Puritan perception and modern day perception though sometimes still can be viewed as similar have changed drastically over time.
There are several concepts that were viewed as shameful in Puritan times that people in modern day will just look pass. For example, going against the bible by sinning was look upon way more harshly than in today’s society. There are still concepts Puritans had to deal with that we still see being took into affect today, such as shunning. The act of shunning can be done in such a simple manner that sometimes it’s overlooked. In Puritan times, if you were to sin everyone in the community found out about it.
Even simple crimes like lying. In those times nothing was a secret, your neighbor knew you just as well as you knew yourself whether you liked it or not. They wanted to believe they were a society built upon perfection. So if you were caught committing a sin you would be harshly punished and most likely humiliated in front of your entire town to see.
Basically, there was no chance for forgiveness back then. In today’s world, that’s not really the case. Sins are usually a personal decision, if someone chooses to sin they wont be punished by society. The person will have to chose how they deal with the sin they committed.If they’re willing to live with the guilt from the sin they committed then they can.
People always have the option to confess their sins and ask for forgiveness. Personally, I believe people today are a lot more understanding and open-minded to sinning, people understand that were all human and were going to make mistakes once in awhile. So there’s really no logical reason to be severely punished for something that could be an innocent mistake. Shunning is one of the few concepts that remain in affect today, but more-so shunning was seen in Puritan times.To be shunned means to be completely abandoned and ignored by not only your peers, but by society as well. When a person would do something wrong, or out of the ordinary to the Puritans that person would be shunned.
No one wanted to be associated with them because they feared being put under the same stereotype as them. It was a cruel thing to do, because if they want their society to be perfect they should encourage that person to start over and better their selves. They shouldn’t desert that person because that doesn’t solve anything. Today, shunning can be seen all around us, even in this very school.It’s hurtful, especially to be the person that is shunned. I’m actually going through an act of shunning right now.
I was recently in a group of seven girls, we were all best friends. One of the other girls in the group and I basically stopped getting invited anywhere, for absolutely no reason whatsoever, which left the group to be five of them. Now, a girl who hung out with upperclassmen since middle school suddenly took my spot. It’s completely immature and I have tried to bring it to their attention and nothings been done.
What hurts the most is, one of the girls was not only one of my best friends, she’s my cousin too.They all act like they’ve done nothing wrong and we’ve all just “grown apart. ” Shunning is far from an affect way to keep people in line, if someone’s done something wrong you shouldn’t ignore the person, you should confront them and tell them what they did was wrong. We live in a completely opposite world to the way the Puritans lived. Our thoughts and beliefs on crime and punishment have drastically changed, in my opinion for the better.
Sinning is taking a lot more lightly than it was in those days. Shunning, is still an issue occurring in our world today, but I think in a less complex version.
