Well my point was that you cannot make the settlers out to be religious progressives that espoused the "american" values of equality, tolerance and democracy.

The Puritans were as dogmatic and theocratic as the nation they fled from.

The relation to this topic lies int he fact that it is likely that the puritanical ethic may be deeply entrenched in american society. And today's neo-con, evangelical, theological movement is an indication of the pervasive influence of that line of thought.

Is it not possible that the puritans also wished to establish a theocracy in the US, but was unable to do so due to the exceptionally diverse mix of cultures that constituted the new America. Of course this is pure speculation, but something that may be worth considering.

How close to todays ideals of american society were the settlers really?