When Belief Becomes Law

As I begin to compile research for this upcoming book, Puritans & Sex, I've been thinking about how much things have changed in nearly four centuries, and how much they haven't.We like to think of ourselves as living in a very different world from the Europeans who came to New England in the 17th-century. In many ways, we are.

But human beings, our fears, our assumptions, our judgments of one another, and our desire to decide what is right and wrong haven't changed nearly as much as we like to believe.I know I started heavy, so let's dial it back just a little.I'm a freelance writer, actor, and domestic historian.

I live in Salem, Massachusetts, a city most famous for the atrocious and notorious Witchcraft Hysteria if 1692. It was that history that brought me there from Southeastern Connecticut in 2019. I was lucky enough to land jobs where it was part of my position to study the trials. When you've pored over the real court documents, testimonies, letters and petitions, you realize what happened ws far worse than anything Hollywood could make up on their worst day. It was sensational because not only were the pblic allowed in (even for pre-trial examinations), so were the afflicted. Even more damning was the legal inclusion of Spectral Evidence - evidence of a supernatural nature that only the afflicted person could see. None of those things were commonplace then. Those aspects are what made it what I often refer to as a tabliod-worthy affair.

Now, let us leave the Witchcraft Hysteria behind to look at the Puritans themselves...By the 1690s, Massachusetts Bay Colony no longer existed as a separate colony. The 1691 charter created the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which incorporated the former Massachusetts Bay Colony. Nearly six decades earlier, the British who had arrived in Massachusetts Bay had established lished a society shaped by a particular strain of English Protestantism who believed in Predestination - that before a person was born, God had already decided whether they were bound for heaven (where the Elect went) or hell. One led a godly life because that's what he wanted, and also to hope that some monumental occurence would reveal if they were one of the Elect. Further, when life went sideways, it meant they had done or failed to do something pleasing in his sight, and they were duty bound to figure it out and do something about it. They were very much action-driven people. They called themselves the Godly. We call them the Puritans.

As someone who grew up in the 1980s I remember Reagan using the phrase "shining city on a hill." Though he is well-remembered for that speech, he did not invest that term It is from a sermon called A Model of Christian Charity and was delivered in 1630 during the voyage to New England by - you guesed it - a Puritan, John Winthrop, Sr.In Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Puritans hoped to establish what we might term a theocracy, meaning their laws and religion were intertwied. Their legal style was a blend of earthly and spiritual precepts, mixing laws with their version of Christianity. A few examples are:

• Sabbath observance: Civil penalties for conduct considered violations of the Sabbath. Religious offenses could carry civil penalties.

• Adultery/fornication: Sexual behavior could be prosecuted by the civil courts.

• Religious conformity: The government could punish or expel (exile) people whose religious beliefs threatened the established order.

This was not merely a deeply religions population. Religious beliefs were embedded in the legal structure. I bring this up because it will have a direct influence on one of the subjects this blog will explore: The Puritan's relationship with sex.

We'll go into more detail in the next posts about their educational system.

Until next time, keep questioning the past. It usually has receipts.