This idea of deism spread to America by way of Thomas Jefferson, who was heavily influenced by the Enlightenment. Most of all, the attitude towards religion in general was an acceptance of all religions. The freedom of religion was an important concept of a philosophe.
Reason became a widely used tool during the Enlightenment. Philosophes taught that reason could be used to get rid of suffering. They also felt that knowledge was the key, and science could serve the people. Philosophes like Adam Smith used economic reasoning to develop a system of division of labor and economic liberty for the people. These ideas, as well as the ideas of John Locke, who thought that we were born without preconceived ideas, were used to invent a nation: the United States of America.
The philosophes were the energetic French thinkers of the Enlightenment. Their goals were based around the idea of progress by mastering the natural sciences and the human sciences. Philosophes desired to overcome ignorance bred of superstitions and religions and human cruelty and violence. Reform was their focus, to reform individuals, outdated institutions, and belief systems. As very practical people, the philosophes were working for the betterment of human beings and their society.
The work of Voltaire embodied the main ideas of the Enlightenment. His ideas as a philosophe concentrated on two areas: empiricism and religious tolerance. Voltaire's drive for an empirical philosophy that would base all human certainty on empirical verification was a success in becoming the basis for French empirical science. Voltaire's writings on religious tolerance were aligned with Enlightenment reform ideas about judicial and prison reform. Voltaire believed that the most inhumane crimes were religious-based, and like many Enlightenment attitudes towards the church, Voltaire desired to crush the Catholic Church but maintain a belief in God at the same time.