave room for doubt. Moreover, he believed that if everyone is in agreement in something it should be true, but if people have different views (like different religious views) then it should be false.
The American colonists disliked these ideas because religion was such a big part of their life; it served as a good ideal for them to believe in which set their minds at ease and gave their lives purpose. The Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay colonies and the Quakers in Pennsylvania had to particularly hate what the Enlightened Thinkers all had to say because they were so deeply religious. In fact, most from those religions probably thought that what Paine and Voltaire wrote about was heretical nonsense. Similar to the Salem witch trials, they might have been accused of being witches for their thoughts against the church that could bring down the society as a whole. In the case of Jamestown, it was not a religiously dominated colony, so speculations as to the existence of God would have most likely done little more than make them uncomfortable. As for all three societies, the works from the Enlightenment shook the very foundations of what the people had been taught to believe in for so many years.
A theme of the Enlightenment that has endured to today's society is doubt. For example, in order to believe in something, there must be proof, although many see the Bible as proof enough to believe in the Christian religion. Relating back to Paine and Voltaire's concept of doubt is our state motto: if it weren't for doubt, why else would Missouri be the Show-Me-State?
Both Paine and Voltaire agree that it is religion that holds keeps mankind in order although Paine takes a slightly darker view when he expresses this. Religion was believed to be a necessary for society, but that the person needs to come to terms with it themselves and not be forced. The Puritans were all for religious tolerance as long as you were one of them ... so the ideas of Paine and Voltaire would not mesh well with them. The Quakers would have been much more excepting since they were not quite as strict as the Puritans. Enlightenment thinking plays into our society today through the constant debate going on in our country over what constitutes the separation of church and state and where the line should be drawn.
Paine’s take on religion is that it was optional and that every religion is a theory and it all comes from mythology. Voltaire’s position was that all religion is made up and because no one believes the same thing, they all must be wrong. Voltaire also thinks that religion is hypocritical and controlling. They are similar because they both believe that religion an not be force upon an individual and that they are made to make people feel better about society to rule over a group of people. It is different because he is a bit more tolerant of religion than Voltaire because Voltaire just does not like any sort of religion except for Judaism because it is a root religion. Colonists disliked these ideas because the colonists were very religious and religion played vital rules in their lives. I think Jamestown would be the most accepting to these ideas because Jamestown was the most secular of the colonies.
Both men have similar views on religion, but they do have their differences. While they both believe that religion is necessary to hold men to a moral standard, they understand the controlling influence that religion has on people; a controlling influence that can easily be used for good, or corrupted for the service immoral men. Thomas Paine's ideas of the separation of church and state have had a monumental influence on our modern society, but were not well tolerated in the early American colonies because of the inextricable link between church and state at that time. Puritans would have disliked Paine's ideas for the severance of church and state, but Quakers would have accepted them more readily for the concept of freedom of religion.
-Matt Fox
Maggie Clubb--
Voltaire views religion as "it exsists only to keep mankind in order, and to make men merit the goodness of God by their virue." He believed people should act freely but to keep in mind that he or she will face punishment and a fair trial. He also states that "Church is the assembly of all the faithful summoned on ocertain days to pray in common, and at all times to do good actions." He also seems to believe that people should respect each other and be open to other beliefs: "we ought to be tolerant of one another, because we are all weak, inconsistent, liable to fickleness and error."
In Age of Reason, Paine didn't take a side to a certain religion but he did say "I believe in one God and no more. He believed in one God but it didn't set limits to his opinions. He openly discusses how other religions view their Gods and how every religion is remotely based on hearsy and "set up to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize power and profit." "It is a revelation to the first person only, and hearsy to every other; and, consequently, they are not obliged to believe it."
For the most part, the colonists disagreed with Voltaire and Paine's views of religion and faith. A reason could be that the colonists were considerably religious and had strong ideals. You could say that they lived from the Bible. Where as Voltaire and Paine felt that the people had the choice to live and believe what they wanted to. Quakers might have agreed with their philosophies because they weren't about wealth. Quakers believed that every person had an "inner ligt" that could reveal God's Truth to them and that was the only way to understand the Bible. Voltaire saw the communication between follower and God was in the clergy's care as a spiritual matter. However the Quakers believed that clergy was not needed.
It seems as though we are all writing the same thing, but I have to respond as well. I hope it doesn’t sound too similar to all the others. All in all, Mr. Voltaire and Mr. Paine have views that are in fact very similar in regards to the Bible, the church, and religion in general. Some people in their time would call these philosophers atheists, but they both believed in religion where there was one god. Although many people of that time felt as though only their sect of Christianity was the right one, Voltaire and Paine believed that people should be allowed to choose their religion, not forced to believe one way or another. It seems as though many puritans disliked these men due to their publicized opinions that spoke out against their strong set standard of beliefs, possibly decreasing their highly religious societies structure.
Both Paine and Voltaire on religion were very similar. They both had a very important moral that everyone should be able to choose what they want to believe in. With Paine believing that everyone should believe in some god, and with Voltaire believing in freedom of religion, they also talked down upon churches, saying that they were only there to gain political status and profit. Even if the Puritans disliked them for this idea, Paine and Voltaire still shared their views out loud. The Quaker colony would probably respect the two more than the Puritans would, because although they believe that religion is necessary, Paine and Voltaire believe that no one should be forced into a religion, and Quakers supported this idea and accepted all religions into their colony.
-Joey Huynh-
In The Age of Reason, Thomas Paine establishes an unprecedented view of organized religion claiming that it is nothing more than “human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize power and profit.” He contends that we cannot believe the religious stories we hear because they were not given directly to us from God. Rather we heard them from someone who heard them from someone else, who might have gotten his information from God, but there is no way to verify the facts. It is for this reason, that we cannot believe the Virgin Mary’s story completely. The whole thing could have been a young girl’s elaborate scam to save face after making a huge mistake, but we will never know because who would dare to doubt her now that her story marks the beginnings of Christianity. Paine also explains how the Christian religion mirrors many Greek and Roman mythological stories, from the impregnation of a woman by a god to the different saints that could be seen as the various pagan gods. On the basis of these many facts, Paine decides that organized religion of any form, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, do not give clear evidence for the existence of God. God doesn’t communicate with people through language, because it is not universal. Paine believes God reveals himself through the world, His creation. How could anything so complex and complicated be created by anything less than a supernatural power? Everyone in the world can see and observe this creation. We can’t even begin to grasp the complexity of the creation that surrounds us, and that very fact proves that we can reason and since we have reason, there must be a God who gave us that power.
Voltaire and Paine agree on a number of different points. Paine begins his discussion by making it very clear that the following is his own opinion, and his opinion should by no means discourage any other man’s ideas or thoughts on the subject. “I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine.” This line is very in keeping with Voltaire’s argument for tolerance. What good does it do to persecute those who don’t believe as you do? If none of us know the truth, Voltaire says, “we ought to be tolerant of one another.” Paine and Voltaire also talk about the different sects of religion and how each of them believes they are right and the others are wrong. Paine says, “Each of these churches accuse the other of unbelief; and, for my own part, I disbelieve them all.” Voltaire points out that when every sect believes they have the ultimate truth, none of them are correct. “Sect and error are synonymous.” When you know for a fact something is true, it is not segregated into a group. For instance, Voltaire’s example, we don’t have a sect of Pythagoras that believes the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the square of the two other sides, because this is an ultimate truth for everyone. There are no other beliefs or groups that say the hypotenuse is equal to the cube of the two sides. Therefore since religion is divided into sects, all of them have to be wrong.
In the reading, the position that Paine takes on religion, is that he believes in one God, and no more. He said,"I believe in the equality of man, & I believe that religion duties consist in doing justice; loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy. Paine doesn't believe in the creed professed by the Jewish, Roman, Greek, Turkish, & Protestant church, or any other churchc that he knows of. He said,"My own mind is my own church." He does believe though that every man has a right to believe in what they want to believe. Paine believes in revelation, which means something communicated immediately from God to man. Acoording to all of the other religions, God did not communicate with man himself. What needed to be done was sent through another perosn. Paine felt that it is only a revelation to the first person only, not to the second, third, or fourth person he tells it to. For example, the Korean was wrote in heave, and brought to Mahomet by an angel. Paine felt that this was secondhand authority. He did not see the angel himself, so he does not believe it.
As We all can see, Pain and Voltaire both had very similar views of both religion and the bible. They were both great philosophers of their time that criticized the church and its institution. Even though Pain criticized the church and its purpose, he did believe that the only “true’ thing that we could believe was the creating of the Earth by God. He believes in one God but not in one church. He states his belief based on the fact the church is only there to keep our man kind in order. This is where the colonists stepped in, they did not like that their church and what it stood for was being condemned for their beliefs in both the bible and Christianity. Both of these philosophers stood strong on their beliefs in the fact that the church was only trying make the people believe in their beliefs and values. Both of these men went down in history for standing up for what they believed in and not what everyone else did!
Paine believed in free religion, he had no faith on any kind of religion, holy book and central figure of a particular religion. He considered all the religious institutions as just a human created church and the holy books as literature. Paine believed in one God, he just couldn't find enough evidence or reason to believe in all those so called Godly matters.
Like Paine, Voltaire also believed in freedom of religion, he had no problem with holy book like Bible but he was sure that it's a work of man not a divine gift, though it can still taught people good lessons. He was also a big criticizer of church but firmly believed on the existence of God. Both Paine and Voltaire attacked the core religious believe of all people who were practicing some king of religion, though they had some good points but those are not strong enough to take their side.
paine and voltaire had many of the same views. both believed that there was a only one god but not just one church, he just couldn't believe in all of those godly type happenings. paine also believed that every man has a right to believe in what they want to believe. paine believed that churches were just there to gain poltical status. like paine voltaire also believed in freeedom of religion. he believed taht there was only one god but not one church. puritans probably wouldn't of acccepted people like paine and voltaire, but the Quakers would have been more open-minded towards them
nicholas wood
Paine believed that for somebody to practice a religion, they had to be able to mentally accept it first. This is much like Voltaire's view. Although he took part in the criticism of the church, he believed that there was only one god, but there were multiple churches. He also believed in the freedom of religion. Something that I find interesting, is that Voltaire claims that the Bible is the work of man, not a holy or divine gift. It surprised me to find this due to the fact tha many branches of christianity today still treat the Bible as a divine gift from god and that if you do not read it, you will go to hell. A perfect example of this is portrayed through the speakers that often times appear on speaker circle here at Mizzou.
This idea of freedom of religion has continued to be believed even in society today. In this idea, and in this view, we have carried the idea of Enlightenment over into the world of today. There are still some religions that practice the gaining of "pure knowledge" and in that, we have kept the Enlightenment alive.
i think Paine takes more of a do as you please point of view in the fact that he feels the church is not necessary in the understanding of god but doesn't try to impose his personal views on anyone else. Voltaire on the other hand considers the church as a tool used by the clergy to control and tax the population. he is more distortional in his views.
Paine believed in freedom of religion but believed that you must accept religion before you could practice it. He didn't believe in any organized religion thinking it was just set up to make money for select people and scare people into "slavery" he also thought holy books were a sham. Voltaire also believed in freedom of religion. He didn't believe in holy books like the bible but he thought it was a work of man and not a divine gift.
Thomas Paine and Voltaire are very similar with each other in the aspect of religion. Voltaire says that, "The institution of religion exists only to keep mankind in order, and to make men merit the goodness of God by their virtue." Voltaire's viewpoint is that church is only there to control people and to make sure it is not complete chaos. Thomas Paine's viewpoint on religion is that he believes in one God and the equality of men. But he does not believe in any institutions of Church. He does not mean that that he condemns people who do believe in church. He says that people gets to believe anything they want to and he will not criticize them. Their beliefs are very similar to each others. They were disliked by the colonists because they did not believe in what they believe in. Since they did not believe in Church they did not like them. Puritans would not agree with their viewpoints because they believe in seeking purity in religion and since they don't believe in Church they would not like them. They would agree with how people have the rights to have their own values but they would not agree with the fact about Church. The role of Enlightenment I think plays an important role in our society today. Today our society is very open to other religions which is how Paine believed back then.
Thomas Paine believed in having a personal relationship with God and that all of the specific religions just had rituals Paine thought were wrong. He believed everyone should cherish the one and only any way that the individual wants to. Voltaire, on the other hand, believed that organized religion was created just to keep people in order. He basically believed that religion was just a 1700 year old game of telephone. Paine comments made the colonists angry because he was slamming their rituals and means of worship. Voltaire made them angry because he said that religion was just a big joke on everyone.
Paine and Voltaire had similiar views on religion. Paine believed that people should believe what they want to believe in. He believed that there was one God but not just one church. Voltaire also believed in freedom of religion. Both thought that churches were just to gain profit and never really cared for them. The quakers would probably accept these ideas more than the Puritans because they were more tolerable with freedom of worshipping what you wanted to and now what everyone else was.
Thomas Paine and Voltaire were very similar in the way they saw religion. Thomas Paine states he believes in God and only one god, but he states that religion is a human invention. Paine says all national churches such as the Jewish, Christian or any others are set up only to monopolize power and profit. He believes everyone is entitled to follow their own religion in these churches, but he still believes each and every one of these churches is set upon false revelations. Each individual religion has a different way of how God communicated certain information. Therefore he feels that instead of revelations, it is more just hearsay being passed on to others. Voltaire believes in a similar concept. He states there are such a wide variety of religions that most people have to be wrong in their beliefs. If a topic is not agreed on as a central whole, then someone is bound to be wrong with their belief. Voltaire states all religions have a belief in God and honesty and thus are the central figures, but there is no universal religion. Both of these men were highly disliked by colonists in early America after making these remarks. Thomas Paine went from being a national hero with his pamphlet Common Sense to being looked down upon. Voltaire was also criticized heavily for his beliefs. The Enlightenment effects are still seen today. Even though these two men were highly criticized during their time, their thoughts have lasted for centuries.
Paine and Voltaire were both radicals that questioned structured religion. Paine believed that the Bible was just a big book of "he said she said". So, he stressed that people should focus on Gods word which was things that he created. He also believed that you should believe in your God but not to believe/support church.
Voltaire questioned the fact that everyone thinks their religion was right. So he made the statment "If everyone thinks their religion is correct then they must all be wrong" Also, he believed that Church was man-made and that it was just there to keep the people in order.
People didnt like this because these ideas were unusual to them and they grew to be proud of the idea of church and they probably thought "how dare they say that about my church". With any radical idea people tend to shoot it down at first because its not what theyre used to and they have belived in their beliefs and ideals for so long.
The other colonies would probably not support Paines' and Voltaire's ideas. Especially the Quaker and Puritans because they had a very strong church and much of their society was structured around their religion.
In todays society Enlightenment thinking plays a big role in our lives, it allows people to question what is considered fact and can sometimes correct things that were thought to be true but are actually wrong. Without Enlightenment thinking who knows, we might have still belived that the sun revolves around the world, or that the earth is flat.
Voltaire and Paine had very similar views on religion and church. These two men changed the way to look at things. For example Paine believed in a god but not the whole church scheme. He thought that church was just something to do and man started it in his own belief. He implied that if you had a faith you were just living a lie because they went by a book wrote by a group of men years ago. Voltaire's views were just the same. He pointed out that the bible and religion are just thoughts and have no real proof that it all really happened or existed. And since there are different religions and beliefs then the story got mixed up and its not true then. These enlightened ways of thinking upset people because its not what they were used to hearing and they didnt want to be told they were wrong. Thats why I dont think the Puritans or Quakers would like this talk because they are very religous and the bible is key.
Both Thomas Pain and Voltaire had verey similar views. Though Thomas and Voltaire had the same ideas; they were voiced differently. They both saw religion as a way to keep the social organization status in order.Thomas stated "that churches terrify an enslave mankind".While Voltaire stated that the "church is ment to keep mankind in order"
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