The 16th and 17th centuries brought a wave of discontent over the Church of England and its religious sentiments. Many groups began to take measures to distance themselves from the church due to their differing interpretations of the Christian religion, the Puritans being one noteworthy example. While they did not intend to completely separate themselves from the Church (they wanted to “purify” it), they certainly kept their distance from it. Their beliefs were of such a strict nature that after first leaving England for the Netherlands, they felt the need to keep from being influenced by the culture of the Dutch and embarked on a journey across the Atlantic to the mysterious “New World”. While it was certainly justifiable by any standards for groups to leave England at this time because they disliked the country’s strict social and religious structure, the nature of the Puritans’ departure to America begs the questions: Did they really come in search of religious freedom? Why did they deal with dissent from their beliefs in such intransigent way? They certainly appear to be hypocrites who did not differ …show more content…
This was a rather hypocritical practice as the Puritans were requiring that the citizens of their colony be bound by the same religious beliefs and ideals–something that was also done in England. The Puritans, however, believed that it was their right to be able to do this, as it was something they deemed necessary for the practice of their religion. They also followed a modified Calvinist Doctrine, believing that it had already been decided who would receive salvation and who wouldn’t. This concept made their society very different from others, and also helped to provide a basis for preventing dissent (people were bound to disagree from such a strict