Take Up and Profit: A Guide to the Puritans
“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” Unfortunately, for many people, H. L. Mencken’s witty quip is still winning the battle of perception over the Puritans. Intolerance, dogmatism, and bigotry are the common synonyms for “Puritan” in today’s parlance. A band of serious, dour do-gooders, rigid and fastidious, snuffing out any flicker of joy. But is this who the Puritans really were? The real Puritans lived in England and the American colonies for about 120 years.