Re: And they promply became the most abusive religious faction ever seen this side of the ocean. The truth is after a short while, they persecuted anyone not of the Puritan faith. Read Mary Dyer the Quaker martyr.”
The Pilgrims were Separatists, not Puritans. And, yes, you are correct about the Puritans, but even so, the thoughts and ideas begun with the Mayflower Compact were there. Just as the phrase from the Declaration of Independence, “All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. . .” was not fully lived out until after many years of struggle, the Truth was there.
And, please, it’s Thanksgiving - let’s not argue about some of our idiots from the past who messed things up for awhile. We did arrive at our Constitution ultimately. Let’s pray we can get our people and government back to abiding by it.