The Need for God
“Laws watch over known crimes, religion over secret crimes.”
— François-Marie Arouet, better known by his pen name, Voltaire
Throughout his long, dissolute life (1694-1778), Voltaire considered himself the implacable enemy of God and religion. For decades, he ended all his letters to his atheist confreres with the blasphemous expression, “Ecrasons nous l’infame” (“Let us crush the wretch!”). The “wretch” to whom he referred with such derision and hatred is Jesus Christ and his church. Voltaire devoted his considerable talents — as a novelist, satirist, philosopher, bon vivant, and salon celebrity — to destroying Christianity and all its pernicious influences (as perceived by Voltaire’s warped mind).
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