The Modern Day Puritan

Comparing the Puritans we read about in class to people nowadays, I would have to say that there is a big difference. Puritans in the society we are discussing and reading about differ from us modern citizens in the following ways: the punishments, the laws, and the ways of the people.

From what we read in The Crucible, I would say that the way people are convicted and sentenced time in jail is quite strange and unreliable compared to how it is done in modern days. For example, the way the Puritans got out of the punishment of being accused for associating themselves with the Devil is by admitting to it-- whether telling the truth or not--, accusing somebody else for the same crime, and signing a paper proving you admitted to it. We now go by the “innocent until proven guilty” way.

As for the laws, the Puritans were very led by the Bible-- specifically the Ten Commandments. Several of the laws that we have now are from the Ten Commandments, however we do not follow all of the Ten like how the Puritans had to.

Finally, for the ways of the people, the Puritans were very religious and were looked down upon if they did not go to church, know the Commandments, or were baptized. We now have freedom of religion and beliefs, which allows us to have the choice of going to church or even believing in a god at all.

Therefore, when looking at the Puritans from many years ago and the modern people now, in some ways we are similar, but I think in more ways we are different.