From Salem To Today?

    I would like to switch gears a little bit from the previous week and discuss something interrelated, but different. We are coming up on to the 325th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials. One question that this brings to mind is: how is our current situation similar and different from the situations in 1690s Massachusetts?
    One obvious similarity is the fact that in Salem, as now, concern over an increasingly secular society have taken root. People are concerned over a decrease in the perceived piety of the culture at large, and are reacting with fear and anger towards this.
    Another obvious similarity is the singling out of racial and religious minorities for the ire of those who are concerned about certain social changes occurring in the wider society. In today's situation the bulk of the religious ire is directed towards Muslims, and the bulk of the racial scapegoating is directed towards Hispanics, and often Blacks. In 1692, groups such as Quakers were the targets of religious scapegoating, while Native Americans were at the receiving end of the racial attacks.
    Finally, exhaustion from War is a reality of our society today, and it likely was in 1692 Salem. For many years, we have been at war with entities against whom the definition of victory can be very difficult to define. The Puritans of 1692 had a more identifiable allies in French and Native American forces to their north. However the reality of war was an even greater influence on their lives, as that war took place very close to the home-front. There were also many "massacres" that may have had a similar psychological effect on the population as an event such as 9/11.
    However, there are many significant differences between 1692 Massachusetts Bay Colony and the present day United States. For one, as mentioned, the people of 1692 Massachusetts had to endure a war being fought very close to the home of the people. In our case, while we  have had attacks on the home-front that certainly produced a collective psychological trauma that the people of 17th century Massachusetts may have been able to relate to, the majority of the war related violence has taken place far away from home.
    Also, it is worth noting the differing religious ethos of 1692 Salem, and that of present day America. Many people have compared the Puritans to the Religious Right that would emerge throughout the 1970s and 1980s. While there are points of contact in certain matters of piety and rigidity, the Puritan movement comes from a very different stream of thought. Without going into too much detail, the Religious Right usually traces its roots to things such as the Second Great Awakening, the Wesleyan movements, and the German Pietist and Holiness movements. While these groups may appear similar in some ways to Puritans, they grant a much higher role to human agency than Puritanism ever even considered doing
    So the question that becomes worth asking is, could we see the type of outbreak of paranoia in modern America as in 17th century Massachusetts? It's possible, but it would look different. For one thing, religious fervor, while still immensely important to the lives of many Americans, doesn't take the same form as it did for the Puritans. Also, there is the well ingrained constitutional protections in place today that didn't exist for 17th century Massachusetts. Finally, people are much more apt to speak out in regards to perceived injustices in society than they were in the 17th Century, making a modern day "which hunt" very difficult to maintain support for. So while there may very well be an increase in societal paranoia, it is very unlikely to develop into anything resembling what occurred in 1692 Salem.