An earlier post mentioned how good way to tell a Second was how hard it was to understand the politics, with the Seven Year War and the Cold War being given as examples.
Religion is the same. Want to understand why "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is such a big deal? Good luck! One might think that trying to understand Puritans might have helped, but instead it ended up going down rabbit holes like the Vestments Controversy, and resulted with plenty of conjecture and possibilities but nothing that said REALLY FOR SURE why it mattered. It almost sounds like it was a big deal because ... it was a big deal.
One might suggest that Watergate was the same, that it rose to the level of outrage that it did because it did. In the current political climate, questions of government spying, executive overreach, obstruction of justice become ignored because - it's Chinatown. It's too difficult to tell who would be helped or hurt, whether the actions are for the greater good or political gain, that people take a stand on nothing more than "he's our guy." Whereas in 1973 there were enough people willing to look at more fundamental issues like, say, the importance of rule of law. And possibly whether the Vietnam War (and associated actions) was a good idea. And whether they missed JFK.
Perhaps Charles I was similarly done in by the moral certitude of the Awakening. Seems like a possibility, anyway.
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