A Tolerant Family
Jean Calas was a 68-year-old merchant living in Toulouse during the
latter half of the 1700s. His story is one of religion, suicide and, most
shockingly, parricide. The "Treatise on Tolerance" begins with a
description of his family. Jean had two sons, Louis (the younger) and Marc
Antoine (the older). Louis converted to Catholicism with his father's consent.
Marc Antoine, however, did not and apparently didn't possess proof of belonging
to any religion, which caused considerable problems for him in his professional
aspirations. Marc Antoine one evening, having lost all his money gambling,
decided to hang himself after dinner with the family, to everyone's shock and
horror. The family knew his death to be suicide. The town, having existed in a
state of religious intolerance, decided the parents killed their son because of
his unwillingness to prescribe to their religion and willingness to embrace
Catholicism.
Saint Marc Antoine
The magistrate of Toulouse, in an effort to expand his reputation, then
decided to throw the entire Calas family (including their Catholic maid) into
jail on the basis of hearsay alone. As it turned out, Marc Antoine died a
Calvinist and was therefore given a martyr's burial. After his funeral
procession, the man who should have been buried in unconsecrated ground, due to
death by his own hand, was canonized and given sainthood. Soon enough, miracles
were reported at the site of Saint Marc Antoine's grave, including a semi-deaf
woman reporting that she heard the sound of bells.
Trial and Conviction
As each family member testified during the trial, they were all together
during the fateful night. The defense demanded, "How could such a murder
take place without drawing the attention of neighbors or surrounding
villagers?" The court would hear none of it and decided upon banishment to
a nunnery for the females in the family, mandatory conversion to Catholicism
for the youngest son and death by the wheel for the oldest son and Jean Calas
himself. It is perhaps worth mentioning that all of this occurred around the
same time of year that the villagers commemorated the massacre of 4,000
Huguenots; such remembrance fueled the fanaticism and rage against the Calas
family.
Justice at Last
The Widow Calas appealed to the magistrate in Paris to avenge the unfair
executions of her husband and son. A famous lawyer by the name of M. de
Beaumont took up her case and was able to publicize it widely enough that her
husband was cleared of all charges (although he was already dead). Her
daughters were restored to her, and all remaining members of the family were
declared innocent. However, the religious fanatics in France would not accept
this reversal and refused to admit that the original judge and magistrates
trying the case were biased and unjust in their sentencing.
Virtue and Learning
After the account of the death of Jean Calas, Voltaire discusses
religious dogma as a scourge on society and how it leads to more disputes and
vice than the virtue it is meant to inspire. He mentions the classical opinion
held by Cato, Cisero and Socrates that men are fools to argue about what they
cannot know. Voltaire also discusses the sad fact that reason was lost during
the early days of Christendom when religious supremacy became radical doctrine.
At last, he states that all the barbarians "civilized" Christians
feared, such as the Goths, Vandals and Huns, have done far less damage and
caused far less brutality than the Christian churches of the world in their
quest to unite man by peace or by sword.
A Prayer for Tolerance
The "Treatise on Tolerance" ends with a description of the
similarities between all of man's major religions and how they should work
together for the good of mankind. Voltaire mentions the smallness of mankind in
comparison to the vastness of space and the universe and questions the need for
all the fighting and bickering in the face of so much man cannot know or
explain. He asks those who dwell in an unenlightened state of intolerance
whether they are sure that all the civilizations before and all of those that
must come after the foundation of the Christian church are doomed to hell.
Finally, he pleads with god that all mankind might come to know that they are
brothers in the darkness and must learn to dwell together in peace before the
end of all things. Also, he asks that all men, regardless of religious
preference or cultural differences, might come together to praise life and love
one another, to begin the process of healing and undoing all of the misery and
death that has come from religious intolerance.
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