Prejudice against religion and the state in CandideVoltaire has strong views that become very evident when reading his work Candide. Candide is a collection of critiques that immortalize Voltaire's controversial thoughts and prejudices against religion and the state. Voltaire had a negative view of government as he wrote in Candide: “let us work without discussion, it is the only way to make life bearable”. Voltaire accepted the royalists and rejected the parliamentary interpretation of the French constitution, but he was prepared to admit that the legal situation was unclear. (Gay 111) Voltaire said, “The very word parliament is part of its power and parliament is nothing under a vigorous government, it is everything under a weak king.” All the more reason for kings to be weak with their rebellious magistrates. (Gay 111) Supreme authority that can be abused is dangerous, but divided authority is even more dangerous. Voltaire admitted that his own gratitude had been dampened by Louis XIV's countless failures and that the king's achievements fell short of what he could have done. (Gay 113) Measured against Louis' opportunities, his accomplishments became less impressive. Voltaire made criticisms in the mouth of a Roman citizen addressing the officials of his county: “You who are proud to be good, why don't you do all the good that you do? can do?" Voltaire expresses in chapter twenty-one of Candide, his anti-war campaign which ultimately results in a fight against the government. In the 1760s, Voltaire developed the philosophy that repression is necessary, but it must be rational. The country of Voltaire's Eldarado, in Candide, has no prisons but it is a utopia. The only justification for repression is political rather than the middle of paper, incoherent maxims, without taste, without. selection and without design If the Song of Songs is only an inept rhapsody, what will we think of a religion which pushes men to believe them to be divinely inspired? Biblical Jews demonstrate the baseness and absurdity of Christianity” (Gay 354) These statements illustrate Voltaire’s views on religion are clearly expressed throughout his work Candide. controversial issues and Voltaire's prejudices against religion and the state.BibliographyAndrews, Wayne Voltaire New York: New Directions Pub 1981Gay, Peter Voltaire's Politics.New York: Random House, 1965Weitz, Morris. University Press.1963