Editing Age of Enlightenment (section)

====Separation of church and state====
{{Main|Separation of church and state|Separation of church and state in the United States}}
The "Radical Enlightenment"{{sfn|Israel|2011|pp=11}}{{sfn|Israel|2010|p=19}} promoted the concept of separating church and state,{{sfn|Israel|2010|pp=vii–viii}} an idea that is often credited to Locke.<ref name=AFP>Feldman, Noah (2005). ''Divided by God.'' Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, p. 29 ("It took [[John Locke]] to translate the demand for liberty of conscience into a systematic argument for distinguishing the realm of government from the realm of religion.")</ref> According to his principle of the social contract, Locke said that the government lacked authority in the realm of individual conscience, as this was something rational people could not cede to the government for it or others to control. For Locke, this created a natural right in the liberty of conscience, which he said must therefore remain protected from any government authority.

These views on religious tolerance and the importance of individual conscience, along with the social contract, became particularly influential in the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]] and the drafting of the United States Constitution.<ref>Feldman, Noah (2005). ''Divided by God.'' Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, p. 29</ref> In a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, Thomas Jefferson calls for a "wall of separation between church and state" at the federal level. He previously had supported successful efforts to disestablish the [[Church of England]] in Virginia<ref>[[#Ferling2000|Ferling, 2000]], p. 158</ref> and authored the [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]].<ref>[[#Mayer|Mayer, 1994]] p. 76</ref> Jefferson's political ideals were greatly influenced by the writings of Locke, Bacon, and Newton,<ref>[[#Kayes|Hayes, 2008]], p. 10</ref> whom he considered the three greatest men that ever lived.<ref>[[#Cogliano|Cogliano, 2003]], p. 14</ref>