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Influences of religion on culture and society
Influences of religion on culture and society
Influence of religion on society
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Life for the Puritans were filled with paranoia and tension as people feared the people they were so close too. Puritans were devout believers in God and believed the Holy Bible and its message were above all. They believed in predestination and that one was either born as a sinner or one was born as a saint. Puritans believed in hard work and religious duty, they forbid all acts that go against the Bible and its messages. All forms of self expressions were seen as Satanic worship and that all bad things such as death, sickness, plague, and natural disasters were all doings of Satan and his followers. Due to the tension and paranoia of Satan’s presence among them, Puritans began to spread mass hysteria, such as the Salem Witch Hunt in 1689, a movement which killed many, either by hanging or burning.
Just like the society of today, mass hysteria of terrorist threats looms inside everybody’s mind. The events of 9/11 struck the media and the States with panic, and now with the threat of ISIS, one truly cannot be too careful. Anybody who acts a certain way can be branded as a terrorist and arrested for “suspicious activity”, just like the teenager Ahmed Mohamed who was arrested after creating a clock for his class
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Many hold strong religious beliefs but are tend to be more open to other religions as well. The children of today’s society are encouraged to be self expressive while children back then were encouraged to follow a specific lifestyle. Society tends to use more scientific reasoning other than religious ones in court to judge the accused, however many of the accused argue that their religion’s beliefs lead to their actions. Religion today influences the lifestyle of a dedicated believer, while investigation and science determines the
There were a number of religious factors that contributed to the Salem Witch trials but most of the people in Massachusetts during the trials were Puritans. The Puritan lifestyle was influenced by the church and Christian beliefs. Puritans believed that God expected them to live according to the scriptures and to set a good example so the people that remained in England would change their sinful ways. Puritans were expected to follow a strict moral code and anything other than that was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. When difficulties in the community began the blame was on the Devil and the witches.
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”, Exodus 22:18. In 1692 , in Salem Massachusetts , the Puritans believed everything in the bible, they also believed in witches and that witches should not be able to live.There were at least 3 causes for the Salem witch trial hysteria. There are: age, gender, and marital status , lying girls, and a divided town.
Edmund S. Morgan's book, "The Puritan Dilemma", is an account of the events encountered by John Winthrop's mission of creating a city on a hill. Winthrop leads and directs the Massachusetts Bay Company, to the new world, while trying to find a solution to the Puritan dilemma, which was how they were going to live in the world while trying to live up to the ideals in the Bible. These ideals lead John Winthrop to propose the creation of a “city on a hill”. His proposition involves reforming the Church of England, in the new world, by purifying the church of all its flaws. It would create a citadel of God’s chosen people, the kind of society that God demanded of all His servants. According to Winthrop, "They should be purified of their unregenerate members, their heretical clergymen, their unwarranted ceremonies, their bishops, and archbishops, but they were nevertheless churches and must be embraced as churches". (Morgan, 27) Winthrop continues to emphasize that they have been selected by God, like Israel of old, to serve as a model society to others; they would be a “city on a hill” for everyone to see and observe.
A series of events occurred leading up to, and during the Salem Witch Trials making the situation far detrimental than it should have been. Salem, Massachusetts became the main focus in 1692 when over one hundred people were falsely accused of practicing witchcraft. Twenty were executed by being hanged, one by being pressed, and one-hundred and fifty-six jailed. Women played a big role in the trials. Most of them were the accusers, and the unlucky ones were the accused. The Puritans of this town had just recently moved from their old homes, so living in a new environment may have had an effect on the outrageous hysteria. People were not good with change. With that being said, Individualism began to conquer the principles of Puritanism while trying to protect oneself. Humanity was in a panic from trying to deal with new economic expansion. “The Puritan inhabitants were always alert to the “signs” that
The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed.
The puritans were very religious. They wanted to show everyone what happens if you are good and believe in god and the heavens. If you do bad things you would be punished or be killed. If you do good things you can be hand chosen to go to heaven.
I think this goes to show how deeply Puritans analyzed and practiced their faith. The fact that they were able to accuse people of witchcraft and convince people that they were possessed by the devil also shows how powerful the church was at the time in order for these trials to occur. In his work, Wonders of the Invisible World, the Puritan minister Cotton Mather goes in to detail what the proceedings and times of the Salem Witch Trials were like. Mather believes that these works of the devil were planning attacks on the people of the time. I think that some of these beliefs are similar to what we see around the world today. I think that this ideology is similar to what we think of terrorism at the time. With the recent terror attacks in Paris, many people are living with great fear. I think that the Salem Witch Trials are similar to what the world is doing to chase down terrorists. I think that this is similar because our country and the rest of the world is spending countless time and resources to hunt down terrorists in order to make our world better and free of
While I'm sitting here at my computer, in my air conditioned home, with the radio blaring and the t.v. on downstairs, I try to imagine how life was as a young Puritan. To be honest, I don't think I could live a week the way they do. I could try but it would be excruciatingly difficult.
Puritanism, and The Salem Witch Trials. Puritanism refers to the movement of reform, which occurred within the Church of England. It began at the time of the Elizabethan settlement of 1559 and ended at the end of the Rump Parliament with the ascension of Charles II to the British throne in 1660. The American Puritans clearly understood that God's word applies to all of life.
Puritans believed in the devil and his role as strong as they believed in God and his role. For many centuries, Puritans had the idea that the weakest individuals in society often committed diabolical acts and sins. Furthermore, Satan selected the most vulnerable individuals to do his bidding, among these individuals, women were often held responsible for many sins, including witchcraft. (Godbeer 12). According to Richard Godbeer, in his book, The Salem Witch Hunt, “it was Eve who first gave away to Satan and seduced Adam.” (Godbeer 12). In 1692, witchcraft became a panic among Puritan society. Even though both men and women were accused of witchcraft, women were seventy-six percent more likely to be accused in Salem than men. (Godbeer 12). Puritan society was a male dominate society and men looked down upon women. There were two particular reasons to why women were often accused of being witches. The first reason, was in due to the Puritan belief that women were the source of evil. The second reason was because of certain events that associated with accusations. These events were being of relatively low social status and income, being rich or financially independent and being a midwife or nurse.
“Jumping to conclusions is like playing with wet gun powder: both likely to go off in wrong direction.”-Charlie Chang. The puritans were a group of English Protestants who adhere to strict religious principles and oppose sensual enjoyment. The puritans had a strong belief that the Devil could be walking among them at anytime. Due to this belief, the puritans believed that people could sign there souls away to the devil. By signing their souls away to the devil, a person could become a witch or wizard. In Arthur Millers’ novel The Crucible, the puritans go on a hunt to rid their town of witches. The puritans also had a big emphasis on how one would act in society. For example, if one didn’t go to church often, the people would be very suspicious about that one. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, the puritans become suspicious of others because of a strange event. The strange events lead the puritans to mistrust and reject each other. In both of Hawthorne’s short stories “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister Black Veil” and in Miller’s The Crucible, a strange event makes the puritans jump to conclusions of witchcraft.
Puritans believed in strict religious dedications, by trying to follow the holy commandment. “The discipline of the family, in those days, was of a far more rigid kind than now.”(Hawthorne 9). They wanted to be considered the holiest of all people because they try to reflect a world of perfection in the sight of God. While they where trying to portray a holy life; however, they where also living a sinful life because they have been judgmental, slandering, uncompassionate, resentment, and forbearing, which are all sinful acts of the bible.
...ty men and women had been accused of being witches. Of those, nineteen of them plead innocent and were hung. One man refused to acknowledge the accusation and refused to enter a plea. He was legally crushed to death. Of the ones who plead guilty and were sent to jail, many contracted illnesses and later died. The outbreak of hysteria caused many to suffer and die, families to break apart, and a society to succumb to the whims of children. In the Puritans quest to create a perfect society based on pure beliefs only created a society ripped apart by tension, anxiety and fear.
In 1692, the occurrence of “witchcraft” began after the Massachusetts Bay Charter revolution and the outbreak of small pox. The rebellion caused hysteria and a sad injustice. Friends were pinned against friends; upstanding citizens were forced to flee for their lives and men and women were put to death (Jurist Legal News and Research Services 2008).The fear of the devil influenced the cruelty that took place. Most of the settlers that established their homes in the colony were puritans, a member of a group of English Protestants who revolted against the Church of England. The belief that God punished sinful behavior with misfortune did not help circumstances. The puritans targeted outcasts, people who never really fit it in; they wanted to rid the towns of these suspected sinners.
The Puritans believed in the idea of predestination. Predestination is the concept that God elects those who will go to Heaven and Hell by the time they are born into this world. So with this idea that was founded by the Puritans themselves, I think they would shun those who appeared unnatural or different to them. In their eyes, to be elected by God and stay away from the snare of the devil, they would constantly stay at work. Only resting for went they went to bed. So naturally, the Puritans came up with the concept that the Devil overcame the body of someone with weak will and transformed them into a witch. One fact of concern that I found to be interesting was that there was an abundance of more killings in puritan colonies associated to witchcraft as opposed to England. Why were there more killings of civilians in colonies in America as opposed to civilians who lived in England during the witch trials? Was this because of religious differences? Or was this resulting from a need to be accepted ...