Modern Day Puritan America

America, circa 1700, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts where the Puritan community thrives. There, above a crowd of murmuring mystery figures, stands a beautiful young woman, with a small bundle in her arms, hugged closely to her chest, on which there is a skillfully embroidered “A” in a red as deep as blood.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about this in The Scarlet Letter. This was one of the first scenes, when Hester Pynne, the girl, is labeled an adulterer in public. Her punishment was to stand in front of a crowd to let everyone know of her crime, and wear the “A” always to remind all who come across her, including herself, of her sin.

It is somewhat ironic, that in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne writes with a negative light on the Puritans, despite being from a family of them. It is said that he was ashamed of his family’s involvement in the notorious witchcraft trials, as his ancestor John Hathorne was one of the judges, that he changed his name.

These people who lived and governed themselves by the Bible that he writes about are the roots of today’s America. Yet why is it so different now? I’m not sure myself, but you know, when you look closely, you can still see hints of the original strict customs of the Puritans lingering in our society. Correction: religious views DOMINATE our morals and values. Think about issues like abortion and gay marriage. There’s so much heated debate on topics because the people who are not in favor of them are against them for religious reasons. Funny, because there are also so many things that people get away with that still go against religious teachings.