The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum SALEM WITCH TRIALS

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]Does anyone have any thoughts on the witch trials?</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>Well, as a matter of fact, I do. I think the witch trials have been totally distorted by history, particularly history that hates Puritanism. A couple of things to note: First, there was witchcraft practiced in Salem, so the Puritans were right to be alarmed. Second, Though they should have been alarmed, I think the Puritans took the wrong approach to dealing with the situation. (What an understatement, right? [img]http://www.the-highway.com/w3timages/icons/laugh.gif" alt="laugh" title="laugh[/img]) They utilized RCC medieval techniques in determining witch craft, rather than principles of dealing with factiousness from the Bible alone. In some ways, the attitude displayed by the authorities hunting witches was a tenplate for charismatic subjectivism. Essentially, a person was determined to be a witch due to subjective means, rather than his or her testimony and objective character. For instance, if one of the young girls, supposedly under the control of witches, suddenly freaked out in the presence of a particular individual, then that individual was a witch, because the presence of a witch was thought to have an effect on its subjects under bewitchment. Thus, these young girls could condemn innocent people just by a display of their behavior in their presence, even though the display was fake. Then third, history seems to forget that it was Puritan pastors such as Cotton Mathers, who brought the witch trials to an end. They essentially did this by condemning the subjective manner the authorities were using to determine a witch. <br>When you usually see a TV movie dramatizing the Salem Witch trials, the Christians are made to look like Fundamentalist KJV only barefoot Hillbilly types dressed in Pilgrim garb, the witches are made to look like innocent people who are only desiring the freedom to worship as they please, in this case earth loving paganism as opposed to Puritanical religious control, and the authorities that stop the trial are portrayed as secular, prerevolutionary frist amendment types, who had the foresight to see the need for religious freedom for all men. It is totally ridiculous. Of course, I think there is another movie version that shows the witch trials being a big cover to help the local pastor hide an affair he was having with a teenage girl.<br><br>If you can find it, Chadwick Hanson's "Witchcraft in Salem" is an excellent read that tries to stay objective to the historical events.<br><br>Fred.