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shani:
fact is that the history of the colonies is quite otherwise: it is not like the entire united states metastisized from the initial puritan cells around salem. the history of the colonies is quite diverse and had little or nothing to do with the puritans--who were as intolerant a bunch as you will ever read about (so i really have never understood why anyone in their right mind would hang theri hat on them as a way to hold heir hat--and mythology about america--off the floor)--and the country was founded by the constitution, not the puritans. before that it was founded by the articles of confederation, but we dont like to talk about that so much. before that, it was a revolt amongst colonials. there was no america before the revolution: there were english colonies (and french colonies, but we'll leave that aside as well). if you want to play this game, then you at least need to concede that the origins of what is now the united states is pretty diverse--there are even catholics involved (gasp! papists!)--and prisoners who were convicted of various offenses back in the old sod. and there were even settlements of no particular religious orientation that were founded for commercial purposes--like gloucester massachusetts, which is just north of the epicenter of the puritan blight and which was founded only a few years after salem.
so referencing the puritans doesnt really solve anything in the way of problems that circulate now about the status of christianity in the states. it just doesnt.
maybe rephrase your question?
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a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear
it make you sick.
-kamau brathwaite
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