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[Opinions] Re: Delilah
in reply to a message by Felie
"About the Biblical figure: if the Puritans themself used it (and this is quite comical) so why we that are in a more open and free world would have any problem?"The Puritans used some names that come across as rather deprecating. They where very strong proponents of humility and reflected a lot on the depravity of man and personal evil. With some obviously negative names, I sometimes wonder if they were trying for reverse psychology or if it was some form of mental flagellation on the next generation. I have often been curious about how they came up with some of their names, but I wouldn't use the Puritan's as role models for modern naming practices. What I find interesting about the Puritan's is how enterprising and somewhat egalitarian they were in comparison to other groups of their time while simultaneously embodying many of the superstitious fears of their era. At a time when the literacy rate in England was less than 30 percent, the Puritans believed children (both boys and girls) should be educated for both religious and civil reasons, and they worked to achieve universal literacy. In 1642, Massachusetts required heads of households to teach their wives, children and servants basic reading and writing so that they could read the Bible and understand colonial laws. In 1647, the government required all towns with 50 or more households to hire a teacher. One of the most infamous men involved in the Salem witch trials also has a scientific legacy due to his hybridization experiments and his promotion of inoculation for disease prevention. The Puritan's were so full of contradictions that I wish there were more nuanced portrayals of them in media.
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