/For me, the 1620s and 30s were a golden age in
American history. Religious pilgrims had arrived
from Europe to start a new life and establish a
holy society in a strange, new world./
I guess this person's never read "The Crucible" or "The Scarlet Letter."
/We had strong families and communities: Atheists,
Satanists and other social miscreants were burnt
at the stake or dunked under water./
Yes, who cares about law and order, truth and justice? "Dunk the witch! Dunk her! Even if we have ridiculous 'evidence' against her! We want her house and property! We don't want her corrupting our children with common sense and decency! Conformity is freedom! Diversity is the work of the devil! Dunk her!"
/Women and children knew their place and did as
they were told by their betters and elders./
Yes, how dare women in this age speak their own minds! How dare they form their own opinions! How dare they have the right to vote, which is a special privilege for white men, only! Men are superior because women have cooties! Men are always better than women in everything! Everything!
/We had a simple but spiritually fulfilling and decent
existence./
So, then, why didn't this glorious "golden age" last? Why weren't our Founding Fathers Puritan?
/Compare that to today with our society in sharp
moral decline./
Here we go.
/Children abuse their parents and play obscence video games like "Grand Theft Auto"/
Oh, but it's okay for children to be abused, as long as it's by "their betters and elders."
/and dream about living out all that mindless
violence in reality./
Dude, my brother and I play video games all the time. Never once have we dreamed that we were "living them out in reality."
/Abortion and homosexuality is rife./
Because homosexuality has never existed before the 21st century. The civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome never existed. Alexander the Great wasn't bisexual. Lord Alfred Douglas wasn't Oscar Wilde's boyfriend, they were just really close friends. And I'm the Queen of Sheba.
By the way, speaking about abortion, read "Young Goodman Brown," while you're at it. In that story, the devil makes it quite clear what young, unmarried Puritan women did with their unwanted children. While it's not technically abortion because the babies were already born, it still undermines your point.
/Divorce is rampant./
Maybe because now it's much easier to get a divorce? You don't think that many couples in the past would have obtained a divorce if it had been simpler and more socially acceptable to obtain? And some women need to get a divorce in order to get out of abusive relationships. You'd rather women stay in abusive marriages? Oh, of course, as long as they "knew their place and did as they were told by their betters and elders."
/Communities are
breaking down.
Need I go on?
Isn't it time we realized that we were much happier
when we had less but were closer to God?/
Again, if everything was so swell, why didn't it last? Why did things change? Why hasn't there been a mass movement to return to Puritan lifestyles? Because everyone (or almost everyone) knows that being a Puritan stinks. Because people actually want to loosen up and have fun. Because people find nothing to admire about closed-minded, paranoid, self-righteous bigotry. Get over yourself.
