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  1. Jan 2023
    1. is the magistrate obliged to tolerate them, because they are committed in a religious assembly? I answer: No. These things are not lawful in the ordinary course of life, nor in any private house; and therefore neither are they so in the worship of God, or in any religious meeting. But, indeed, if any people congregated upon account of religion should be desirous to sacrifice a calf, I deny that that ought to be prohibited by a law. Meliboeus, whose calf it is, may lawfully kill his calf at home, and burn any part of it that he thinks fit. For no injury is thereby done to any one, no prejudice to another man's goods.

      This reminds me a lot of the discussion we had on Tuesday, about religious practices that cause direct harm to others not being exempt from relevant laws. While Locke's example of an animal sacrifice is something that is legal for religion because it is legal in other contexts, it appears Locke would oppose some of the allowances/exceptions to law made for religious organizations.