Read this excerpt from an article titled "Dangerous Ideas":
Voltaire's famous novel Candide, written in 1759, poked fun at rulers, armies, churches, and philosophers no one was spared his sharp humor. After traveling to a new land, one of the characters in the novel asks a local resident, "What! Have you no monks to teach, to dispute, to govern, to intrigue and to burn people who do not agree with them?" Voltaire used his razor wit to criticize aspects of society he thought needed criticism, but the people he skewered were not amused, and Candide was widely banned in both Europe and the United States.

What is the author's purpose in this excerpt?