Compare And Contrast John Locke On Religion And Government

Locke’s theory of equality and natural law. What is equality? Equality is the state of being equal and the rights of status. Throughout the 1st and 2nd treatise of government Locke put emphasis on equality. Locke is a liberalist who believes that everyone should have equality in a governed society. The reason Locke feels that way is because in a society the people create the government. With the citizens doing this they give the government consent to govern them by protecting them and their property. By them giving this it means that everyone has equal rights. Locke’s view of equality wasn’t limited to the politics he expanded to religion which has equality as well. The idea of equality came from the state of nature which transition into

John Locke had many accomplishments. John Locke has public may significance writing; Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1689, Two Treaties of Government in 1690, and Letters Concerning Toleration in 1689-1692. John Locke’s “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” defined the theory of human knowledge, identity and selfhood. In his “Two Treatises of Government” believing that the legitimacy of government relies on consent from its citizens which is given on the basis of equality. A government has the duty to protect the natural rights of its people, if they fail to protect these rights, the citizen have the right to overthrow the government. This writing shows John Locke beliefs in “life, liberty, and property.” In his “Letters Concerning Toleration,”

John Locke was one of the important philosophers during the Enlightenment and known as the “Father of Liberalism”. Locke asserted that empirical foundations can be bases of the human knowledge. His assertion was referred to subjectivism. Also, Locke argued for “reasonable Christianity”. He did not deny the supernatural knowledges completely, but he neglected them. For instance, he never mentioned the Trinity. In addition, he believed that God has revealed and must be the object of the faith, but he also said, “what actually counts as having been revealed by God, that must be judged by reason.” His suggestion provided the bases of the theological liberalism.

   In the tomes of history, many philosophers have outlined their visions of a perfect society.  Until recently however, few have ventured into the waters of religious tolerance.  One such philosopher was John Locke.  Writing in the late 17th century, Locke advocated a complete separation between church and state.  He argued for an unprecedented tolerance of people of all faiths.   Although Locke's views became widely popular throughout Europe and the Americas, they did not meet with unanimous approval.  Many earlier philosophers disagreed with Locke.  Two such philosophers were Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas.  Aquinas disagreed in three key respects:  Compulsion, toleration, and authority.  Aristotle, on

The role of the government in the eyes of Locke is very simple. It is to protect the "peace, safety, security, and public good of the people". Locke arrives at this conclusion from the reasoning behind leaving the "state of nature" and entering civil society. We leave the "state of nature" (perfect freedom and perfect equality) in order to be free from being infringed upon by others. Although we must give up some of our freedoms for protection, they are small compared to the benefits of protection that we receive from civil society. To simplify things, we can simply refer to the role of government as to protect our private property. This private property includes our lives, personal rights, and physical objects. In order for the government to be doing its job correctly, Locke believes that all three of these must be protected.

In the beginning of the essay, Locke, writes on religion as a source of justice towards morality. For instance, during his discussion of God, Locke remarks, “I granted the existence of God is so many ways manifest, and the obedience we owe him so congruous to the light of, that a great part of mankind give testimony to the law of nature” (Locke 1.3.16). Relating to the

John Locke opens the reading by proclaiming that man is naturally in “a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of the laws of Nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any of any other man.” Firstly, the world simply cannot work, let

For the first time in Europe, social distinctions did not affect the rights that a man had. This proves Locke’s views because it displays how a group addresses its own needs by working together, no matter the social hierarchy, to solve a general need for equal rights. Another part of society that the Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen improves was the justice system. The document states the famous words “innocent until proven guilty”. Before this document it was the job of the convicted to produce evidence of his/her innocence, as a result many innocent individuals were jailed or executed. The document also states that the law shall not discriminate. Locke believed that humans knew the difference between right and wrong as well as lawful and unlawful but, on their own, didn’t always act according to this knowledge. When working in a group, this knowledge is present amongst every individual and there is an extremely high chance that we wouldn’t make the same mistakes in a group as displayed by those who drafted the Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen. Locke believed that the group comes before the individual as a result their opinions are important. These views are parallel to those in the national assembly who, in their document, stated that “No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law”. This ensures that if the population was upset at the government they can speak out without fear. This contrasts to the period when France was an absolute monarchy and any views against the king would cost individuals their lives. The Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen was the

Locke’s viewpoint was that humans were naturally peaceful. He said that we all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He believed that we were naturally honest and good, that if there was no authority or government humans would still know right from wrong, and get along with each other. Locke thought that if our leaders do not lead us properly then we have the right to overthrow them.

Locke refers to religion as a thing that has taken away some of our original freedom that was given to us. He isn't putting down the thought of being religious, however he shows that it takes away freedom that humans have earned as a whole. By giving up freedom, the option to choose is also taken away. With that being said there could be many factors that can take away from an individual making a decision. So in the event that an abortion is needed to take place the women that would be going through should be given the support she needs to make her decision of what's best for her.If individuals had enough freedom to decide whether an abortion would be best for them, then the number of children who are abused by their parents because they were unwanted in the first place would decrease. Women that tend to keep their children when they don’t actually want them have a higher chance of becoming depressed. Even though some don’t believe in receiving an abortion Locke saw religion as a possible problem if the churches were given too much power over their people. This shows that Locke believed that having the right to choose and having freedom was very

Nearly 400 years apart, the writings of John Locke and Stanley Hauerwas/William Willimon discuss the relationship between religion and government. Hauerwas believes religion should play no role in government and vice versa while Locke (although not advocating for the unity of church and state) believes that God and religion make up the main components of the laws of government.

The the article “A letter concerning toleration,” John Locke argues for toleration of people unaffiliated with religion in a society. Locke’s feeling of how the Christian Church was coercing the people to believe its doctrine did not actually save a soul. He saw the the coercion against Christ's teaching and the Church should turn away from those coercive dealing if they truly were worried about the salvation of the people’s soul. I affirm Locke's notion that one is not saved through acts of the body, but of belief in the mind.

My understanding is backed by a later statement of Locke’s where he notes that Papists and Lutherans “acknowledge nothing by the Holy Scriptures to be the rule” (Locke 56). So while the entire book is based on the tolerance of other religions, he is very specific about the extent of toleration. His very first paragraph of the letter has a statement which mentions that religious toleration should be pushed, but only in full to religions that believe in the fact that, “toleration to be the chief Characteristic Mark of the True Church” (Locke 23). To me, it sounds like this statement is saying that the only real religion is one that allows for a level of autonomy and freedom, which to Locke, would not include Catholics or Lutherans.

have to be ruled by a higher power. Locke seems to understand what people are really

Locke believed that everyone was born essentially good, and states “men must have a reason to form a civil society if god is removed from the equation.” The people should decide what kind of Government we want as long as it’s limited. Also,