This radical sermon sparked lots of controversy and was hard to believe for some to comprehend. Jonathan Edwards came out with this piece to try to prove to all that he wasn't just crazy, but that his beliefs were true. He believed in the Puritan way and was totally into the whole idea that if you didn't do as the bible said word for word that you weren't going to heaven. He, along with many others, believed that the only way to make it into heaven was to obey the laws of God throughout your entire life with out missing a beat. This was borderline insanity for some to comprehend.
For some it was to much and they found the Puritans different as in a bad way. Most people in England didn't find the Puritans as good company and demised them. Because the English had booted them with their bad reputation, they looked for refuge in the 13 colonies. Even the Natives found this type of religion to be a little strange. However, the main reason people didn't understand them is that they new what was outside of the society, where as the Puritans only new the Puritan way. The craziness that the Puritans put forth as reason quickly made people turn away as they saw no logic in Jonathan Edward's speeches and sermons. The majority of the English found them to be weird and saw the Puritans as an unfitting group so they let them go to the New America.
All in all the Puritans were a misunderstood group. Kind of like today's Amish people. We may find them a bit strange because they are stuck in the past but we have outside views on them, where as they only know what is within the group. The biggest part into understanding a different culture or social group is to make sure you have the right perspective on things. For example, if you automatically assume the Amish are weird then you aren't fully understanding them. However if you take the right angle and you see that they know nothing but the Amish way you would understand and not criticize. Things appear differently with perspective, but in order to see them the right way you have to look at them with the right perspective.
I agree with the statement that you must have the right perspective when looking at someone/something new. You can't just automatically judge them from what you think, see their perspective, walk in their shoes before saying they're weird, great, etc.
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