Full name 

:Sara Aliouane

Gtoupe n :7

Teachers’name :Mr.fanit/Ms.Heloulou

The source we are responding to:”A letter concerning

toleration”speech

(copyright 1689,john locke)

“A letter concerning toleration”By john locke

response paper essay:

“A letter concerning toleration”by John Locke,originally

published anonymously in 1689.It was written in latin initially,then
translated into other languages.The letter aimed to achieve peace and
liberty by realizing freedom of religion(religious tolerance)which makes
all humans with different beliefs equal in their civil rights ,with an
emphasis on the necessity to separate between the civil government
and the church under the purpose of getting rid of its unjust practices
toward non-christian men.

The writer pointed at the separation of the civil government

from the church,when he advocated that these two powers have no
right to control nor to give orders to each other,since the government
has got nothing to deal with religion ,and the church has no interfere in
matters that are related to the civil government.Therefore, the church
has no right to punish those that have different
religions;instead,everyone must be free in their choice and must
accept each religion because no matter which doctrine one has
chosen;no matter what a person worships, they have the same civil
rights of the commonwealth which make them equal ,including
religion,life and property which are the basis of those natural
rights.However,the church at that time had a serious conflict with
these differences in religion.As the members of the church aimed to
spread Christianity,they forced non-christian men with all the kinds of
cruel punishments upon the pretense of procuring their salvation of
souls as they believed .So, John revealed and fought these unethical
practices by proposing religious tolerance as an answer .He supported
his views and opinions with various proofs as well as from the Gospel
when he mentioned : <<tolerance is a Christian virtue that is so
agreeable to the Gospel of jesus Christ>>he confimed that tolerance is
a principle which the church must adopt it as long as it is so pleasant to
the Gospel . John also used evidence from real-life examples when he
stated :<<shall we suffer a pagan to deal and trade with us,and shall
we not suffer him to pray unto and worship God ? >>,he wanted to
deliver the thought that as long as Christians could deal and trade with
those of different doctrines,there is no execuse to prevent them to
worship whatever they believe in.Eventually, all of the writer’s
arguments had the intention to compose a truly church which makes
“tolerance” as a fundamental rule.

As a reaction to what i have read ,what grabbed my attention

at first was the writer’s skillful way in conveying his views using
arguments and proofs in a very persuasive manner that could reach to
the reader’s mind and thoughts; it also helps him to learn and
understand matters that might seem complicated previously.For the
content of the letter,I noticed that numerious points which have been
mentioned are related to what we have studied ‘The
Enlightnment’which means thinking logically.Locke engcouraged the
reader to use his mind and think with logic;ask questions and make a
decision for what is right and has to be done to a real-world
issue.Furthermore,I support his ideas about religious tolerance for the
reason that I believe every human being has his own natural rights, and
religion is one of them.thus, and for sure,All the people remain equal
in their civil rights no matter which doctrine they profess ;and
tolerance ,with no doubts, is a crucial act for a faithful man who would
choose to live peacefully rather then abusing people’ rights.To add
more,I am really impressed with his argumets based on wisdom about
finding solutions to the obstacle of religions,I admire how he fought the
injusice of the church toward non-christian people using proofs that
created a huge impact on the reader’s mind .Besides,the writer’s
exclusion of the atheists from tolerance is clearly logical,because no
one could expect from someone who has no faith in the being of God
to respect the religions and to have no awful intentions to destroy
them ;otherwise, if they keep themselves away from religious
matters ,then there is no cause why they should not be tolerated.As a
last point,it appears to me that John selected the precise suggestion
about the separation of the church from civil
government ;It’s,obviously, must be an obligation to eliminate the
corruption caused by the church which has no privilege to torment the
innocent folks.

Turning to my own experience,the letter had a great effect on

me as a reader.It assisted me to think more logical,to be more
tolerated and to accept all the differences around me, which means to
deal with others on the basis of their morals not their religion or
rate….ect .It also still have an influence in the world until
nowdays ,discussing about the trouble of “Racism”that we continue
seeing people suffer by the reason of their religion,skin colour….ect so
this letter ,in my perspective,will remain the most suitable answer to
this issue.

To conclude,The struggle of religions and the church unequality

showed how this world carries so much hatered and
inequity;however,the writer encouraging ideas and his assumption to
find resolutions with his powerful inspiration to spread “forgiveness”
despite the differences in religions ,confirmed that there is still faith
to have a more tolerated ,free and respectful society away from
suppression and cruelties.