Post by baknapp35 on Nov 16, 2011 22:34:55 GMT -5
Fascinated by Fear: A Comparison of Rule in Puritanical Society and Current Politics
As demonstrated by Arthur Miller as well as Jonathan Edwards, Puritanical society was ruled by fear. In Miller’s The Crucible, Danforth and Hathorne used fear in order to receive affirmations of witchcraft in Salem, in which imprisonment or death was immanent without a confession of practicing diabolism. In Edward’s sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, fear is used to scare people into allegiance of the Puritanical consensus, and then salvation is used as a way to persuade the sinners into joining the religion. Although centuries later, the practice of ruling with fear has not left American soil since the Puritans have dissipated. In current American politics, the puritanical way of life is still practiced by opposing presidential candidates by instilling fear in eligible voters and exacerbating the factor of Mitt Romney’s Mormon religion.
Just as Mitt Romney currently resides in a hailstorm due to his atypical religious ideology, decades before him the future president John F. Kennedy suffered from a similar state of affairs in the election of 1960. Americans, especially Protestants, were concerned that Kennedy’s Roman Catholic beliefs would influence his ability to make national decisions, especially those regarding foreign policy. Much of this fear of Kennedy and Catholicism originated from opposition and the media, one of their most troubling arguments being possible connections ensuing between the presidential candidate and Pope Paul VI. During his campaign, Kennedy made a speech to the Greater House Ministerial Association, in which he ensured America that, “[he does] not speak for [his] church on public matters, and the church does not speak for [him]” (Kennedy). The future president even predicted reoccurrences of religious debates in following years when he stated, “while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years…it may someday be… a Jew or a Quaker or a Unitarian or a Baptist” (Kennedy). Thus, over fifty years after John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, Mitt Romney is struggling with the same hyperbolic media storm spreading lies and instilling fear in America over differences in religion.
Just as previously encountered in 1960, if Mitt Romney is nominated as a presidential candidate, the media as well as opposing politicians will use amplified statements regarding Mormonism to instill fear in Americans and attempt to sway the poll numbers. Mormonism is not considered to be a division of a mainstream Christian religion. Americans are willing to vote for Mormon representatives in congress, but because of the fear instilled in voters by persuasive techniques, some feel that a Mormon president will detract Americans away from Christianity and into what they regard as a cult. But, because Romney has not yet been selected as a presidential candidate in the 2012 election, he has not been given the opportunity to appease the political uproar by addressing his religion and defending his political power as Kennedy did in his speech to the Greater House Ministerial Association.
The impacts of the puritanical society in America of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still prevalent in current American culture. The works of Arthur Miller and Jonathan Edwards exemplify the fact that a society ruled by fear was maintained by the Puritans, and because of this significant group of people the continuous mode of rule has endured many centuries in America, long after the Puritans had suffered their downfall. Ruling with the intensity of fear can instill a sense of urgency, scare people away, or be short-lived. Many leaders have found that fear does not need to be long term, such as the case of Mitt Romney, the American fear of Mormons needs last only until Election Day. It is unknown the full extent to which the Puritans impacted our current American culture, but it is apparent that the Puritanical mode of rule has cast over America for centuries and will continue to do so for years to come.
word count: 648
Kennedy, John F. “Transcript: JFK’s Speech on His Religion.” National Public Radio. 12/05/2007. www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16920600. 11/08/2011.
As demonstrated by Arthur Miller as well as Jonathan Edwards, Puritanical society was ruled by fear. In Miller’s The Crucible, Danforth and Hathorne used fear in order to receive affirmations of witchcraft in Salem, in which imprisonment or death was immanent without a confession of practicing diabolism. In Edward’s sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, fear is used to scare people into allegiance of the Puritanical consensus, and then salvation is used as a way to persuade the sinners into joining the religion. Although centuries later, the practice of ruling with fear has not left American soil since the Puritans have dissipated. In current American politics, the puritanical way of life is still practiced by opposing presidential candidates by instilling fear in eligible voters and exacerbating the factor of Mitt Romney’s Mormon religion.
Just as Mitt Romney currently resides in a hailstorm due to his atypical religious ideology, decades before him the future president John F. Kennedy suffered from a similar state of affairs in the election of 1960. Americans, especially Protestants, were concerned that Kennedy’s Roman Catholic beliefs would influence his ability to make national decisions, especially those regarding foreign policy. Much of this fear of Kennedy and Catholicism originated from opposition and the media, one of their most troubling arguments being possible connections ensuing between the presidential candidate and Pope Paul VI. During his campaign, Kennedy made a speech to the Greater House Ministerial Association, in which he ensured America that, “[he does] not speak for [his] church on public matters, and the church does not speak for [him]” (Kennedy). The future president even predicted reoccurrences of religious debates in following years when he stated, “while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years…it may someday be… a Jew or a Quaker or a Unitarian or a Baptist” (Kennedy). Thus, over fifty years after John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, Mitt Romney is struggling with the same hyperbolic media storm spreading lies and instilling fear in America over differences in religion.
Just as previously encountered in 1960, if Mitt Romney is nominated as a presidential candidate, the media as well as opposing politicians will use amplified statements regarding Mormonism to instill fear in Americans and attempt to sway the poll numbers. Mormonism is not considered to be a division of a mainstream Christian religion. Americans are willing to vote for Mormon representatives in congress, but because of the fear instilled in voters by persuasive techniques, some feel that a Mormon president will detract Americans away from Christianity and into what they regard as a cult. But, because Romney has not yet been selected as a presidential candidate in the 2012 election, he has not been given the opportunity to appease the political uproar by addressing his religion and defending his political power as Kennedy did in his speech to the Greater House Ministerial Association.
The impacts of the puritanical society in America of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still prevalent in current American culture. The works of Arthur Miller and Jonathan Edwards exemplify the fact that a society ruled by fear was maintained by the Puritans, and because of this significant group of people the continuous mode of rule has endured many centuries in America, long after the Puritans had suffered their downfall. Ruling with the intensity of fear can instill a sense of urgency, scare people away, or be short-lived. Many leaders have found that fear does not need to be long term, such as the case of Mitt Romney, the American fear of Mormons needs last only until Election Day. It is unknown the full extent to which the Puritans impacted our current American culture, but it is apparent that the Puritanical mode of rule has cast over America for centuries and will continue to do so for years to come.
word count: 648
Kennedy, John F. “Transcript: JFK’s Speech on His Religion.” National Public Radio. 12/05/2007. www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16920600. 11/08/2011.