What is a theocracy and how would it affect the view of Salem residents toward witchcraft?

Answer 1

This article should help you:

http://usminc.org/salem.html


(you might like this one too)

http://usminc.org/burning.html

Answer 2

I'm sorry, it's been about two years since I read any books on the Salem Trials, and I can't remember the titles or all. I am a southern New Englander, myself, though I live in N'Hampsha now and Puritan society has always interested me because it made my world.

A theocracy is what you get when the governors of a society believe a good government is primarily a Moral one. Look at Iran. Frankly, look at Iran for the answer to your second question too though please don't interpret this as meaning I'm saying anything about what the US should do. A reporter was being interviewed on, I believe NPR, about his experiences reporting from there. He described a man who came up to him, denounced the US, denounced Britain, and then asked, "And by the way when are you going to throw them out for us."

The Salem Witch Trials were a "Witch Hunt" in the modern political sense, which apparently grew out of a property dispute within the powerful Updike family (Look at the last names and relationships of its victims). Its true horror can best be described not by saying there were no witches there, but by suggesting if there were witches there they are as likely to have been among those doing the dunking, the hanging and the burning as they were to have been among the victims.

People underestimate constantly what was known and understood in the old days. Theocracy had no effect on the view of Salem Residents towards witchcraft at the time of the trials. It had a direct and oppressive effect on how they expressed those views.

Answer 3

Since you place your question in the present tense, and, the historical has already been answered, I'll answer in the present. There were no "Witches" in Salem during the Witch trials and there are few there now. Salem is still something of a Theocracy as there is a Christian majority and there are not to my knowledge any declared Pagans in a elected position. The residents of Salem in our contemporary time take full economic advantage of the past. There are Profit making shops in all directions selling "witchcraft Items." As I saw no true sign of those of the crafts during my visit. The self proclaimed Witches did not impress me. The residents use "witchcraft" to sell without thought of its true history.

Answer 4

A theocracy is a society governed by religious laws, where crime and sin are one and the same. While it is easy to assume that the Salem witch trials were the result of a theocracy, that is actually not the case. The people executed for "witchcraft" in Salem were not executed for holding a different set of religious beliefs. The people who were executed were pius members of the same religion that did the killing. They were killed because the accusers held a grudge against them, and managed to convince the judge.