to get along with one another. Their battles over religion contributed to the
downfall of the democratic forces and the restoration of the monarch, Charles
II. When Charles II died and his brother, James II, took the throne, fear spread
that King James, a Catholic, intended to put Catholic officers in the army and
in high positions in government. This fear led to the Glorious Revolution in
1688 and the end of James II's reign. In 1689 the crown was offered to William
of Orange, but only on the condition that he agree to a bill of rights. This Bill
of Rights forbade a Catholic king and prohibited standing armies in time of
peace.

After the Glorious Revolution, John Locke was able to publish his political
writings, which called for religious toleration. In a free society, Locke argued,
people should be free to decide how they will worship. He also asserted that
religious intolerance could be a threat to democracy itself, as those who are
denied the right to worship as they wish would find revolution to be their only
recourse. In his mind, democracy and freedom of religion went hand in hand.

Baron de Montesquieu was a Catholic aristocrat in Catholic France ( 1689-
1755). He was born wealthy and then married a wealthy Protestant woman,
which assured his fortune. In 1721 he published a book of satire called The
Persian Letters, which was so successful that it made him a third fortune. In The
Persian Letters, an imaginary traveler from Persia comments on various aspects
of French society. Through these comments, Montesquieu pokes fun at
everything, but much of his criticism is aimed at religion. For example, the
Persian traveler can not understand a religion that allows people to break their
vows and then purchase forgiveness from the bishop. In Letter #85, Montesquieu
makes a plea for religious tolerance; in this letter the imaginary Persian points
out that having competing religious sects puts everyone on their guard, because
no one wants to dishonor his or her own sect in the eyes of the members of the
other sects.

Montesquieu also has his traveler say:

Someone who tries to make me change my religion does so only, I presume,
because he would not change his own, even if attempts were made to
compel him; so that he finds it strange that I will not do something that
he would not do himself, perhaps not even to be ruler of the world.

Montesquieu's great work is The Spirit of Laws. In this book he argued that
the three branches of government, the judicial, legislative, and executive,
should be separated. The authors of the Constitution took his advice on this
point when they created the federal government in the United States. He also
argued for a separation of religion and the state. He believed that criminal law

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