I can't help but wonder: in his own days, Voltaire and those who read and agreed with him were similarly a minority compared to the rest of the population. Set in the aristocratic power structure, the well-read and thinkers formed the elite that also had the largest leverage on power.

Today, the difference is that education is relatively accessible for more people and the decision making is in the hands of a significant larger amount of people. Yet those capable to learn about Voltaire (and others) don't do so in detail, except those who do so voluntarily or the (real) minority who study him.

People who learn about Voltaire - and I sound perfectly snobbish saying this - and those capable to understand Voltaire will remain a minority for a long, long time, if not always. The trouble of today is that Voltaire and other free-thinkers no longer reaches that minority where it seems to really matter.