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Puritans and Pilgrims, a la Shmoop: Howdy, Pilgrims.
You see, Puritans were English protestants with funny hats.
And Pilgrims were separatists… with funny hats.
The Puritans and Pilgrims came to America because they were persecuted in Europe.
No, not for the hats. They followed a different religion than most
people in Europe… … and because of that they weren’t treated
like everybody else. America was a land of opportunity.
It was mostly unsettled, and they knew that nobody would persecute them over there.
Because Puritans and Pilgrims were among the first American settlers…
… Freedom of Religion became one of the most important values in the Unites States.
But how well do we continue to uphold this value in the modern United States?
When religious groups seem unusual or maybe even scary to Americans…
…we usually give them a pretty hard time. We’ve called unpopular little religions
“cults,” …and even chased people with unusual spiritual
beliefs out of the country on questionable charges.
When our government didn’t like a commune in 1980s Oregon…
… we suddenly decided that performing marriages without a license was a serious crime and
deported their leader for that. More recently, after the tragedy of September
11… … Arabs and Muslims have become the subjects
of prejudice and fear for many Americans. There is always plenty of political debate
about whether America is a “Christian Nation”… … or a “secular nation” that shouldn’t
have any connection to one specific religious tradition.
In court, people still swear to tell the truth with their hand on a Bible…
…and that’s also how the President takes his oath of office.
The Puritans and Pilgrims did all they could to bring people around to their way of thinking…
and believing… But should we really try to govern religion
at all? Are the by-laws of the Puritans and Pilgrims
applicable in any way, shape or form to our world today?
Or are they as antiquated as those hats? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
You say Puritan, we say Pilgrim. Puritan, Pilgrim, Pilgrim, Puritan, let’s call the
whole thing off!