private journal

I don’t know how to handle this English question and need guidance.

Consider the following quotes (as well as the Hawthorne and Vonnegut short stories) in your response.

“We must all watch one another, and try out all wickedness. We must privately and openly rebuke the private and open offenders. We must also separate the willfull and more grievous offenders, and withdraw ourselves from them.” Rev. Robert Browne (1582)

“And there are some that ought to do more than merely pray against [drunkenness]….It concerns those that have any Civil Power in their hands, to bear witness against it in their way . . . . Townsmen, Constables, Grand Jurymen, etc. Behold the Word of the Lord is upon you in particular this day . . . . Especially see that you keep a vigilant eye over these private, dark alehouses.” Increase Mather (1673)

In the evolution of privacy in the West (and in America in particular), we see the Puritan emphasis on everyone being responsible for the spiritual health of the community. If you knew your neighbor was doing something sinful, even in private, it was your duty to report that to the community or church leaders because you had a responsibility for your neighbors’ spirituality, not just your own.

The modern equivalent might be the phrase, “If you see something, say something.” This references security moreso than “sin.” The modern tendency is to keep religious matters and beliefs private. Often, this is the same with matters of sexual behaviors and preferences as well as finances, etc.

Write a response (150-300 words) in which you discuss this shift. Do you believe the community should be responsible for the morality of its individual members? In what ways does this relate to security and safety? Might we consider the moral health of the community to be important in addition to the financial/military health? Where do we see this in the short stories for the unit?