Society has, and always will be, a never ending cycle of change. Society always has a way of pressuring people into things and of controlling lives. Religion has been a big part in almost every society to ever exist. It also finds ways to make people second guess themselves and can throw common logic out the window at times. In this essay I plan shedding some light on the subject of how religion can control society, and vice versa through my eyes and the eyes of three authors. The first story I would like to recognize has almost the perfect example of just how powerful religion was around 300 years ago. Although this story strictly focuses on Christianity and excludes all other religion except for voodoo. The story/play is called The Crucible …show more content…
Quite simply because of again how powerful the church is. The church was yet again where the court hearings for Hester and her punishment were held. The church was in charge of her punishment of bearing the scarlet letter, going to prison during the pregnancy, having to be publicly humiliated on the Platform, and her shunning even after being released from the prison. The church even wanted to have Hester’s daughter taken away from her so that it could be raised in a “good christian home.” Hester told them that the child was another form of the scarlet letter and that she was a part in her lifelong punishment. Eventually though the church feels that Hester has changed for the better and feels that she could possibly have her punishment lifted, but Hester says that she isn’t worthy of mercy and is to continue with her punishment so that she could be cleansed of her sins. Literally almost every single event that occurs in this story is controlled by the church, and the church is the head of society of the time. They were going to hang Pearl’s father if they ever found him because back then the church made the law, and it is one of the 10 commandments to never commit adultery. Nowadays it is not illegal by any means to commit adultery in the United States. In some other third world nations it is still illegal and may still be punishable by death, but here in our nation it is only frowned upon. Honestly, some people will be married and both partners in the marriage will sleep with different people to “mix things up.” Religion is definitely losing its grip on society today, but in the past it controlled anything and