Yeah i was around for a long time, and not very tolerant....a lot of people abused religion, still do, to maintain power. Not sure what you point is.Thomas Paine v John Locke
Tolerance of others, and their faiths, is a Judeo-Christian value.
How many centuries has the world been blessed with Christianity as an organized religion and how many months out of those 17 centuries prior to 1780 were any of the adherents to Christianity tolerant of other beliefs or other sects. It was guys that John Locke challenged the divine rights of Kings but Locke had none of the revolutionary Thomas Paine and his Common Sense.
Its interesting that you embrace John Locke the Bible reader for his inspirational Judeo-Christian / Enlightenment contribution to the founding of America. But you bypass the Bible debunker DEIST Thomas Paine and his direct indispensable role in the revolt against the Crown and the creation of the most egalitarian form of Government created by the human mind.
On individual rights and liberty Paine blew Locke’s doors off when he passed him by.
John Locke's thought system reserved political influence for those who were eminent both socially and economically. John Locke believed that economic power in the form of money was the real derivation of political power. He felt that predominate political control should be vested within the aristocracy. Those individuals in society who have conspicuous monetary interests should manage government. Citizens lacking pronounced wealth in either property or money did not deserve a voice in the affairs of state. In fact, the aristocracy feared the lower classes because they were the majority within society. A government and society based upon majority rule would not bode well for the nobility.
In contrast to Locke, Paine believed in rule by the majority as well as universal suffrage so that all citizens could have a voice in government. Locke's philosophy was not designed to support democracy or the welfare of the common man. His social, political and economic beliefs were the antithesis of Thomas Paine's egalitarian views regarding humanity, government and society.
FYI Tom Paine 1949
I suspect Locke was limited to his belief in the Bible while Paine was unlimited by his rejection of it as the Word of God.
There would be no Thomas Paine, but for Locke...I like them both though.
Paine used the Bible, in Common Sense, to argue for the revolution. He used Judeo-Christian values to highlight that a Monarch, disrupted the natural order of things, that came directly from God.
Look, I am not sure what you are trying to prove here.....I never said we were a Christian Nation, I never suggested that all our Founders were devote followers of a Protestant faith.
Paine also believed in God...." I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life. " - The Age of Reason
You can believe in God, and not be a member of a organized religion...you can also be influenced by the readings of the Bible, and gain value from those teachings and not be a member of an organizaed religion.