Marcus W. (SuDongpo) reviewed A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials on + 37 more book reviews
Lays out the latest scientific theory behind the shenanigans at Salem, this time involving meningitis or encephalitis. Does this finally lay the American witch trials to rest? No, it's no more conclusive than the psychoanalytic theories or the idea that it was ergot poison. Could it be a partial explanation? Maybe.
In the end, I think that the true etiology of the New England witch trials can be found in the news today, the entire thing can be seen as a product of an established church and a persecution complex among the more fundamentalist believers interacting with some still unknown medical disorder. It still remains to be proven whether the medical disorder in question was hysteria, an organic brain or dietary problem, disease factors or PTSD, and I'm not sure whether, in the end, it matters what the physical cause was. The best chance of avoiding this sort of abuse in the future is state control of the theocratic element. BUT of course that's just MY theory.
I recommend this for all students of early American history and theocratic government.
In the end, I think that the true etiology of the New England witch trials can be found in the news today, the entire thing can be seen as a product of an established church and a persecution complex among the more fundamentalist believers interacting with some still unknown medical disorder. It still remains to be proven whether the medical disorder in question was hysteria, an organic brain or dietary problem, disease factors or PTSD, and I'm not sure whether, in the end, it matters what the physical cause was. The best chance of avoiding this sort of abuse in the future is state control of the theocratic element. BUT of course that's just MY theory.
I recommend this for all students of early American history and theocratic government.
