Enlightenment Essay: The Salem Witch Trials And Religion

How could the same individuals with the freeing thoughts of the Enlightenment, also be the same individuals that participated with the haze of the salem witch trials? They are practically complete opposites. The enlightenment was a European time of intellectual movement occurring during (late 17th and 18th centuries) emphasising reason and individualism rather than tradition. However the salem witch trials were forcing people to conform to what others considered to be the right frame of mind. Which, to the church was that any supernatural powers was point blank evil and of the devil and anything beyond understanding and reason is wrong. The whole purpose of the enlightenment however was to encourage individualism rather than tradition, so how could these two

There is a difference between religion and truly following God.) However I am not saying the whole church was corrupt. There were probably a select few that started the whole thing realizing that the healers were making more money than the church, and those people spread the lie to the rest of the church and the church believed them. So to answer your question, the enlightenment and the witch trials could take place within the same time period due to jealousy, corruption and brainwashing.Certain church officials were jealous of the healers making more money than the church and they got corrupt enough to make up lies about the healers to dispose of them and then they brainwashed the rest of the church to believe them. It was a form of mass hysteria. The rest of the church believed them because to them the work of the devil was a very real and believable thing in their time. So in short, a good lesson can be learned from this. Don’t believe everything you hear just because the source may be someone you hold in high esteem. Always search the facts out for yourself and find your own reasoning to back up your