Puritan Religious Beliefs
The United States is a richly woven tapestry full of religious institutions. Many religious groups formed the original 13 colonies based on their beliefs. One such religious group the Puritans came to escape religious persecution and worship freely in any way they saw fit. Shortly after arriving in North America they become a dominant religious force in the region. Early Puritan groups establish their own societies which featured a system of government The Protestant goal was to maintain and spread what they believed was the “perfect" religion; however it required everyone to worship their way. They managed this thought conversion and persecution. Although the Puritans phased out long ago some twenty-first century group practitioners still
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When the puritans first arrived in the New world they encountered the natives who in their eyes where uncivilized heathens who needed to embrace the one and true god in hopes of salvation. “When they encountered the Natives of the New World, they saw them as an idolatrous race that needed to be shown the One True Faith that the Puritans subscribed to. By converting them to Christianity, they were saving them from their sinful ways and the wrath of the Christian God. They dismissed the Indian religious practices as unsubstantiated and inferior to their own. In essence, they were doing the Indians a favor by teaching them the Christian way and they believed the Indians should be grateful for the chance to be enlightened” (Puritan Conversion Attempts). In Puritan colonies religious acceptance was mandatory “In order to ensure that Puritanism dominated the colonies, nonconformists were fined, banished, whipped, and even imprisoned for not conforming to the way of the Puritans.” An example of puritans not taking kindly to religious individualism was the banishing of Anne Hutchinson. Anne Hutchinson held devotional meetings to discuss sermons at her. Leaders in the community including John Winthrop believed these meetings were an attack on the Puritan way of life. As a result, Hutchinson and her supporters were banned from Boston in 1638. The Puritans came to the New World hoping to avoid the persecution they had endured in Europe. In achieving this goal they themselves persecuted others for having different
When the puritans first arrived in the New world they encountered the natives who in their eyes where uncivilized heathens who needed to embrace the one and true god in hopes of salvation. “When they encountered the Natives of the New World, they saw them as an idolatrous race that needed to be shown the One True Faith that the Puritans subscribed to. By converting them to Christianity, they were saving them from their sinful ways and the wrath of the Christian God. They dismissed the Indian religious practices as unsubstantiated and inferior to their own. In essence, they were doing the Indians a favor by teaching them the Christian way and they believed the Indians should be grateful for the chance to be enlightened” (Puritan Conversion Attempts). In Puritan colonies religious acceptance was mandatory “In order to ensure that Puritanism dominated the colonies, nonconformists were fined, banished, whipped, and even imprisoned for not conforming to the way of the Puritans.” An example of puritans not taking kindly to religious individualism was the banishing of Anne Hutchinson. Anne Hutchinson held devotional meetings to discuss sermons at her. Leaders in the community including John Winthrop believed these meetings were an attack on the Puritan way of life. As a result, Hutchinson and her supporters were banned from Boston in 1638. The Puritans came to the New World hoping to avoid the persecution they had endured in Europe. In achieving this goal they themselves persecuted others for having different