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   From: wmgfrgsn@newsguy.com   
      
   On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:53:43 +0100 (CET), George Orwell   
    wrote:   
      
   >How did America go from Pilgrims seeking freedom to express   
   >their Judeo-Christian beliefs to today’s discrimination against   
      
   A presumption of facts not in evidence.   
      
   The Pilgrims did not flee religious persecution, the fled religious   
   tolerance.  They wanted to go where they had the right to force everyone   
   else to worship the way they thought people should.   
      
   Specifically, the Pilgrims started as a congregation in England (Scrooby).   
   The English government cracked down on them when they tried to enforce   
   their beliefs over the Church of England's beliefs (the government left   
   them alone as long as they didn't try to force their practices on others).   
   They eventually emigrated to Netherlands, which was probably the most   
   religiously tolerant country in Europe at the the time.  After about 10   
   years, the congregation emigrated to North America, founding Plymouth   
   Plantation.  They didn't leave because they were persecuted, or because   
   they were having a hard go if it in the Netherlands, many of them were   
   doing very well financially, and the congregation as a whole was well   
   enough off to charter two ships to sail to the New World (one of them   
   failed to make the crossing due to sabotage by crew members wanting out of   
   their contract).  They left because they were growing old and their   
   children were growing away from the faith.   
      
   When the colonists arrived in North Amarica, most of the colonists were   
   sick from diseases contracted during the crossing, and over half the   
   colonists died that winter.  The surviving colonists were a mix of   
   congregation members and non-members who had signed on to colonize.  The   
   congregation members controlled the land patent, and the government, and   
   strictly enforced their form of worship, requiring everyone to attend their   
   services.   
      
   Again, the Pilgrims werw not seeking freedom to worship as they chose by   
   coming to North America, they already had that in the Netherlands.  They   
   were seeking control over how everyone around them worshipped.  I can see   
   why they are so popular with certain current religious groups.   
      
   --   
   I have a theory, it could be bunnies   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)