chestrated by Satan (1). A second belief among Puritans that led to the furor that resulted in the Salem witch trials was their belief that they were personally chosen by God as a select people, coupled with a third belief that the Puritans were a "holy community" (Hovey and Jackson 1).
Positing themselves as superior to the morality and beliefs of others led to many abuses by the clergy and Puritan officials during the era of Cotton Mather and the Salem witch trials. Mather's writings illustrate his belief that the Puritans were superior to others in virtue, faith and goodness. Mather's own writings demonstrate the Puritan conviction that religious authority overrides civil law. Indians, Quakers, witches, and even Puritans who argued against this ideology were viewed as impure or evil. Such beliefs justified their removal from the holy community of New England, one that God had chosen. Mather defined the people of this land as a "people of God" (9). By proclaiming to know "God" and His will, Mather felt justified in persecuting anyone whose beliefs did not coincide with Puritan ideology. This led to the intolerance, fear and paranoia that resulted in the persecution of a significant number of innocent individuals during the Salem witch trials.
Mather and his fellow Puritans ascribed to the notion that they were somehow more pure in thought, word and deed than those who were not Puritans. Because of this, Mather had little compunction about destroying Indians or those accused of witchery. Such attitudes and actions were viewed by Ma
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