For reasons I won’t go into, I recently had to deal with a number of books that have been in a bookshelf in our spare bedroom for years. Among them was a three volume history of Connecticut. I decided to read it, or re-read it, as I honestly can’t remember whether I read it when I got it. I’m in the first volume now, which covers the 17th century founding of the colony.
It turns out that at least for a period of time early Connecticut was even worse than early Massachusetts in applying the Puritan way of thinking to its society. It got me thinking that it could serve as a model for the type of state the “Christian Nationalists” would like to create today. Like the present day folks who call themselves Christians, the Puritans didn’t have much use for Christ’s actual teaching, you know, like “love your neighbor like yourself” and things of that sort.
A few of the highlights:
…With this justification for power, the saints aspired to tighter control than that exercised in any European state, and attempted to maintain their stringent standards long after Massachusetts had found some amelioration necessary. The governing group had the responsibility of restraining human depravity through regulation.”
Regulations detailed the terms of the covenant in all phases, including the enforcement of the moral dictates of the Church, and served to guide conduct. Enforcement to implement civil regulation and bind conduct was based on a close supervision of the population, in which church officials shared responsibility with civil magistrates. The tithingmen, for example, who, it has been said, kept all but
themselves attentive to the sermon on Sunday, were men of authority throughout the entire week. Each was supposed to watch several families, usually ten, during the week. Supervision ranged from an enforcement of learning the catechism to keeping “all persons from swimming in the water.” They could inspect the ordinaries, direct the keeper to sell no more liquor to anyone fancied to be drinking too heavily, and report the names of “idle tiplers and gamers.” They had a “spetial eye out” for all bachelors, who were also carefully watched by constables, deacons, elders, and heads of families. The tithingmen
helped collect ministerial rates, warned people out of town, watched to see that no young people walked abroad on the eve of the Sabbath. They reported all those “who lye at home,” as well as the “sons of Belial strutting about, setting on fences.”The supervision of these small affairs was enforced by citation before court, admonition, fines, whipping, branding, confinement in stocks, or imprisonment. Oftentimes the imposition of a penalty was left to the discretion of the court, at other times the punishment was explicit. In addition there were fourteen capital crimes: idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy, “direct” murder, murder by such “guile” as poisoning, murder by false testimony, bestiality, sodomy, adultery, rape of a bethrothed or married woman, kidnaping, conspiracy and rebellion, unjustified cursing and striking of parents, and disobedient persistence in sin by children over sixteen.
The (self-proclaimed) saints, referred to in the opening sentence, were the hypocrites who controlled the church and government. You know, your Mike Johnsons.
Now, I’m not saying the Trumpers want to do all these things, but it serves as a model. I’m sure they won’t be interested in going after bachelors, especially the Charlie Kirks of the world, but controlling women is certainly a top priority.
Now, some might say that regulating a lot of this stuff would violate the constitution, but I’m sure the Supreme Court would disagree, since this only goes to show that this is the way the founders thought things should be, even though the guys who actually wrote the constitution (no girls allowed in Independence Hall) were mostly deists who actually believed in individual liberty but we can ignore all that if it suits our purposes.
It goes without saying that, probably like in those days of yore, the only folks that will get put in the stocks are those the rulers don’t like. If you’re a Trumper they’ll look the other way.
All of this brought to you by a “saint” who had committed most of the capital crimes outlined above and has never set foot in a church in his life, but that’s a minor matter as the Supreme Court would likely explain.