EARLY AMERICA: A HARSH LAND

On one hand there was a lot of tolerance in early America, but on the early hand, law and punishment could be harsh and unforgiving. Certain groups, such as the Quakers, were pilloried, banished, scourged, and imprisoned. Some who held to radical religions were burned with hot irons. Why? And was this not extreme punishment that was cruel?    Yes, but we must put into place an understanding of the times. The colonists had come from Europe and England where there was actual warfare going on between the Protestants and Catholics, with the Catholics killing more than the Protestants. Christian belief was critical and life and death issues came to the surface. People were dying for their faith! And as well, America was coming out of the Middle Ages in which cruelty was the name of the game. But it was not too many years before such practices disappeared. Cruelty passed in the colonies before it did in any other nation on earth.    One can also argue that some laws were strong, and by the fact that punishment was indeed punishment, crime was kept to a minimum; peace ruled and brought blessings where it had not been before! It is easy to rewrite history. We were not there, and we have never had to fight through the issues our founding fathers faced.    One can only say: "Thank God for America!" We have more blessings than any other people on earth.      —Dr. Mal Couch (12/10)