Wednesday, September 9, 2015

A Puritan Life

Please read ALL of the following directions:
Based on your experiences with the readings and information you consumed on the Puritans, what commentary or critique can you give that shows how Puritan culture is reflected in the modern world? (Hence, where do you see Puritanical thinking/values/beliefs/ or language in our modern world?) 
I expect a solid response which shows depth in support and explanation synthesizing these ideas.  Be original, be thoughtful, be real.

When you are done with your response, please ask another critical question (just ask it under your response) that extends the topic AND as a part of your grade, you need to respond to at least 2-3 other people and their thinking.  Make sure you are being constructive and CHALLENGE one another.


93 comments:

  1. As we already know, the life of a Puritan was centered around God. They were also some of the first people to settle in what is now The United States of America, besides, of course, Native Americans. The Puritan culture is believed to have mostly died out in about 1720. Today, nearly 300 years later, the Christian religion has changed greatly. There are so many different denominations of Christianity. And, although we live in a place where one can be whichever religion they choose, Christianity is vastly popular here in the U.S. In fact, 83% of Americans identify as Christian. As they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree. Modern America does not fall too far from our ancestral tree. Today, there are still people who are so deeply rooted in their faith, similar to the Puritans. Can America's deeply rooted Christian faith be traced back to the Puritans? In other words, is it because of them that so many Americans today are Christian?
    Secondly, I find that in Puritan culture, as we can see in Jonathan Edwards' sermon, many people are scared into becoming Christian so that they can reap the benefits of going to Heaven. I have noticed that people today often do that as well. For example, I was raised as a Christian, but I never really wanted to be and I was not interested in being except for wanting to avoid Hell. Is this because it was passed down for centuries, or could it be because that is such a big part of being Christian?
    And finally, Puritans were hard-working, courageous, and adamant. The American Dream was (and presently is) all about being those three things. The American Dream is all about starting with nothing and working hard to become successful. Did we, as Americans, build this country's foundation on the backs of the Puritans? Are our ideals based off of theirs?
    It has been almost 300 years since Puritan culture supposedly died off and today there are still so many Puritan ideals in our world. Do you think that, in another 300 years, these ideas will still ring true? What will change, what will not?

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    1. I think that the Puritan values are so ingrained into our culture that these beliefs will be around for another 300 years. Our ideals are so similar to what the Puritans believed it is easy to say that they are the backbone of America. The fact that these ideals are not ingrained in society by religion and is hard to detect that they will be there for a long time, laying the groundwork for our evolving ideals change. View and opinions of the nation change everyday and it is hard to predict what will stay the same and what will change. If I had to pick one thing that will change in 300 years it would be our stance on modesty. I think that Americans will embrace their sexuality more publicly and it will no longer be frowned upon.

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    2. I really like your analysis on the relationship of Puritanism to America's current main religion. One thing you mentioned that intrigued me was when you said, "…I was raised as a Christian, but never really wanted to be…" It's interesting how people don't get to choose what environment they grow up in. An interesting form of power is when A influences, shapes, and determines B's preferences without B realizing it. A person's family really chooses what someone is interested in as they grow up. You also pointed out that people are scared into religion. Aren't there also people who enter religion with hope? I think that should be acknowledged. Also, I was wondering what you thought about relationships between non-Christian religions and Puritanism. How do other countries besides the US and other races relate to Puritanism? What roots of Puritanism beliefs and culture apply to the world.

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    3. I think the Puritan values are beliefs will remain for another 300 years. I think that people all over the world need something to believe in, in order to drive themselves to be successful. As you stated in your first paragraph, about 83% of the population identify as Christians, it made me think that although religion is not vital to survival, it helps keep people going. People need something to believe in and something to fall on when they are at their lowest point. In your third paragraph you stated that the American Dream is to become successful. I agree with this, because what comes along with success are the feelings of accomplishment and confidence. These are feelings that we as a population crave. These are reasons why I believe that the Puritan ideals will still remain after 300 years.

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  2. Puritan culture can still be found today in the United States. Although it is not quite as extreme as it once was, one could argue that America's conservative values stem directly from the Puritan religion. The article says that between American and Canadian students, American students solved the salvation related anagrams and worked harder. Regardless of religion, how does the souls need for salvation and redemption affect today's values? Americans also have a prudish view on revealing clothing, people who have sex, and language. The article gives an example of an experiment that makes a very compelling argument on this mindset. In my opinion America has so much scandal due to our conservative views. it shocks us when we hear someone was cheating on their wife, or pregnant out of marriage. It leads me to ask the question, how would America be different without these lingering Puritan values? Americans have a focused mindset when it comes to work similarly to the Puritans. Once given a task usually it is all work until the task is done. People today dream of success and progress and leaving their mark on the world. This drivenness seems to stem from the Puritan belief. The Puritans were strongly driven to follow the Lord and stay out of Hell. It consumed their lives. I believe that today Americans have the same drive, maybe even a stronger one. How does the motivation Puritans felt to follow the Lord present itself today? Even though America has freedom of religion do you think that as Americans our non-religious beliefs are mainly from the Puritan religion? How would American life be different today without the Puritans or their values settling in America?

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    1. I found your last question interesting to think about. Although it is hard to see the similarities between our culture and the puritans, I believe they did have a large effect on our culture. If you look at other countries and their founders, most of their founders had a focus of obtaining more wealth and land. This is different from the Puritan because the Puritans founded this country with a focus on religion and escaping the religious persecution they experienced back in Europe. This focus gave them the ability to build a nation on values and morals and not conquering and wealth. Although I am not sure what our country would truly look like without the Puritans, I think that their would be less focus on morals and values.

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    2. Carly I like your questions and they have given me a lot to think over. Especially your last one gives much to ponder. I don't believe that every American today embodies all Puritan values but usually have at least one. Personally, I believe in the value of hard work however I am not traditionally religious. Without the Puritans America would be drastically different. Most of Americans are Christian and value God in their lives. Hard work and independence, valued by Puritans, is the basis of the American Dream. They began the foundation of America and without them it would be very different.

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    3. Carly, your questions were very interesting. I'm am particularly intrigued by your second question. Life could likely be very different if the Puritan culture was never present in the early U.S. Even though it is hard to see the connections between life today and life in Puritan culture, that culture may have had a huge influence on our lives today. Many of our ideals and beliefs have stemmed from their culture. Including the importance of religion in peoples lives. Without their culture we would live very different lives.

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  3. In the United States, a small part of the Puritan life can still be seen; however, it is often covered up by our present day culture. In America today, life is so busy and modern that it is hard to compare it to the simple life experienced by the Puritans. If you look at today's technology and advances, it is hard to see the similarities to life in the 1600's. However, if you look purely at values, more similarities can be seen. One of the most obvious similarities in values is religon. Although not all Americans are christians, a study found that 83% of Americans identify as christian. This information means that about 83% of Americans have similar values to the Puritans. Although Christianity is a less extreme form of Puritan religion, these religions share very similar values. With this information, it would make sense that when surveyed, Americans show more Puritan values than other cultures surveyed. On the other hand, although there are similar values, the multiple century gap between the Puritans and modern day Americans must be considered before saying they are similar. If you look at life for the Puritans, you will find a much simpler and slower life, this is because of the era they lived in. American life today is far more advanced and faster. This huge cultural difference does play a large role in why Puritan and American culture are so different considering their similar values. With modern day technology and culture, Puritan values have become less and less extreme. For example, Puritan life was focused almost solely on their religion. Every good work they did was for their salvation. This has dramatically changed in modern day. Although you may see some people still being this devoted to their religion, most people have made their religion a smaller part of their life. Religion has become smaller since the Puritans as life has become busier and culture has become less traditional. This shift in the importance of religion is the largest factor in why our cultures are so different. Overall, I would say that the Puritan and American cultures have similar values, but these values have weakened throughout the last centuries.
    What major events/changes have caused this shift from a strong focus on religion and values to focus on less religous things (work, technology, wealth)?

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    1. Just like you stated in your paragraph, I agree that cultural difference is a major part of the change in our values. To answer your question, I believe that the major event that caused the shift from focus on religion to work, technology, and health was the development in civilization. What came with the development of civilization affected our world greatly but the one that caused us to stray from the focus on religion was job specialization. I believe that through multiple family generations, the focus on religion was no longer crucial because people started to focus on themselves. They started to realize their interests in different jobs and so their jobs became their main focus.

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    2. Courtney, the evolution of the importance of other things in life has hidden the focus of religion in peoples lives. As the significance of work and success increases, the need for religion decreases. People are now very focused on other aspects of life and because of that, religion has taken a fall. It is true that many people still have strong beliefs and follow them but the majority of people have let that take a backseat to other aspects of life making religion's importance drastically decrease.

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    3. You bring up a lot of interesting concepts that I had not thought about in terms of how modern Americans have strayed away from traditional Puritan values. I feel that you really hit the nail on the head when you described how modern American culture does not leave people with enough time to devote their entire lives to God. This is a wonderful explanation as to why religious Puritan morals have been slowly deteriorating in this country for years. I agree with your comment that there are still a great deal of incredibly devoted Christians left in America, but I do feel that modern advances in technology and science have caused our society to diverge from traditional Christian traditions and values. In fact, statistics show that the percent of American individuals who consider themselves Christian has fallen from 78.4% in 2007, to 70.1% in 2015. It seems that Christianity is slowly declining in the U.S. and I feel that, as you stated, this can be attributed to religion becoming such a smaller part of modern day life, and the fact that the traditional, Puritan values of the past are weakening in our society as time progresses.

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  5. There are so many beliefs that make up Puritan Culture. However after reading the Edwards reading. I believe the Puritan religion was not reflected as it should’ve been. In the reading the feeling that I, as a reader, kept receiving was the feeling of fear. The value they had was the goal of living was salvation. In the Edwards reading, the minister makes the people fear God by making them feel accused for actions that have never taken place. The minister makes them believe that they have sinned, and that they will be punished for it. The actions of the people did not reflect their love of God but rather their fear of going to hell. In Society today, Puritan Culture is not reflected as a religion but as human nature. We as a society cannot accept differences, everyone must be alike to be accepted. The Puritans’ goal in life was salvation which matches our goal today which is acceptance. In every single school and on the web, there are multiple forms of bullying. Statistics show that 35% of kids have been threatened online, 42% have been bullied online and verbally attacked, and a shocking 77% have experienced verbal abuse in school. Bullies, just like the Puritan Ministers, make people feel as if they have done something wrong and use verbal abuse to get their point across. The people then try to find acceptance by changing themselves, including their actions, wardrobe, activites etc. They both make the people feel fear for the way they live. The Puritan Minister makes the people fear their God, and bullies make others fear their own actions and choices. Soon people no longer live for themselves but live for salvation or acceptance. We believe that we need to be accepted in order to be content with our lives, similarly the Puritans believed that they need to be delivered from their sins in order to have lived an exemplary life. This is why I believe that the Puritan Culture still lies within Society today. But If our world has developed so drastically from the 1600’s, and is now “completely” different, then why do our values of acceptance still remain the same?

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    1. I totally agree with your thoughts on the fact that puritans were Christians out of fear rather than love. And I am really intrigued by your comparison of Puritan to ministers to bullies, I never would have thought of it like that but you show in so many ways how similar they really are. So would you consider Puritan Ministers to be bullies? If the ministers were bullies, that totally counteracts with their faith and their strive to be like God. Don't you think that if Puritans wanted to be like God they would have done it in a way that makes people feel loved rather than different and unacceptable? So why were they like that? It just baffles me. You pose a very good question on why our values of acceptance stay the same if our world around us keeps changing. I think that a big part of this could be that although the world is constantly changing, history repeats itself. So this is just an episode of history repeating itself.

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    2. I agree with you, Michelle; a lot of religion was (and presently is, in some regions) ruled by fear. Puritan culture was essentially based on fear, just like when we talked about culture and fear in America a couple weeks ago. However, I disagreed with "We as a society cannot accept differences, everyone must be alike to be accepted." I think that that stopped being true, at least in America, around the 1970's. Obviously not everyone accepts everyone else, but as far as the majority goes, people have become far more accepting. Another example of ruling by fear, although it's a bit of a stretch, is the Nazi Regime. To answer your question, we aren't completely different. No human is every completely different from another human.

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    3. Michelle, you present a really interesting concept that I hadn't thought of before, relating today's bullies to Puritan ministers who you could almost say shoved their beliefs down people's throats. Why do you think so many people back then considered themselves Puritans? Do you believe that they were blinding following what their ministers said, or do you think that they knew what was happening but didn't choose to rebel against it? Why wouldn't anyone stand up against the ministers and contradict them?

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    4. Michelle, you presented this point in such a interesting way. I would have never thought about it like this and am intrigued by the idea of the Puritan Minister actually being a bully. In response to your question, I don't think that all of our values of acceptance remain the same. There will always be people that don't accept change and wish for everything to stay the same, but there are also activists striving toward positive change all the time. In the last year alone, gay marriage has become legal as well as Death with Dignity in some states. The idea that people's acceptance toward one another in every way has not changed in the least, doesn't completely line up with the change we have seen over time.

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  6. We can use attribution theory to help explain why some Puritans would make religious assumptions with no evidence. The Puritans would attribute occurrences and behaviors to religious believes. These attributions are an attempt of the Puritans to make sense of the event without having to worry about the reality of the situation. This belief used as a fact is associated with external attribution. Fritz Heider was the first to develop and establish attribution theory. Attribution theory explains how people tend to create cause and effect relationships with no evidence to support any relationship existing (McLeod). In the Salem Witch Trials, the Puritans attributed the sicknesses to religious beliefs. In their case, they claimed that Satan caused the witchcraft. This same process of associating circumstances with unrelated reasons to explain the circumstance occurs in the modern world too. People still tie religion and God to events in their life. This is why some people have trouble with or grow closer to religion during times of adversity. They either accept the Puritan ideal that they have to follow God closer in order to be on the right path or they question why a God would ever let this happen to them. Either way, the attribute the event to religion. Attribution theory also explains why people blame other people for their shortcomings or misunderstandings. Every once in a while, I hear a student blame a teacher for a bad test grade. They attribute the low score to the teacher not explaining everything clearly enough for them to understand. It isn't their fault but instead the teachers. The inconsistency in their attribution is how other students at the same level manage to achieve a better score. The Holocaust from WWII is the attribution of a loss to a racial minority. In each of these cases, the person or group of people who attribute an event to other people don't understand why something happened or aren't comfortable with reality. They make up an excuse or explanation to provide an answer for why something occurred.
    Attribution theory is very easily seen in Puritan culture but I think it existed before it became a center piece to their culture. A general function and desire of pride is to achieve perfection. It is much easier for pride to attribute a fault to something in the environment than to accept the mistake. This helps pride avoid blemishes that would eliminate its desire for perfection. The doctors of Salem would never admit to not knowing what caused the sickness. This forced them to create a reason to explain the sickness. In every society, Puritans and the current global community, attribution theory exists because pride leads to excuses to make sense of an event.
    Question: What do attributions say about a person's character? What kind of people are less likely to make attributions? What about those who are more likely?

    Citations:
    McLeod, S. A. (2010). Attribution Theory. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/attribution-theory.html

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    1. Griffin- Good question! An attribution is basically defined as a quality of a person, so I think that we can see who a person is based on how they act, and possibly why they act the way they do. In relation to the puritans, I think their attributions were based on God, and the things they believed in their religion.
      Personally, I think people who are less motivated about life will be less likely to make contributions, which are the base for attributions. However, I think that all people have the capability to offer up attributions to this society- it just may be that some are more motivated in some activities and less motivated in others, so I really think that it depends on the person, and how far they are willing to work to make a contribution. I think that contributions in turn make a person who they are, and so if a person is less/more likely to make contributions to their world or society, then they are less/more likely to make attributions.

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  7. I think that puritanical values, thinking, beliefs, and language is still very apparent in our modern world through the actions of modern day Christians. The main focus of the Puritans was their faith in God, and because America is defined as a “Christian Nation” it's obvious that we would see lifestyles in the modern world that somewhat that originate from our puritan ancestors. In the first reading, of plymouth plantation by William Bradford, we see the sick puritans being tended to by those who are healthy and by doing so risking their own health. I see this value of caring for others and putting them before yourself all the time in our modern world, especially in my own neighborhood. If someone needs something, you could send out an email to the neighborhood and within 5 minutes someone would respond and your needs would be met. I think that the meaning of the word Christian today is vastly different than it was 300+ years ago. 300 years ago people were not followers of God out of love, but rather out of fear of going to Hell. As far as I see it today, most people are Christian because they actually want and desire to live a life of following God, which I think is wonderful and that’s how it should be. It is arguable that many of today’s Christians are just out of fear but that number has definitely gone down over the past 300 years.
    What caused the shift from a nation of majority Christians out of fear to majority Christians out of love?

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    1. Kayla, you mentioned a lot of insightful things. I do have one question for you though: you say that, "...and because America is defined as a 'Christian Nation' it's obvious that we would see lifestyles in the modern world that somewhat that originate from our puritan ancestors." Do you think that similar things happen in other cultures too? I believe that such a huge shift probably came from when people decided to start seeing God in a different light. I'm not sure exactly when, but something like that could've come from around the 1920's.

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    2. Kayla, I really liked what you said about the shift from fear to love and that many Christians identify themselves as that because of their desire to follow God. I think that this shift from fear to love could have been the result of people not being happy with the amount of love in the world we live in, and being upset with the amount of fear that the world instigates. So, people began finding the love they were searching for in God, and they started focusing on the love instead of the fear because they already had enough fear in their lives, and not enough love.

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    3. Kayla, I agree with your observation that Christians have seemed to enter Christianity through love rather than fear in modern society. One reasonable explanation for this shift could be how people have become more educated and the church has become less of an influence. This allows people to have more freedom with their beliefs. They can choose to see God as more of a benevolent figure rather than an angry commanding deity.

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  8. While Puritan ideals are still prevalent in society, they aren’t nearly as rife as they once were in America. This can be attributed to the significant amount of immigrants who reside in America today. After Puritanical times were nearly over, more and more Europeans began immigrating to the United States. WIth them, they brought their own unique traditions, beliefs, and cultures. Over time, these foreign cultures, mixed with Puritanical values, meshed to become a melting pot of cultures worldwide. Today, America embodies all of these cultures. However, Puritan thinking is still at the forefront. For example, in May 2013, a couple from Pennsylvania demonstrated their complete trust in God by refusing medical treatment for one of their children. Their eight-month-old son eventually died from pneumonia, and instead of pursuing a doctor, the couple “...prayed over Brandon as his condition worsened...” (Hallowell). Now, the couple is in legal trouble for their supposed negligence, but there’s no denying this decision goes hand-in-hand with Puritanical thinking. At the heart of the Puritan culture is God. All members of society acted as He wanted them to, and they followed the Bible religiously (pun intended). The fact the parents are being persecuted for their decision demonstrates a shift in beliefs from the 17th century, when this type of tragedy would’ve been acceptable. Many Puritan families had multiple children, because the survival rate was much lower than it is today. The Pennsylvanian couple has seven other children, which draws even more parallels to Puritan times. Although much has changed in the 300 years since the Salem Witch Trials (the epitome of Puritan thinking), many Puritan beliefs and values are still noticeable in the world today.

    Question: The Latin root “pur” means “pure”. Why is this the name given to represent the Puritan ideals? Do you agree with the name?

    Works Cited:

    Hallowell, Billy. "Faith-Healing Parents Charged With Murder for Refusing Kids’ Medical Care — Should They Go to Prison?" The Blaze. The Blaze, 24 May 2013. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.

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    1. Kirk I think you pose a very interesting question and you bring up good points in your comment. I believe that the name is given because Puritans believed that what they practiced was the purest way of living. They sought salvation and put God before anything else. By taking the Bible literally, or "purely" they saw themselves as cleaner than other people and closer to salvation. I agree with the concept of the name however I do not think that some of the Puritans actions (Salem Witch Trials, shunning, unfair court systems, etc.) can be qualified as pure.

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    2. Kirk, that was a very interesting connection to what happened in 2013. I hadn't heard of it until now. Do you think that the government has the right to punish the parents for acting as their beliefs deemed fit? Our Constitution tells us that we can follow any religion of our choosing, or none at all if that's what we want, but then when our religion conflicts with what the government wants, they have the ability to punish us. Do you believe that our government should have that authority, or should all people who identify with a certain religion be given free reign to act in whatever way they choose, if they attribute their actions to religion? But then contradicting myself, that connects to our conversations with Unnatural Killers, and if our society is always in need of a scapegoat. In my argument, that presents religion as a scapegoat, when I had believed that we all need to be responsible for our own actions. Contradictory, I know, but just a thought.

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    3. Kirk, that is a really interesting story and I really liked your thoughts on America's shift in ideals can be traced back to immigration. As for Puritan having a root meaning pure, I think that it was a fit name for them. The Puritans main focus in life was God, and because God was sinless he is the most pure thing there could be. Also, they followed the values of God which were also very pure morals. However, like Maddie said, I don't think that the Puritans necessarily lived up to this pure life that they thought they were living. It doesn't make sense to me that someone so devoted to God would treat people the way that they did during the Salem which trials.

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    4. Kirk- interesting thought in finding the Latin root of this word. I think that the Puritans believed that their religion was pure and holy, and that was part of the reason that they came to America in the first place: to find religious freedom. It seems as though their beliefs did start out very pure, and they worked hard to keep it like that. However, as time went by, and their culture became influenced by outside sources and some within, the beliefs they had thought once so perfect started going slightly off track. I do believe that the Puritans found a way to keep their religion in tact, and perhaps this is why we have named them "The Puritans"- simply for their ability to keep their religion as pure as they did.

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    5. I guess 8th grade Latin root words came in handy after all. I think that purity is very prominent in puritan culture. They want to be completely pure and free of sin. No lying, no premarital sex, nothing that can make you impure. You were to be completely perfect at all times or else there was no way you'd make it to heaven. I think it reflects their most prominent views in the religion.

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  9. Puritans were the first Europeans in the New World. They were fleeing the strict religious rules of England and hoped to practice their beliefs in America. God was the most important thing in a Puritan’s life. They valued hard work, independence, and thought about the state of their soul constantly. Many of these morals and values are still ingrained into the American mindset even today.
    Hard work is a large part of the American dream. The land of opportunity and freedom is what America began as. The Puritans believed heavily in hard work and thought of any and all successes as a gift from God. They worked everyday (except the Sabbath day) and everyone had different jobs. Their communities functioned systematically and all the people played parts in the community. As we see from the article “Still Puritan After All These Years” modern pastors like Martin Luther and John Calvin argued that work was a calling from God. Puritan ideals about work and successes have stayed in the minds of most Americans who participate in the typical cycle of birth-work-death.
    In the 300 years since the Puritans first came to America Christianity has grown and changed immensely. In America today the First Amendment allows anyone to be whatever religion they chose. However a majority of people in U.S. identify as Christian, whether it be Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, etc. Modern Christians value faithfulness, modesty, and good deeds as means to ensure one’s own salvation much like the Puritans. I believe that a lot of Americans’ conservative beliefs stem from Puritanical culture. In the third reading by pastor John Edwards readers are given a fire and brimstone sermon that asks them to act so they may save their souls. This fear of Hell and damnation can also be attributed to modern day where often people will attempt to force others into Christianity. While this is well meant, it usually involves fear tactics and punishments. Puritans also took the Bible literally, they believed that every word was law. Today many continue to take the Bible literally and without room for more modern needs. Puritanical beliefs are very ingrained into the culture of America however they have been given slightly different names and are practiced by many different people.

    Question: What aspects of Puritan lifestyle do you think you embody? How does the modern American teenager reflect Puritan ideals? Do you think there has been a shift in how heavily people rely on Christianity? If yes, is the shift good or bad and why?


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    1. Maddie, I really like your questions. In my opinion I think that I embody the focus of Puritans. My focus tends to tunnel whenever I have a large task at hand. I think that focus and hard work is a big part of teenage culture today. Kids our age are worried about sports, grades, college, relationships, even work. We have so much to manage and worry about that focus is a must when it comes to getting things done. The mindset of Puritans helps us today to be productive and motivated towards progress.

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    2. Maddie, I really like all of the points you brought up! I think that many modern American teenagers are expected to reflect certain Puritan ideals that their parents emphasized as they were growing up. I think that work is a very important part of a modern teenager's life, because the importance of grades and GPA's is stressed so often, and so much weight is put on your grades in high school. However, the Puritans were motivated to work hard for God, while most modern teenagers do not have God as their main motivation to work hard.

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  10. Although Puritanism's prime is considered to be long over, the fundamentals of Puritanism can still be seen today in our modern world, but especially in America. Today in America, more than 70% of adults consider themselves to be Christian. Even though there are many similarities between Puritanism and Christianity, Puritan sermons tended to focus more on escaping hell and instilling fear into the Puritans. However, today the majority of Christian sermons steer away from the idea of hell and focus more on how to achieve heaven; therefore instilling hope rather than fear. While the teachings of Puritanism and Christianity may vary a bit, the core values remain the same. Many of the 30% of Americans who do not consider themselves Christians still share these same values. People that drink, have a lot of sex, use profane language, party, and have a child outside of marriage are not considered to have good morals by many Americans. Much of our news is consumed by stories of adultery because the news outlets know that many Americans consider cheating to be wrong and will be shocked by the story. Americans, like the Puritans, value hard work. The "American dream" is to be successful through hard work and dedication. The Puritans also valued work, but they worked for the single purpose of pleasing God. While many Americans still work for this purpose, the motives of money, fame, and successfulness can distract from the motive of pleasing God, and the motive of pleasing God can at times become a smaller priority or disappear alltogether. Many Puritan values can be seen in our world today, but these values can sometimes be forgotten about or pushed to the side because of the lack of accountability. In Puritan times, everybody watched each other very closely because everybody held the exact same beliefs and values. Today, while the values of people are very similar, people are given more freedom to choose their beliefs and values, meaning that the beliefs and values of one person can differ slightly from another. Because of the slight difference in values from person to person, people do not hold each other accountable as much in the Puritan times, which is why we are not as deeply rooted in our beliefs and values as the Puritans were. The beliefs and values of Puritans can still be seen in America today, but they are not held to the same pedestal.
    If everyone in America was expected to hold the same beliefs and values, would we see more similarities to the Puritans?
    In another 300 years, will it be harder to see the similarities between Puritan and American values?
    If accountability was a bigger priority, would we see more consistency with the values that Americans hold?

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    1. I thought also wondered what this topic will be like in another 300 years. I think that looking at what has happened in the last 300 years, we are going to begin to have less and less in common with the Puritans. I think it is hard to keep values the same as times change, especial with 600 years. I think that their will still be a large majority of Christians and thus a lot of similar values, but I think that it would be impossible to maintain Puritan values for 600 years. Do you think it could be done?

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    2. I think that the question - "In another 300 years, will it be harder to see the similarities between Puritan and American values?" Personally, I think that there will always be that belief in God, and some sort of after life. I think people will always be searching for more answers about death and where we go. I think that religion has been around almost as long as people have been and it will always play a major roll in society. And it may not be as based around fear, or maybe as extreme in all cases, but I definitely think people will practice religions that are similar in beliefs and values to the Puritans.

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    3. I especially liked your last question, "If accountability was a bigger priority, would we see more consistency with the values that Americans hold?" For me accountability is something we are lacking in a way. In the school system teachers are head responsible by parents instead of the student, which to me is completely backward. I believe one should be held accountable for one's actions. If more Americans became focused on holding each other accountable, we would see a dramatic change in values. People would become more driven to do right instead of taking an easy way out. Now, there may be more to this plan of action than what is immediately seen, but I believe accountability is the first step.

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    4. Rachel, I think your question about the similarities between Puritans and American Values in the next 300 years is a good question. Personally, I think that there will always be some base beliefs such as the belief in God and the afterlife. But in today's culture religion and beliefs are always changing and it will be interesting to see what the future holds.

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    5. Rachel, I really love your question about considering the greater amount of similarities that our society and Puritans would have if Americans were forced to have the same beliefs and values. I absolutely think that our society would be similar. The Puritans immediate negative response to things out of their comfort zone would definitely occur in our society as well. If we were all expected to have the same morals and someone went out of those lines, of course we would look at them funny and wonder what they were doing. It would be very interesting to actually see this happen if the same beliefs were placed on Americans.

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  11. Although Puritanism is not nearly as prevalent nowadays as 300 years ago, there are still underlying similarities present in today's modern culture to "back then". One similarity I see is in many people who call themselves Christians. Just like the Puritans, many Christians today focus on the end result of religion, and how to achieve life after death, instead of the journey throughout life. The Puritans were so caught up in how to earn heaven and stay out of hell. They believed in life after death, but that that was the only thing that mattered; that your actions on earth are to earn a spot in heaven. Many Christians today believe the same thing. They don't care about a relationship with God, only the end result, hopefully life in heaven. Growing up Christian and being a strong believer, I believe that it isn't about religion but about the relationship. It's not all about getting into heaven. It's about living life like God and yearning to be more like Him daily, loving others as He loved them, knowing that there's more to life than just this world. Heaven is an end result, but it's not all that matters. Many Christians believe otherwise, as I've already explained.
    That's where I see one similarity between the modern world and the Puritans, but another is in their belief of a strict adherence to the Bible. The Puritans followed the Word of God to a T, leaving no room for open interpretation in what it says. Many religions are like that today too. I believe that there is more open interpretation to the Bible in Christianity, but when we look at other religions such as Islam, they still believe in a strict adherence to their laws and ways. Having commemorated 9/11 only days ago, I did a little research into Islam and connected it to many social studies conversations. The 9/11 attack, led by Al-Qaeda, partially concerned religion. The Islamic extremists looked at America, a nation that was very much not Islamic, and decided that because we were not a nation based on the same beliefs, and that our ways were wrong, they would attack us. They wanted to get rid of any nation that did not strictly enforce religion and base their government off of it. Just like the Puritans, modern religions take their laws incredibly seriously.

    Are there any other major events in American history such as 9/11 that we can trace similarities back to nearly 300 years ago?

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    1. Ashley, I really like what you said about how Christians and people in general focus on the end result instead of the big picture. Today there is Isis in the Middle East who as a group is against western culture. This principle of being against those with idles unlike one's own can also be traced back to Puritanism.

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    2. Ashley, you wrote about how in your opinion, Puritans were too focused on getting into heaven or as you put it, "how to achieve life after death" as opposed to "the journey throughout life". You also reference your personal beliefs, stating that in your opinion, it's about the relationship you have with God. You go on to talk about how this relationship inspires you to love others, and do other good deeds. My question is if the end result of trying to be a better person and doing good deeds can be achieved by fear of not going to heaven or because you love God, what makes the way you are inspired to be good any different, or even slightly better than the Puritans, or the Christians who don't share your exact philosophy? If anything, wouldn't Christians motivated by fear of going to hell have even more of a drive to do good things, and to work harder like shown in the study that compared Americans and Canadians doing word puzzles? Martin Luther also grew up a Christian, and was a strong believer (like how you identify yourself) but unlike you, believed in predestination. This did not seem to affect his focus on "the journey throughout life" as Martin Luther changed the world forever.

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  12. Although they may not be entirely direct, America certainly shares a number of parallels with Puritan culture, both good and bad. One of the most prominent parallels between America today and early Puritan morals is the idea that hard work and constancy are the ultimate keys to prosperity and divine deliverance. During the 1900s the idea of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" was an extremely common concept in America. The saying was meant to remind Americans that they had to work almost impossibly hard and rely solely on themselves and their own will to overcome in order to succeed. The American idea of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is very similar to the Puritan idea that, in order to get to heaven, one had to demonstrate a commendable work ethic and be completely self- reliant when trying to satisfy God.
    Despite the positive repercussions of the Puritan morals regarding hard work and determination, there are also many negative American beliefs that were derived from Puritan culture. One of the worst being our tendency to extract fear and crudeness from the unknown. The Puritan concept of Supremacy of Divine Will has been carried through American history for centuries and has caused many cases of improper scapegoating and the unjust punishment of innocent individuals. The most well-known example of this during the era of Puritanism in America was the Salem Witch Trials. Because the Puritans did not know what was happening to some of the young girls in their community when they fell ill with a mysterious disease, they concluded that it was the work of witches, and decided to uncover and punish the supposed witches in their community. Although it may no longer be specific to the will of God or the work of witches or spawns of Satan, fear of the unknown and the negative repercussions of it are still very prominent in American culture. A wonderful example of America's reactions to outlandish occurrences was our reaction to the Red Scare during the 1950's. Because the U.S. was so afraid of the prospect of Communism, and the possibility of the Soviet Union possessing a nuclear weapon, we decided to seek out and try anyone who we thought could be communist, even though there was never any actual offence committed against the United States. It was the fear that there could be a threat from the Soviet Union that in turn led to mass hysteria , much like the Salem Witch Trials, which created a kind of moral blindness within the American people, leading them to commit offences against innocent people that they would come to regret in the future.
    I have also concluded that another prominent parallel between modern American culture and Puritanism is the way that modern society views women. Although there have been incredible advancements for women's rights in the past, the notion that women are inferior in intelligence and moral strength compared to men still lingers in our society today. However, I feel that our society will only continue to deviate from these values, and overcome these unjust moral dilemmas.
    The final parallel that I have observed is, of course, the abundance of Christian morals in both Puritan and modern American societies. Nearly every aspect of the Puritans life revolved around their faith in God, and although the majority modern Americans are not nearly as endlessly devoted to their faith, we still maintain an abundance of Christian ideals in our culture. Matthew Hutson states in his article Still Puritan After All These Years “Whatever these Americans explicitly believed (or didn’t believe) about God, something like Puritan values seemed to be guiding their moral judgments.” Although not everyone in America identifies as a Christian, Puritan morals affect everyone, regardless of faith. They are not only part of our religious culture, but our culture as a whole, and we still embody a multitude of Puritan values 300 years after Puritan culture was thought to have concluded.

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  13. Critical Question: What are some changes in modern culture that embody a deviation from Puritan ideals?
    Do you feel that Puritan culture will slowly withdraw from American society to the point where there are almost no parallels between modern culture and Puritan culture?

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    1. Those are very interesting questions, Delaney! I think that a clear deviation in modern culture is found in our taste in music. While some people listen to Christian music, (which would preach similar ideas to what the Puritans believed), there are also a majority of people who listen to music with explicit lyrics and sometimes violent themes. For example, the #2 song in iTunes right now is explicit. This type of language would be highly looked down upon in Puritan societies. I don't think Puritan culture will ever totally go away. There's enough diversity in the world that makes it very challenging for a way of life to ever fully disappear.

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    2. I think that in time we will have no draws to the Puritan culture. But, they were also a large part of America's core so that's a tough one to think about. America is constantly changing with new trends and new standards, and traditions are becoming more and more uncommon. I think it will become much more difficult to realize the similarities between our two cultures, but I do think some will remain.

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    3. Hey girl!!!!!!!1!1!!!!1
      I think that one of the biggest deviations in modern society is the acceptance of other religions. Back in the day, I'm sure there was no way they would be accepting of any other religion. They were being very harsh towards other Puritans that weren't perfect, and even accused innocent people of being witches, so obviously they wouldn't have been very happy with a person that celebrates another religion.
      I think that Puritan culture will continue to withdraw, but highly doubt that it will completely withdraw, because Christianity is still prominent in our society and there are definitely some parallels in the beliefs there, as Puritanism is a branch of Christianity.

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  14. Although Puritan culture is not nearly as relevant as it once was, it is still seen in today's society. It can mostly be seen in beliefs as well as in the values of people today. The Puritan religion is based upon god. It it the center of all of their beliefs and impacts every decision they make, what they where, what they say, and even what they thought was influenced by that presence. In today's society God(s) play a major role in almost all religions. In most cases, people do not follow God with the same sincerity as did the Puritans but it is the basis for the major religions followed by millions. In addition, the the core values they possessed are also relevant in the culture of today. In the Puritan culture hard work was a sign of God's grace. Working hard would help them gain trust from it and that pushed people to work harder and to work with purpose. Today hard work has a different purpose, but it has all stemmed out from that initial belief of pleasing God. The purpose is now to have success, to build something that people could be proud of and would wake a difference. Even though it is on a lesser scale, puritan beliefs are still ever present in society.

    Question: Is it moral for people to devote their entire lives to pleasing one being? For example, the Puritans devotion to God.

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    1. I think that your question is an interesting way of looking at things, but I would wonder if it is moral or not depending on how people devote their lives to "pleasing one being". The Puritans killed 20 people and spread fear of their God. It created an unhealthy society that ended up in the deaths of many. I think it really depends on the person and their beliefs if it is "moral" or not, but how you devote or worship can be determined either moral or not.

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    2. I think if you are willing to devote your whole life to one being you can. Some people may think that there are better causes to devote your time and energy to, like charities or researching disease. It all depends on what you think about religions, they can seem pointless hut they have also driven the human spirit for centuries. Although it seems more like a question of practicality. If you truly believe that this being deserves your energy and devotion, then, more power to you.

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  15. The Puritan culture left a major impact on our society and continues to everyday. For example, today there is still strong belief in a God or higher power, and something “bigger” after death. This view is embraced by many cultures, people and different religions all over the world today. There was also the fear of not living as “God says” and being sent to hell. I believe that this culture that the Puritans embraced lead to the extremism of religious beliefs, and that extremism in different faith is now more prominent in the modern world than ever. During the Puritan era, the Salem Witch Trials in which 20 people were murdered because of an all-consuming fear of offending God. This uncontrollable constant terror continued to feed the people of Salem, and it lead to an rash outbreak of killing. Extremist actions based around religion today, are shown in all parts of the world. People still have those basic beliefs, in a higher power, and some sort of life after death. But, much like the Salem Witch Trials the fear of somehow disobeying God, or angering God in any way can lead to violent actions. One example that has been the focus of the media, is ISIS(aka Islamic State). ISIS is based off of The Islamic values and beliefs, that they have a God, and that Islamic people should surrender to his commandments and embrace them fully from within. ISIS, though much debated over, has taken this belief and turned it into a very violent way of getting their faith across to the world. Many people might think that taking ISIS and comparing their actions to the The Puritan’s is extreme itself, but looking at why these two different groups perform(ed) such brutal acts of violence and why, draws many parallels to our society. The reflection of The Puritan’s violent acts done in the name of religion to our modern world are personally very clear in many ways.

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    1. Question: Do you believe that the it is a fair comparison, when it comes to the actions from different groups (The Puritans and ISIS) due to religious beliefs? Why?

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    2. That is definitely a good question Molly. I feel the difference between the two "organizations" is violence. The Puritans didn't think that they needed to inflict violence on anyone to prove their beliefs, and they didn't. They peacefully resolved the conflict by avoiding the disbelievers and making their own way. Whereas ISIS is a group of radical Muslims who want to eliminate disbelievers (keep in mind I know little about the beliefs and practices of ISIS) and they result to intense violence to solve these conflicts.

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    3. Molly, you proposed a really good question. I don't want to sound vindictive in saying this, but I think there is a solid comparison between the Puritan's and ISIS. They both act upon showing their god what is believed to be right. ISIS is in complete dismay over westernized civilization and truly believes that attacking it and risking their lives to rid the evil of it will show their god the true faith that they have. Similarly, the Puritans believed that there were witches who worshipped the devil. They showed their god how much faith they had by killing the suspected witches. Both groups showed similar patterns of violence when an 'evil' arose, and I think for this reason it is completely fair to look at both of these events and compare the happenings.

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    4. Great question, Molly. I believe there is a definite comparison, because both sets of religious groups say they acted upon their religious beliefs as a way of shifting blame from their violent acts. Some can try and attribute it to either religion as a whole as well, but in reality, it is groups of misguided, scared, angry people trying to approve violence under a large religious umbrella.

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    5. Molly, this is an extremely interesting comparison of two groups, but I have to say that it is extremely valid. Both of these groups take their beliefs and put punishments against people who don't believe or do things exactly like them. Their faith is taken to a level where it is questionable if it is even following their own values. Both these groups have resulted to extreme violence in which I believe to be extremely inappropriate. Do you think the way that these groups of people deal with ideas and people outside of their "norm" is inappropriate and in a way, just flat out wrong?

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    6. This is a great question and there are very similarities between the two groups. They are not similar in aspect of how they follow their religion. ISIS uses violence when the puritans didn't. Both groups have very strong beliefs that they follow strictly. Although they believe in different things the base of religion first is present in both.

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  16. Despite the fact that Puritans are not as prevalent in society as they were over 300 years ago, one can look in American society today and see distinct traces back to this religion. These customs are especially noticeable in the school system. For example, Puritans lived lives with strict rules about how to live to please God. Many of these set rules were about how to dress to be appropriate. However, there were only exact rules for how women must dress none were particularly stated for men. This directly relates to school dress codes today. Countless rules about how long a girl's skirt can be and how wide the straps must be are set, yet nowhere in the code of conduct does it specify such rules for boys. Every year students must attend back-to-school assemblies where such rules are discussed, and when it comes time to talk about the dress code, the principle specifically calls the girls' attention to the dress code policies. Even outside of school, girls who show more skin are categorized as less respectable. Also, Puritan values were centered around pleasing God and getting to heaven. This corresponds with the idea of how women should show less skin. In society today girls how dress more freely are often thought of as less pure in their actions as well. This subtle correlation between American culture today and Puritans of the 1600's is just the being. People harshly judge the others around them based on clothing, language, or where their goals are in life, such as to life morally or with a more relaxed idea of right and wrong. Americans, although not many still practice Puritanism, many still live similarly in the way they see people in society.

    Question: Will society ever completely shift away from customs such as setting such rules about women's clothing in society? What could spark such a social change?

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    1. I think slowly but surely America is shifting away from those customs, but there will always be those people saying it's wrong and passing that on to further generations. I don't think there will ever be a time when everyone agrees that people can be themselves and dress how they want to dress. If anything, there needs to be a large social movement to get everyone on board, but that could be extremely difficult to accomplish.

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    2. I agree with your points, and I wonder if this custom of women's sheltering directly stems from religion? If so, then why not take it away at this point? Have we moved so far from it being attributed to religion that it has become its own entity?

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    3. If America continues to change to be more gender equal and more accepting of people's unique ideas, then I believe that the culture could shift enough to wear women weren't expected to dress a certain way. The U.S. is starting to understand how women can be more accepted for their own individual ideas of beauty and fashion, hopefully leading to an absence of standards of what should be worn and purchased.

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    4. Throughout all of history, acceptable ways for women to dress have changed and evolved significantly. During the 20th century, it seemed like every new decade brought along new styles of clothing that were acceptable for women to wear, and the amount of clothes that society felt was necessary for a woman to wear slowly decreased as time went on. The skirts of the 1950s, for example, were significantly higher than the skirts of the 1920's and the in the 1990's it was far more acceptable to wear clothes that showed off skin than it would have been in the 1930's, and society had to learn to accept these changes. Fashion is constantly changing, and the history of America suggests that it will not be long before the clothes in which women wear today will seem overly modest compared to the fashion trends of the future. Although there will always be rules regarding what is acceptable for people to wear to school, the rules are constantly changing and evolving to fit the trends of the time, and I feel that after a while society will become accustomed to the fact that fashion is always evolving, and will learn to accept change as it comes. However, I agree with you that it is unfair to put such strict rules on the way that woman can dress, without properly addressing some of the male trends that also serve as violations to dress codes.

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  17. Although Puritan values are no longer as prevalent in the modern world as they once were, our culture still pertains to some of their basic fundamentals. Puritan's primarily based their lives around God and working toward whatever it took to please him. Today, I think that there is a direct overlap between Christianity and Puritanism. They instill many of the same views when it comes to the treatment of others and practicing good deeds. While the Puritan ideals hold true to some aspects of our society, I don't believe that is the case for every aspect or everyone for that matter. When reading Hutson's article, I couldn't help but think that the anagrams, sprinkled with salvation-related words were easy to solve because people pertained to those values, but because they have been deemed right by our society. There are absolutely people that hold true to these salvational values, but there are others that simply don't, or do in fear of potentially going to Hell or being looked down upon by society. In the writing from the Puritan packet, "From Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards, I can feel the fear that was being pressed onto the Puritan's. Today, I don't think there is such an extreme in forcing people to believe in anything, but on some level, the modern world holds a social standard as to what is acceptable. Much more is accepted today than what might have been in the 17th century, so while there are still remnants of the Puritan values, the world in which we live has changed so much to where these values have changed a lot as well.

    Why do you think there was a shift from everyone instilling the same faith during the Puritan time, to the modern United States, where there are many different faiths and values that correspond to one's true beliefs?

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    1. Bailey, I think that the shift came at the same time as the swarm of immigrants in the early 1900s. Before America was home to millions of people, the act of spreading a single religion to everybody would've been a relatively simple task. However, in today's country, it would be nearly impossible to instill a uniform faith into everybody's life. As more people come to a certain place, as do new beliefs. The cultural diversity of the 21st century in America would've been unimaginable in Puritan times.

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    2. Bailey, I agree with Kirk on the idea of the shift came when the swarm of immigration came. I think it is very hard to change when many different cultures and ideas are being introduced. This is what we see with the Puritans. When the different cultures and ideas are introduced to an old culture, things begin to change. This change brings us to modern day America.

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    3. I also agree with Scott and Kirk with the idea that the shift came around the same time as the immigrants came. With all of the people moving from the different countries there is bound to be differentiations in the cultures. New morals and religious ideas are introduced to not only the Americans, but everyone that has moved to America. Every religion is going to slightly be influenced by the new ideas and people are going to find other religions and beliefs that they would rather live by.

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  18. If anything, America is the most modernized culture that is similar to Puritan cultures. This country was founded on Puritans and their core values. Puritans were the first with the essential American dream and they established civilization on American soil because of their beliefs and their journey. Therefore, the Puritan mindset is still somewhat prevalent in American culture today, It has undertones in the art and and music today. The Puritan ideals of perseverance and sticking to your guns when nobody else is on your side are what have stuck around in the american spirit for centuries. Due to the fact that Puritans changed the way people thought about religion forever, they changed the world along with them. They made people realize that there is no reason to follow all of the intense rules in order to "go to heaven," it is about following god, his teachings, and his love. To them it was about interpreting the central ideas in the Bible and focusing on what God wanted for them and for their lives. This idea of Pure-itanism changed the world, because with it came the establishment of America. Nobody had ever really seen anything like America, an extension of a prosperous country that eventually split off completely. The Puritans started a revolution that changed the world, with it came the American Dream, Democracy, and Twinkies. Even though Puritanism is barely apparent in American culture any more, America is a prosperous and strong country, all started by one group of people with an idea, the Puritans.

    Question: Does America still hold pure ideals and remain an unchanged country at the very core? In other words, have we deviated from the once pure ideals of the Puritans?

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    1. Aidan, In response to your questions I don't think that people in modern America have completely deviated from the ideas of the puritans. I think we have all met people that consider themselves under a specific religion but only practice the religion on major holidays or milestones. Not to suggest that this is the case for all people but it could be that many of these people adopted the beliefs from family and are motivated by fear (Just like the Puritans) to still practice the religion because they don't want to jeopardize their fate if there is really life after death.

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  19. Though the Puritan culture is not as prevalent as it once was we can still see its impacts on today's society. The Puritans beliefs revolved around the idea that God is angry and it is his choice whether you go to hell or not. In today's society there is the "American Dream." This is that hard work will bring success. In the Puritan culture it was more hard work will please God. In the different articles I got the feeling of fear. The Puritan people had the fear of God and the fear of going to Hell. This is what drove them to do different things to please God. In today's society we can see people doing things out of fear. It is not the idea of displeasing God, but it can come from different things such as failure. Even though there aren't as many puritans as there used to be, one can still see the similarities in today's culture.
    Question: To what extent does fear drive a culture?

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    1. Scott- I love this question, even though it is one of the most controversial topics of the time. I think that cultures are based around fear, or simply that the people in society act out of fear. I think that society is very judgmental, and that many people act the way they do because they are anxious about being rejected or standing out from the social norm. It seems that as the more time goes on, the pressures in our cultures build, and the fear levels go higher, so I think that fear plays a HUGE role in the way a culture is.

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    2. Scott, fear drives a culture through the idea of consequence. People in different societies act because they believe if they don't do something, than something else will happen. For example, a common fear of students is not graduating or not getting into the college of your choice. The consequence being not being able to get a job or a sustainable job.

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  20. Puritan culture is still extremely relevant in today's society although most people are unaware of it. By simply being a Christian in today's society, American’s are taking part in what the Puritan's created. The Puritans were based purely off of their belief in God and all that He had to offer to our country. In many ways, Christianity is the exact same thing. Most of America's population is Christian based. Some might not fully identify as Christian, but it is most likely that their upbringing revolved around some sort of Godly faith. The Puritan’s focused on achieving a healthy afterlife, and avoiding sinning at all costs so they could enjoy their time after death. In today’s Christian society, I can’t help but realize that that part of the Christian faith came right from Puritanism. Christian’s do their best to stay true to their faith and achieve greatness in their life in order to rest peacefully, which is exactly what the Puritans did. But that also strikes up the question of, were these people following God because they believed in his righteousness or because they were afraid of hell? One line that stuck out to me from the “Are Americans Still Puritan?” article was, “They found that American students judged promiscuous women more harshly than British students did.” I found that very interesting because America is an extremely judgemental society, and to think these standards developed from a very modest Puritan society is interesting to me. With all of the new changes in America and new civil rights movements, it shocks me how judgemental America remains. The people might change, but the ancestors stay the same, and they continue to pass on the same morals from the very beginning. That creates a judgemental, prude society in the core.

    Critical question: Do you believe that Americans have become less judgemental and more accepting of who people are, or do you still think that there will always be those judgements deep inside of people, no matter how much time has passed?

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    1. I believe that as time goes on people have become not necessarily less judgmental, but more accepting. Those things may seem to contradict one another, however I think people will always judge others, but they will accept change because it is inevitable. Everything will change over time and everyone knows that no matter how badly they don't like it, they simply cannot avoid it. If you take gay marriage for example, people still judge gay people all of the time, but they accept them because you can't change them. The judgements will always be deep inside of people and that is something that will never change.

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    2. Chaney, I think that Americans are learning to become less judgemental, but aren't quite there yet. Similar to what Maggie said, I think that Americans may seem to get along with a certain group of people in public, but it isn't always sincere. However, this is a start. Soon, hopefully society will realize how important the acceptance of all people is to a peaceful world. I do think that judgements have been engraved in certain cultures, and these stereotypes will be very hard to get rid of.

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    3. I agree with Maggie and Kirk, that there has been a big shift in the thinking of Americans. I think as time goes on Americans will be more accepting. Now movements like the black and gay movements are making people more accepting of people that fit outside the standards of culture. Judgements will always exist but it will continually get better.

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  21. Throughout times, Puritan beliefs and cultures/traditions have been passed down through generations, and can be seen in our modern world today. Although they are not as easily seen as in "old times", it is still possible to find bits and pieces of Puritanism throughout culture. For example, many Christian churches still follow the belief systems of the Puritans, and take the Bible as literally as they can, along with following the other rules given to them. In other circumstances, churches and the groups within them choose a more casual and less rigid structure. One major factor of the diverse theories throughout the religious world would be due to the movement of people over time, as well as the immigrants. During the colonization of America, people came to the US from places all over the world, and often brought their religion with them. Over time, as society became more modernized and people moved around, this brought a mixture of different religions and cultures throughout our civilization. However, there are still many populations that choose to continue the traditions of the ancestors, many of which can be traced back to the Puritans. Another example of Puritan-like culture is the Amish. The Amish have chosen to lived a lifestyle distanced from the rest of the world, and focus on a lifestyle based around Christian values. Sometimes, these people will look down on certain religious happenings, or activities that they deem ‘unfit’ to happen. Puritans were often like this as well, focusing on Christ and usually involving strict rules to follow.
    I think that over time, many of the Puritan beliefs have been intertwined with the Christian faith, as there are many similarities between the two. Most Christian people today work towards following Jesus, and centering their daily lives around their religion. It is interesting to see how over time, many of the basic principles of both of these religions (following Jesus, participating in communion, and baptism) have stayed the same, while the modern church often times will change its’ structure based on the people's’ needs and wishes. While there are many aspects of Puritan culture, beliefs, and ideals in modern day society, it is not nearly as prevalent as it was in Puritan times.

    Bibliography
    “Puritanism In New England.” Puritanism in New England. Web. 13 Sep. 2015.

    Question: If immigration and the movement of people had never occurred, how do you think the Puritan culture/beliefs would be affected? Would it be more or less influencing in today’s society?

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    1. I think that if there was less immigration and movement of people, the presence of Puritans would be much more present in today's society. Throughout history people have came to America and sculpted the culture. Because of the diversity, Americans have been exposed to several types of beliefs and been given a choice in what to believe in. I think that if people from other countries had not come to America, Puritan culture would be more common and possibly the only belief system around.

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  22. Puritans have always been very, very conservative. Since that has spread around through culture over time, it is inevitable that some of these ideals would still be seen in modern day society. However, they may not be as prominent as before, especially with the separation of church and state and all of that fun stuff. One of the things most prominent in the puritan cultures is a fear of sex, which is greatly reflected into the world today. Especially in females, the act of sex or being 'sexy' is seen as shameful. Whether or not you're a virgin greatly influences how people think of you in a society. A specific example of this is in schools. Dress codes are very strongly enforced in most schools, because they are worried about 'distractions.' However, there may be a deeper meaning to this. While some things may be distracting, I don't think a boy is going to get himself all worked up and excited over some shoulders, but that's just me. Anyway, that brings me to my question:
    Do puritan influences from our past have influences in our school, specifically in dress code?

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    1. Aspen, I think you made a really good point when you mentioned the laws that enforce separation of church and state. Do you think these laws are being violated within public schools when the state enforces a dress code that is conservative, a Puritan ideal?

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  23. Today, about 83% of Americans claim to be Christian. Now whether or not these people actually dedicate their lives and to God or just want to avoid going to hell, they all classify themselves as Christians. America has changed their overall views of the rules and morals of Christianity, but there are still people who are rooted deeply into the puritan culture. The article talks about how this country still has some of the same values as they did in the time of the Puritans, I believe that the values are taken much lighter than they were taken back then. We don't see many people now that believe that any little mistake they make will send them straight to hell. Our community appears to drift farther and farther away from the Puritan beliefs as time goes on. Back in the 1700s gay marriage would never been approved and the thought of being gay would send you to hell. Although the Puritans are the original structure of our country, the morals of Puritanism have become much less apparent in our country and they will continue to drift farther away from what the Puritans once believed.

    Question: When did American begin to shift from all having the same morals and beliefs to being a country where there are over 300 different religions? Why did we drift away from the Puritan culture?

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    1. Maggie, I believe that Americans drifted away from the core values and ideals of Puritanism because of the large influx of people from other cultures and countries. These immigrants brought with them beliefs that were greatly different and maybe even went against the Puritans.

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    2. Maggie, this may be an oversimplification, but could it be possible that the strict culture just got tiring? Living in fear is exhausting, and the immense pressure on people to always do the right thing could make some people snap, and just be bad because it feels good. This could have influenced others to be more relaxed in their practices, because they would feel less guilty for how they have fallen when they compared themselves to others in their culture that fell further. Morals began shifting way before America, they began to shift at the time of the original sin. As for the other religions, idolatry is a sin like any other. As soon as the people were rescued from slavery in Israel by the power of God, lead out by Moses who, directly in front of them parted the Red Sea, they made a golden calf and began worshiping it.

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  24. Many of the direct ideals of Puritan culture I would say have been removed from our society today, however, there is a remenince of some of their values in our society today. To begin, the strict rules of their religion and living a life revolving around God, are still prevalent today. Regardless of their religion, people in America typically still worship some sort of God(s). Most people still follow the Bible or some other religious literature as a way for them to enter Heaven in the afterlife. A more negative situation that has occurred from Puritan morals is using improper scapegoats to blame some sort of problem. A very well known occurrence in Puritan history is the Salem Witch Trials. The people in the town of Salem began to notice some unusual behaviors in other people in their town. Just like in our American society today, they could never blame these happening on something occurring out of a disease or of mishaps in their own society. They have to put the blame on something that goes directly opposite their morals and beliefs in God, referring to the devil and witchcraft. Without putting in time to understand other possible reasons to these behaviors, the people panic and begin making false accusations on the so called witches. People make judgments and generalizations all the time in our society today. If you were a mid age women who has a "stubborn" reputation than you must be a witch, or in our society if you are a pretty blonde girl with a cute boyfriend than you must be a brat. These constant searches for a scapegoat of one thing that has definitely not changed in American culture today. When looking back on some behaviors of the Puritans, it is obvious to see the parallels to our beliefs and actions in the present.

    Are we able to see refections of Puritan culture in other countries, in other words, are some of these actions human nature? Why or why not?

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    1. Hallie, I think that Puritan culture can be heavily reflected in other countries. In undeveloped or unstable countries having a strict religion could be comforting like the puritans used it as a sort of government where the people all followed the rules out of fear of something going wrong. That could be why many people find stability in having something alternative to believe in.

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  25. Puritan aftershocks still continue on in our world in large way. For the main part, the religious driving point is always around. Many people are Christian, which is aesthetically similar, and it drives many things today. Laws, jobs, and lifestyles are ruled according to religion, and is used as means for individuals to be better people or worse depending on what parts they adapt to. Another part that continues into now is the belief in something higher, a 'God' or 'Gods' that judge your actions, and can be found in religions in many places. People are obsessed with it at times, limiting what they can or can't do just to get into a form of higher place, such as Heaven, or to be cast down into something like Hell for disobeying. People are so afraid nowadays of doing something that could be perceived as incorrect that they shape their whole lives around that fear, and lash out at others who don't do that same. Puritans were adhered to a strict set of roles, such as their role in going to church, adhering to good behavior, and very set gender roles. All of these things usually come hand in hand when it comes to religious behavior of today. Another similar behavior carried over is the need for a scapegoat, the blame of something placed on something or someone else to try and shift blame. If it doesn't have an explanation, then the blame can go anywhere, and can be found throughout history.

    Question: Is it fair for people of religion to seclude someone else using their religion as a scapegoat?

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  26. Although puritan culture is not commonly compared to that of the 21st century there are many comparisons. After reading the Puritan reading packet the class concluded that the puritans took not only their religion seriously but also literally. One example I have seen recently of taking the rules to literally was in a soccer game. A referee made awful calls and tried to back them up by quoting the rules book to her boss who couldn't convince her that she was indeed wrong. The referee didn't compile other rules to make a reasonable decision and only took one citation as the only solution. This situation compares to Puritan culture because the focus on being “perfect” and following the rules to please god made them disregard other beliefs they held like Predestination (the belief that god had a plan for them before they were created). This comparison has nothing to do with religion but shows how even today people can take things too seriously and as a result only rely on one idea or piece of information to guide all their decisions.

    Question: Does the flexibility of religious institutions today strengthen or weaken the relationships people have with their religion?

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  27. Puritans may be long gone, but their idealism has strongly influenced the modern world, especially in the United States. Puritans had a strong belief in the ethics of responsibility, honesty and hard work. These ethics have been passed down and ingrained in the minds of the average American. Puritans were Reformed Protestants who had left England to go to the New World in search of religious freedom. Religious freedom in the US is considered an "Unalienable Right," first noted by Thomas Jefferson when he helped craft the Declaration of Independence. While the Puritans had good values, they did not accept others who did not share their same belief. In the modern day, intolerance of someone' beliefs is prevalent around the globe. This intolerance can cause people to despise, reject or act out in violence against another because their beliefs aren't the same as theirs. This can be seen in radical groups such as ISIS, Al Qaeda and the KKK. In Matthew Hutson's article, Still Puritan After All These Years, he explains how Americans as opposed to Canadians have the ideals of salvation more on their mind. When I read Hutson's article, I gathered that Americans had a greater tendency to judge. Americans appear to strictly divide work, sex, morals and ethics greater than their British and Canadian counterparts. To conclude, I believe that Puritan ideals and values have strongly influenced the United States which then spread to other parts of the world.

    Question: Do Puritan ideals mainly impact Americans, or can they be seen on other countries/cultures apart from the US?

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  28. The Puritan culture is no longer prevalent in modern society, but it has had a resounding influence in America's history, and today's culture. A large majority of America is Christian. Most people that consider themselves to be Christian are focused on the afterlife of heaven or hell. There is also a common theme of fear between the two groups. Current Christian society has many fears of the Apocalypse, or the rapture. The Puritan religion appeared that it's foundation was build upon fear of the afterlife. Jonathan Edwards use the tactic of fear, by illustrating help. Puritans have a strong sense of commitment, hard work, and forward thinking. The article "Still Puritan After All These Years" illustrates and accurate picture of how the Puritans viewed work. To Puritans, work was a very important part of their life. This cultural value still strongly supported today. Life as a young adult is purely focused on preparing you for a successful career. These values were directly translated from Puritan culture. As much as the world has changed today, the foundation was heavily influenced by the Puritan culture.

    How does current religion affect the culture of the modern world?

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  29. Puritan ideas and values have been carried through generations of families in the U.S. and are still deeply rooted in American culture and beliefs. The Puritans lived very simple lives, where many of the tasks they completed were around the idea of God. The Puritans were against and afraid of things that they could not explain, as seen in the Salem witch trials. This fear and anxiety is the biggest parallel to American society that may find its roots near the Puritan way of life. In today's society, scapegoating is common between politicians, but many disregard the idea that every person has before. Throughout American history, people have blamed others for their own reprehensible actions, it is a part of our nature. Another example of Puritanism in todays world is the fact that most of the country has very similar views to those of the Puritans. The Puritans believed in hard work, which propelled their society, much like what occurred in America during the Industrialization period. In this time, immigrants flooded into the US, pursuing the American dream. To achieve this, all people, immigrants and other citizens, had to work extremely hard to keep a job with income for their struggling family. This work ethic still continues today, exhibited by Americans who work extremely hard towards a goal or a purpose. Much like Puritans working hard to build their city and improve their faith, Americans now work towards progress in technology and civil liberties. Another example of the deep rooted values of Puritanism in America can be displayed with Christianity. 83% of Americans identify as Christian, meaning that 83% of people in the U.S. have or practice similar ideas as Puritans. The Puritans originally stemmed from Christianity, and kept many similar ideas, but more strictly enforced theses ideas and changed some. Most of America is tightly connected to Puritanism due to the fact that both closely follow Jesus. The Puritan values of anxiety due to the unexplained, the necessity for hard work, and having connections to Christianity can still greatly be seen in the U.S. today, causing them to most likely continue for hundreds of years.

    Why or why not is scapegoating in American culture rooted from Puritanism? Are there other reasons for it's prevalence in the culture of the U.S.?

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    1. I believe that if one is practicing Puritanism, he or she may be more likely to create a scapegoat. Because God is so prevalent in a Puritan's life, he is the reason for everything. When something bad happens, there must be a reason. As humans, even way back then, it is hard to admit to blame. No one wants to admit that they have wronged. I think this religion specifically gives more room for scapegoating because there is little room for wronging. However, I do not believe that the act of scapegoating came specifically from this religion. If Puritanism never came to the U.S. I think there would still be a large amount of scapegoating. As I touched on previously, our society has a big part of creating the need to create a scapegoat. Out of fear of being wrong or making mistakes, humans need to come up with something or someone to blame their problems on. Scapegoating has been and always will be a huge problem throughout our country despite the religions practiced.

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  30. As many people know, the Puritans were the first people, other than the Native Americans who settled in the United States. In other words, they created the foundations of who Americans are. Despite the fact that there are not many practicing Puritans around today, some of their values and beliefs are seen in our country today. Like it was said in the article, many of the ethical beliefs that are seen in the U.S. today are based off of what the people long ago believed in. Although they may not be as strict, several of the rules people live by during the time of the Puritans are still around. The ethics people follow came from the Puritans. Whether it is deciding what is appropriate to wear or do or choosing how hard to work and what to dedicate time to, those who lived long ago dictated who many people in America have become. Part of this reason is because many people practice Christianity to this day in the United States. There are many branches of this religion and some are more constricting than others. Puritanism is a very serious and strict religion compared to the types of Christianity that most people believe in today. However, these beliefs formed much of the foundation of how many people live their lives today. Although it may not be as common or as strict, many people still practice and bring up ways of the Puritans?

    Why do you think the amount of practicing Puritans has decreased? Do you think this specific religion has caused an increase of scapegoating?

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  31. I see Puritanical thinking within myself and my christian friends. I the "Still Puritan After all These Years" article, it talks about how the Puritans believed in predestination, and how success is a "sign of salvation" and that most likely lead to the belief that doing good things and being a good person will get you into heaven. My church's philosophy continues this line of thinking, but has a slightly different interpretation. Salvation is free, and available to anyone, a gift from God to you, a relationship that he is calling you to be a part of. And similar to the Puritans, because we have faith in the idea that we are saved, it causes us to act differently. We try to work hard and help others and bee "good" people. Also similar to the Puritans, we often fall short of this goal, because we are not perfect. Puritan thinking, values, beliefs and morals have evolved throughout the years, but still can bee seen in much of society, including religions that do not identify as "Puritan". Why would those in America (but not in Canada) who do not identify themselves as religious work better when primed with words like "heaven" or "salvation"? Have the religious beliefs of those who do identify themselves as religious and so share similar beliefs to and strive towards similar things to the Puritans become such a part of society that a desire for salvation is ingrained in the subconscious of those who do not even believe their is an afterlife to the point that it would effect they way that they work? How do religions become a part of society, and why to different degrees in different countries?

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  32. I see Puritanical thinking within myself and my christian friends. I the "Still Puritan After all These Years" article, it talks about how the Puritans believed in predestination, and how success is a "sign of salvation" and that most likely lead to the belief that doing good things and being a good person will get you into heaven. My church's philosophy continues this line of thinking, but has a slightly different interpretation. Salvation is free, and available to anyone, a gift from God to you, a relationship that he is calling you to be a part of. And similar to the Puritans, because we have faith in the idea that we are saved, it causes us to act differently. We try to work hard and help others and bee "good" people. Also similar to the Puritans, we often fall short of this goal, because we are not perfect. Puritan thinking, values, beliefs and morals have evolved throughout the years, but still can bee seen in much of society, including religions that do not identify as "Puritan". Why would those in America (but not in Canada) who do not identify themselves as religious work better when primed with words like "heaven" or "salvation"? Have the religious beliefs of those who do identify themselves as religious and so share similar beliefs to and strive towards similar things to the Puritans become such a part of society that a desire for salvation is ingrained in the subconscious of those who do not even believe their is an afterlife to the point that it would effect they way that they work? How do religions become a part of society, and why to different degrees in different countries?

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