It never hurts to remember that many of the original European settlers to what is now the US were religious radicals who were forced out of Europe because of their religious beliefs. Their influence lives on to this day

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2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

[deleted]

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jfengel 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've never been quite clear on this. We lionize the Pilgrims, but they were one specific bunch in one colony. As far as I can tell they didn't last long as a sect. Many people claim descent, but none are actually Puritans. (Though they may well be lower case puritans.)

Many of the vaunted Founding Fathers were deists, which is just this side of agnostic. They were probably also puritans but none were Puritans.

As far as I can tell we reinvented religion during various Revivals, and what we came up with has only the faintest connection to the version of Christianity that people came here with. They claim connection to that one particular sect, but without either genealogical, intellectual, or theological descent.

I don't fully understand the actual history. But much of what we claim about it is a myth.

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e40 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

This is also my hypothesized reason for the disparity in verbal communication skills between the average Americans and Brit.

If you watch a lot of TV from both countries you will see a very obvious difference in verbal communication. Americans (of which I am one) are so much less articulate when it comes English.

The difference is striking on The Graham Norton Show: almost every American guest stands out as less articulate. This is just one example. Another are interviews with regular people. That’s where it really became obvious.

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acoustics 6 hours ago | parent [-]

If religion had been the cause of a lasting difference, I would have expected it to go in the opposite direction. Articulate, persuasive, emotive public testimony done in a declamatory style is part of the fabric of historical American Christianity, much more than the mostly liturgical traditions of British Christianity.

If there is a difference in communication skills, I don't think religious history explains it.

	▲	e40 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Interesting perspective. I don't find many religious people articulate or persuasive. And how often do they have to give public testimony? The pilgrims lived in Holland for years in exile before deciding to go to the new world. It would seem to take an extreme group of people to do that, but articulate isn't one of the traits I would assign to them.

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Ylpertnodi 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> It never hurts to remember that many of the original European settlers to what is now the US were religious radicals who were forced out of Europe because of their religious beliefs. Their influence lives on to this day.

Forced out? Or wanted their particular version of religion to be 'the only one', (oh, as well as being 'persecuted')?

	▲	dgllghr 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Whether they were forced out or whether they just had a victim complex (I really don't know enough about history to know and it may be a little of both), I think it is well documented that they weren't wanted there by many. I believe England outlawed whatever religion the Pilgrims were practicing there.