And I was just clarifying.

Ohhhh, I see alot of interesting chats in the future then.

It is true that they were trying to escape persecution, but are you claiming that the settlers were not Puritans?

Anyhow the funny bit is that they were also being persecuted by christians.

The settlers who landed at Plymouth were not persecuted because they were more progressive in their religon, but rather because they were DIFFERENT and distanced themselves from the commonly accepted brands of christianity in Europe

Your point is?

And for the record, it wasn't "Europe", but "England" - and basically they were escaping a theocracy.

So they established a theocracy of their own in the form of a "shining city atop a hill" once they reached America? Bad escape tactic.

back to the idea of the militarism of the Christian right, this is an excellent article that was written awhile back.
SPLCenter.org: Holy War
and another article about their power
The Holy War On Gays

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?

Yeah, okay...

Most Americans today have never even heard of the Puritans. Antithesis is a perfect example of that!

You're chasing rabbits to an absurd extent.

Here Here. I have to agree with most of what you said. to add a point, I think today's values, and world politics, have evolved into something more than just mere religious influence. I think it is now rooted, in one religion or another, into practically every world Government. I also have to add, I think that this is a big part of the problem when approachiing the subject of world peace. This is one of the big reasons I attempt to push Progressive Humanism in addition to ones religious beliefs. The world needs to find a common cause.
I say its us as humans and our ultimate survival as a species.

Most of what Americans know about the Puritans comes from the Scarlett Letter (by Nataniel Hawthorne, or the movie starring Demi Moore), and that is an inaccurate representation of how the Puritans really lived.