18th century irish protestant clergyman philip skelton argued that deists and catholics were allied in certain matters. in particular, they both attacked certain arrangements involving the government and the church of england. skelton noted that although deists sometimes railed against protestant writers, they never argued against them; deist writers argued against protestant rather than catholic writers. skelton was of the opinion that some deists would actually convert to catholicism prior to death. skelton felt that catholics and deists had similar positions on the authority of scripture, the indulgence of vice, and even purgatory. skelton also thought that since protestants and deists were equally heretics in the eyes of the catholics anyway, they had no real reason to favor protestants against the deists. rather, skelton thought catholic apologists would prefer to work with a deist than a protestant, as it is easier to convert someone who is an unbeliever already. as part of his argument, skelton cited the jesuit educations of the prominent deists matthew tindal and john toland and also noted that pilloniere was once a member of the jesuit order himself.