What were Montesquieu's views on religious tolerance?
1 Answer
Montesquieu equated religious tolerance with reason. Since no
religious beliefs could be supported by reason alone all religious beliefs should be regarded as equal (equally useless)
Explanation:
Like most of the members of the French Enlightenment Montesquieu was most familiar with the corrupt Catholic church of France. Montesquieu shared the antipathy toward all religion common to the French Enlightenment.
Base on his rational world view Montesquieu dismissed all religious views as equally invalid. Montesquieu felt it was morally wrong for one religious view to have any preference over another religious view. Therefore he believed that all religions should be tolerate of other religions. The Government should enforce this tolerance with appropriate laws.
