What Is Locke's Justification For Toleration

Locke’s Letter On Toleration Religious pluralism can be described as an attitude or policy concerning the diversity of religious organizations co-existing peacefully in society. John Locke, an English philosopher, wrote a letter on tolerance, “an attitude that is intermediate between wholehearted acceptance and unrestrained opposition” (Scanlon), directed towards the concept previously mentioned. Throughout Locke’s Letter On Toleration it is explained that there are two main justifications for toleration; prudence and rationality. Locke goes on to elucidate that as citizens under the rule of a magistrate everyone has prudential reasons in which they tolerate or “co-exist” with other religious systems. He further explains this thought through the idea that all individuals in society have their own prudential interest in salvation and nobody, not even the magistrate, can compel belief through force. He also explains that religious intolerance causes social and political strife and that it would thus be unwise in regards to the commonwealth to contravene with minority religions. …show more content…
Locke clarifies that citizens only change their beliefs through the power of rational scrutiny, thus being compelled to change ones beliefs is substantially useless because our prudential reasons are to find salvation. Therefore, political authorities, such as the magistrate, hold no official power over the beliefs of it’s citizens due to the idea that one group cannot logically be in charge of salvation. Locke actually goes as far as saying that religion cannot even be handed down because everyone searches for their own