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_Sky said:
The USA was formed on such premises via the puritans (which came from Europe, as we all know.) It was formed on this type foundation and this is why the USA is the way it is today.
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History lesson:
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Puritan oppression, including torture and imprisonment of many leaders of non-Puritan Christian sects, led to the (voluntary or involuntary) "banishment" of many Christian leaders and their followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This negative impact of Puritanism on many new colonists had a positive result on American history in that it led to the founding of many new colonies—Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New Hampshire, and others—as religious havens that were created for devout Christians who wanted to live outside the oppressive reach of Puritan theocracy.
The power and influence of Puritan leaders in New England declined further after the Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690s. Although they began as a trial of one or several self-avowed witches who admitted to practicing voodoo-type rituals with malicious intent, the trials got out of hand and ended with a number of innocent people being falsely accused, found guilty, and executed by Puritan leaders. Although most of the magistrates never admitted fault in the matter, at least one, Samuel Sewall, publicly apologized in later life. Many other witch trials wrongly accused others of supernatural crimes elsewhere in New England and in various parts of Europe of the time. Because most people of that era believed in the existence and efficacy of witchcraft, the witch trials can be seen as a very unfortunate miscarriage of justice in the face of public hysteria, and less as the result of a prejudice specific to the Puritan leaders.
In addition to rival Christian clergy members and suspected witches, the Puritan leaders' strict governing of their own people—as depicted in Nathaniel Hawthorne's fictional novel The Scarlet Letter—led to their ouster from direct political control in Massachusetts by 1700 and the decline of the influence of Puritanism as a religious sect in many areas by the mid-1700s.
from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan
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_Sky said:
It isn't perfect, but if you have travelled (as some of you have) you have to admit it is great to see "CUSTOMS: US CITIZENS" and walk through.
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I have travelled...to cold war Russia & Poland, Bermuda, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, and Switzerland. I experienced no such elation on seeing "CUSTOMS: US CITIZENS". That just meant after going through the tedious process of "CUSTOMS: WHERE EVER ELSE", i'd have to go through the same tedious process again. These days however, it'd be a wonder if I'd even be allowed to travel without hassles, as I've been a vocal critic of the current pResident and his policies since day one. Especially since I wouldn't be caught dead wearing one of those tacky nationalist loyalty pins.