The Puritans

The puritans were a newfound religion in a time when religion weighed much more than it does in our current times. It was times were religion and politics tied together so tightly that if one followed another denomination of Christianity it was a plague on their social status. With the over bearing Church of England mandated membership the puritans and other smaller denominations of the English isle found themselves under persecution. Their believes that were very similar to that of the Church of England’s but still they were not treated as equals.

For writing their own beliefs and preaching them amongst puritans they defined their own beliefs. They were firm believers in the fact that all humans were born into sin. Their fore bearers Adam and Eve had doomed them to a life in which they must maintain a sin free live style and highly personal communication with God. They must keep their life in such a fashion because they believed that God only saved those he wished to save not those who had accepted him into his heart. They based that belief on the assumption that Jesus died only for those that he thought worthy and graceful in his father’s eyes. The saints amongst Puritans were the only ones deemed worthy to interpret God’s word, which lead to the upholding of a saints’ word over that of any common puritan.

In Jonathan Edward’s sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" an insight into puritan believes through the eyes of one of their declared "saints." The sermon initials details of the live style a puritan should be wary that they face. A life style that "implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning." This would greatly direct implication to a life lead on a pathway to almost certain and unforeseen damnation. Any puritan or any god fearing Christian who heard such a sermon would at once be stout with fear and overwhelmed by the possibility that they will "Be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost." This type of fear was Jonathan Edward’s greatest tool he used in his sermons.

"They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them." From this words comes a since of guilt created in the listener of the sermon. To be accused of deserving to go to hell would amount great feelings of terror in any Christian in that day and age. These feelings provoke an overwhelming desire to be clean of sin and in any way redeem themselves in the eyes of God. I think this only adds to the use of control that religion can spawn when used by people who interpret any religion’s meaning and the will of it’s deity. This is misused in my opinion in almost all cases I can reflect upon. Maybe not directly by the interpreter but in transcending the message to as many people as religious leaders often do, many of those listening are susceptible to misinterpretation.

"Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell." This is how I believe what I see as the narrow views of Jonathan Edwards. In so called great numbers in the congregation I would be lead to believe the numbers where no more than a few hundred in the most. Why would God be angry with the "great" numbers on earth when God would be able to fore see the future. The future that went along with god’s master plan that held problems of over population on many different continents. These factors were not even within the capabilities of Jonathan Edwards to see. This is what I wish more religious speakers would take into consideration, their inability to see the bigger picture God has planned for the human species, if he has taken the time to plan such a thing.

"It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand." This I think greatly reflects one of the puritan’s firm beliefs of being born into sin. It foreshadows a lifetime of retribution for the sins of the predecessors. To be told that there is no security from the approaching sin in its various forms would only discomfort puritans more. The amount of fear I would think could only make sin that much more tempting. The eventual size reduction of the Puritan congregation was directly in ties with these reasons that a puritan must lead a sin free life in the most virtuous way with no insurance of salvation.

The puritans were convinced that God saved only those he wished to save. He saved only the puritans he saw as truly virtuous and sin free. The others, which were many according to the high standards of puritans, were doomed to burn in the fiery gates of hell and to be a tormented soul for the rest of eternity. To further install this believe Mr. Edwards used such phrases as "They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell."

Atonement is the term Christians used to describe the death of Jesus for the world’s sinners. The puritans felt that there was a limited amount of atonement Jesus would stand for. I suspect the puritans felt that the limited number of soul’s Jesus died for was their small congregation on a newly discovered continent…..For white people. The Puritans felt that those damned to hell rejected Christ from their heart through sin. Mr. Edwards rationalized these puritan beliefs in much more sensitive way. "All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment." The puritans though brave and original in their concept of religion were no more ignorant to me then how they considered the native Americans.

Analytical Paper

In the late 19th century the populace of Italy found they faced extreme prejudice within the legal system of an oppressive, fascist, and nationalist government. There was a widely acknowledged need for a new system of justice that could protect the working and middle class from an unfairly practiced law system. To fight the injustice this government posed an organization was slowly secretly created through the country by word of mouth. The mafia was established widely in Italy by the late 1800s. The Mafia was a secret organization who took justice into their own hands for a price and acted much like a government without paperwork or the officially declared status. They were, in fact, the exact opposite, they never even declared existence. There was little or no justice administered by the government, and any mounted opposition to the governed justice was harassed and punished by the police. The Mafia was a system some would call vigilantism, and others would call a group dedicated to violence and profitable crime. The organizations spawned from men who at the time realized the opportunity that the unlawful government had presented for them. The lack of approval for the government by the populace left the people in need of a power to turn to so that true justice could turn to in times where the faced prejudice.
The Mafia molded its organization’s structure after the paramilitary government that occupied Italy at the time of the emerging fascist government. Any government of said structure had a strict chain of command to maintain a high level of order and efficiency. The first system that would be set up was the chain of command. This chain of command delegated measures of power to different members on different levels of the chain. The four levels of power maintained the operations from which all members of power profited along with the public that was protected from facing an uphill battle for justice. Any member depending on his actions along the path of his career, similar to the career path of any industry of government could reach the four levels of infrastructure. The Mafia, being such a drastically undermining organization, had to keep its members and practices shrouded in mystery. Their operational methods adapted to help complete such a difficult task. The four levels of command were never to relay information of their high levels of power to any outside of their group. This maintained a high level of security regarding information and even higher level of inner security.
At the bottom of the chain there were associates. These individuals were not considered quite members as they were considered profitable accomplices. They were those who assisted or were assisted by the Mafia in a sign of good faith to the organization. Associates were people who needed money to start a business or owned a business that needed help to keep its interest protected from competing businesses. These individuals were often not interested in a career in the Mafia but more in need of the assistance the services of the Mafia could provide. These associates could also be helpers to soldiers in enterprising illegal rackets for profit.
Slightly higher up the chain was the soldier of the Mafia. These individuals were trusted and guaranteed members of the secret order. They operated businesses the Mafia would assist or even operate businesses not considered legal, such as gambling, in some cases prostitution, and other profitable endeavors undermining the law. They were also guaranteed the privileges of support of the high command of the Mafia and all the benefits of power that accompanied that status such as assistance in hiding when the police or government was attempting to imprison a member. Soldiers also were the arms of the high end of the chain of command and received orders from their bosses on jobs to keep up the image and name of their organization in the viewpoint desired by the top boss or don, who sent the commands down the chain through a middle man.
Above a soldier was the captain, or capo. These were the Generals and took commands from only the highest end of the chain to distribute to soldiers who would then carry out the job required to whatever extent the captain made clear. They played a pivotal role in the separation between the troops and the command as a middleman. They kept a very essential layer between the high command and the commanded that was needed to ensure the safety of any organized Mafia. They were the buffer zone of making sure the Don was not implicated.
The boss or Don was the in command for the organization. How these men came to power was through their own actions to win approval of their soilders and more highly trusted capos. They also won the approval and more valued trust of the populace.They masterminded the actions of their individual Mafias through the chain of command to wield power that was considered fair to both his employees and his public in his respected territories. The level of fairness and protection offered to his men and public could be proved false in many cases in history. Such Dons with unfair practices often taxed the businesses he protected harshly or did not assist citizens in need of help.
The membership of this organization came at a heavy price for any desiring the rise to power in its ranks. A member’s allegiance came to their Mafia, or family, or organization, named many different things for many different legal and digressional reasons. Their allegiance was the stability of the secrecy of their livelihood and the livelihood of all that helped in the operational ends of the Mafia. Vows were taken to up hold the ancient laws of omerta, a rigorous promise of silence and non-cooperation with the police and government. If one should break the vow their lives would most certainly be forfeited to the vigilance of the Mafia’s long reaching influence.
These strictly enforced and widely understood ways were the operational language used by the Mafia to maintain respect from its beneficiaries. The close knit acceptance of these ways by the Italian culture allowed for such a way of life to migrate with normal civilians such as the mass immigration to the United States by many ethnic cultures in the dawn of the twentieth century. It began as a rumor heard from Italian immigrants and would prosper until decades after its arrival on the American shores. By the time the public was made aware of its existence lawmakers were able to rewrite and write new laws to fight such organizations. As its secrecy faded so did its level of protection from the heads of the Mafias developed in the United States.

Greetings

Dear Classmates, My name is Ben Joiner a senior at PLC. I hope that you will read and enjoy what I write in this class and all that. Hope to have a good class with you peeps.