I hear this song repeatedly at my fitness club as my arthritic limbs crack and rebel. They mostly play English club songs. I reflect on the fact Puritans left England for the New World because the Church was becoming too lenient. You understand? It's easy to look around and think this is the liberated x-rated world those early pilgrims were dreaming of but that's exactly 100% wrong. This club culture of date rapes and teen gang bangs is exactly what they thought England would turn out to be if the church was not so strict. The Puritans
objected to celebrating Christmas. See? They were the Latter Day Saints of 1650. Puritans were zealots and extremists. Paul Revere's family were Puritans. Yes, it was an issue of religious freedom, escape from persecution, but the fundamental issue was the Puritan's opposition to what they perceived as godless hedonism. So they came to North America hoping to start fresh with clean virtuous lives. So did millions of others who didn't agree with the Puritans.
The other thing I think of is Spain's conquest of South America about 100 years earlier. While the English and then Americans nibbled away at the Indigenous people for 200 years, Spain's Catholic crusade obliterated Indian culture as fast as possible. Piles of heathen bodies were burned! The goal was a devout people, devout, loving god, obedient to god.
|
The popularity of this club is fading. Maybe techno beat hymns are the answer? |
Then I watch this dance club video and I think, "What the fuck?"
All these people would be burned as witches in 1692...which leads me to think witchcraft was a generic term for non-conformist, and conformity is the key to stability. It's the old paradox that with freedom we will destroy ourselves, and without freedom there's no point in living.