3 ms·
You can say that the Puritans fled religious tolerance in England. But the first groups went to the Netherlands. There, they eventually couldn't stand how the
by wnoise 16y ago
You can say that the Puritans fled religious tolerance in England. But the first groups went to the Netherlands. There, they eventually couldn't stand how their neighbors were socially influencing their kids to be more tolerant. They felt they were blending in and losing their identity. When they then went to America, in a sense what they were fleeing was religious _tolerance_. (There were other groups that went directly to America, of course).
- leot 16y agoInteresting -- the fact that the US is physically large may thus have contributed to religiosity: people could more easily choose to raise their children "free" from the nefarious influences of people who were different. (c.f. "group polarization" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_polarization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_polarization )