Williams was a young man but he had many radical ideas and a wild tongue. He saw the Church of England as too corrupt and preached emphatically for his fellow believers to separate from them entirely. Furthermore, he challenged the role of the clergy in political and judicial matters as he believed in the separation of church and state. Williams denying the authority of the Puritan civil government's control over religious behavior was seen as a very seditious act. Finally, he challenged the role of the clergy in political and judicial matters because he believed in the separation of church and state, and he strongly opposed the taking of land from native peoples without compensation. His debates with John Cotton led Williams to leave Massachusetts and establish a colony in Rhode