I have been reading the Salem Witch Trials and learning about the Puritans. Many people take them as crazies while others are apologists to their cause of upholding their puritan ways.
After reading Cotton Mather's,The wonders of the Invisible World - From 'The Norton Anthology American Literature:
I think the thing that stood out most for me was when Mather said, “I shall no longer detain my reader from his expected entertainment” and the summary of the court case read like a script out of a Hollywood movie, that not even Hollywood would be able to recreate. So yeah, I think mass hysteria could sum it up nicely. Though he does mention people in the English settlements as “being tortured by invisible hands, with tortures altogether preternatural” that they had no real explanation for what was going on other than accusing Martha Carrier of witchcraft, which makes me think of a few different things. He also said he wasn’t present at the trials and could only provide an account for what happen based on the case he was provided.
The English people (Puritans) based everything on faith, or religion, they used religion as a device to persecute those they had no credible evidence for as taking part in witchcraft.
The first thing I found interesting is when someone mentioned “having their necks twisted almost round”, and Martha Carrier, the one accused of witchcraft and bewitching said: “It’s no matter though their necks had been twisted quite off.” This, to me, seems to imply that Martha didn’t like (or think much) these people by implying these people were complete lunatics. As in it is a rhetorical response to a complete absurdity.
The Second thing I found interesting is that when the cows were dying, the town’s people had no reasonable explanation for how it happened other than accusing Martha of witchcraft. I began to suspect that maybe she is guilty of something or maybe she poisoned them. That could possibly explain why other people she had “disagreements with” or they had with her were claiming to be getting sick. Then Phebe Chandler testified and said she “heard a voice” that told her she would be poisoned within a few days. So, now you have people hearing voices and accusing people of witchcraft.
… and while Mather’s in The Wonders of the Invisible World may be a defense for the trials, the accused didn’t have a defense. It seemed like the entire English settlement had it out for her for whatever that reason may be. Maybe it was superstition, maybe something really happen, who knows. But being someone that studies Information Technology and has done research on social media (social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter) and the implications it can have on society, such as cyberbullying. It makes me think of young girls that are victims of cyberbullying, only in this case, it was the entire town doing the bullying.
So, why is witchcraft bad? Do "Holy Religions" or your religion try to persecute those they have no credible evidence for be responsible for things that can't be reasonably explained? Should people or religious people use witchcraft as a scapegoat for their own problems?
To me, it sounds like a bunch of made up crazy talk - "If you aren't with us then you are against us!" ... and if you are against us then you must be a witch!
After reading Cotton Mather's,The wonders of the Invisible World - From 'The Norton Anthology American Literature:
I think the thing that stood out most for me was when Mather said, “I shall no longer detain my reader from his expected entertainment” and the summary of the court case read like a script out of a Hollywood movie, that not even Hollywood would be able to recreate. So yeah, I think mass hysteria could sum it up nicely. Though he does mention people in the English settlements as “being tortured by invisible hands, with tortures altogether preternatural” that they had no real explanation for what was going on other than accusing Martha Carrier of witchcraft, which makes me think of a few different things. He also said he wasn’t present at the trials and could only provide an account for what happen based on the case he was provided.
The English people (Puritans) based everything on faith, or religion, they used religion as a device to persecute those they had no credible evidence for as taking part in witchcraft.
The first thing I found interesting is when someone mentioned “having their necks twisted almost round”, and Martha Carrier, the one accused of witchcraft and bewitching said: “It’s no matter though their necks had been twisted quite off.” This, to me, seems to imply that Martha didn’t like (or think much) these people by implying these people were complete lunatics. As in it is a rhetorical response to a complete absurdity.
The Second thing I found interesting is that when the cows were dying, the town’s people had no reasonable explanation for how it happened other than accusing Martha of witchcraft. I began to suspect that maybe she is guilty of something or maybe she poisoned them. That could possibly explain why other people she had “disagreements with” or they had with her were claiming to be getting sick. Then Phebe Chandler testified and said she “heard a voice” that told her she would be poisoned within a few days. So, now you have people hearing voices and accusing people of witchcraft.
… and while Mather’s in The Wonders of the Invisible World may be a defense for the trials, the accused didn’t have a defense. It seemed like the entire English settlement had it out for her for whatever that reason may be. Maybe it was superstition, maybe something really happen, who knows. But being someone that studies Information Technology and has done research on social media (social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter) and the implications it can have on society, such as cyberbullying. It makes me think of young girls that are victims of cyberbullying, only in this case, it was the entire town doing the bullying.
So, why is witchcraft bad? Do "Holy Religions" or your religion try to persecute those they have no credible evidence for be responsible for things that can't be reasonably explained? Should people or religious people use witchcraft as a scapegoat for their own problems?
To me, it sounds like a bunch of made up crazy talk - "If you aren't with us then you are against us!" ... and if you are against us then you must be a witch!
