Crush the infamous!

Crush the infamous!

Treatise on Tolerance: On the occasion of the death of Jean Calas, 1763 (Paperback)

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1762: Jean Calas, a Protestant old family man, is accused of murdering his son to prevent him from converting to Catholicism. It is judged, tortured and executed in Toulouse. Voltaire takes cognizance of the case: judicial error is manifest solely motivated by religious hatred. Thus the philosopher starts in a fight for the rehabilitation of Calas and his family. Tackling intolerance, fanaticism and obscurantism, denouncing the arbitrary opaque and barbaric practices of justice, multiplying the steps and writings, Voltaire made "the Calas affair" the first great modern judicial scandal ...

A reading of the case, who knows who he is to blame first: absolute monarchy or religious fanaticism? Voltaire has already learned the hard way what it costs to mock the nobles of the kingdom, while addressing the king ... France does not at this time any guarantees enjoyed our English neighbors (and habeas corpus Bill of Rights); challenging the monarchy and its institutions would mean for the philosopher immediate imprisonment by lettre de cachet.

And yet it is this absolute monarchy and its judicial system of another age ("one justice, unfair justice," says Voltaire) that are primarily responsible for the fiasco of the "Calas case." However, unable to attack the king, the philosopher decided to tackle religious fanaticism, while taking care to specify that he is himself a good Catholic, failing to be a fervent. However, the assertion should not be misled, because this is more than a customary precaution than a real rally to Catholicism. Voltaire is ungodly and for him to attack the religious fanaticism that is also an opportunity to attack the Catholic religion of his time ...

But is this really a problem? All in all, I prefer a miscreant who was a good man, rather than a mass murderer of heretics holding high the cross (or ascending). Certainly, it is not religion that makes men good or bad, but the men who make the choice to remove it holds better or worse. And it is clear that in those days, they often made the wrong choice. It should therefore not missed inquisitors, or popes or kings in the jails of hell! By revoking the Edict of Nantes, led the party of devotees, in 1685 (the year of the promulgation of "black code", definitely a great year!), Louis XIV and his successor took advantage of revive religious quarrel in France and to encourage all fanatics the worst excesses of religion.

Voltaire does in his treatise, but note this fact and even if its pages on universal tolerance that would have existed everywhere and at all times except in Catholic countries, where it attacks the myths of the Old Testament and challenges the Christian martyrology, are imbued with a perfect bad faith (no pun ...), it is clear that the bottom remains and that the Catholic religion has contributed a lot in terms of practices, from the worship of relics down anathemas against heresy, encourage mindlessness and fanaticism of the masses. Besides Voltaire wondered how a religion, so prompt to practice the cult of saints and revere the martyrs, she could kill herself many heretics Cathars, Huguenots and atheists?

There is an anecdote about it that I like. In 1823, when Champollion was about to discover the secret of hieroglyphics, he was summoned by Pope Leo XII, who ordered him that whatever he discovered he was not dating the Egyptian pyramids beyond - 2000 BC, as the pyramids could not be prior to the flood .... Thus, science should she give way to religion (now known as the Pyramid of Saqqara, which is not the oldest Egyptian construction date -2600 BC). This Pope Leo XII was also the author of a bubble "Dirae Librorum" in which he proclaimed: "the terrible torrent of mud formed by the books out of the dark den of the wicked no other purpose, and in their eloquent form their treacherous salt, that corrupt the faith and morals and teach sin, the best cure, we can be sure, is to oppose them salutary writings and impart "No doubt that in the eyes of the Pope , friend of science, Voltaire invariably belonged to the "dark den of ungodly" .....

The Treaty on Tolerance is a fighting book for troubled times and we must take it as such. Callas The case is not an isolated case; the philosopher has already had to know the case Rochette and it will soon take care of Sirvens Affairs and Chevalier de la Barre L'Affaire du Chevalier de la Barre: Preceded by L'Affaire Lally Voltaire is neither against God nor against the king, it is for the rule of law and the separation of church and state. This is what he wrote in one letter March 19, 1765, ten days after the rehabilitation of Jean Calas by the State Council:

"This is an event that seems to have to hope for universal tolerance, however can not get it soon, men are not wise enough, they do not know that we must separate any kind of religion of any kind of government that religion should not be a matter of state as how to cook, must be allowed to pray in his own way, like to eat according to his taste, and provided it is subject to the laws, stomach and conscience must have complete freedom. it will come one day, but I will die with the pain of not having seen the happy time. "

The fight continues ....

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