he benefits of the townspeoples support, they must subscribe to the chosen religion (some form of Christianity, respectively).Belief in the religions principles would, I imagine, become almost inevitable, since saying one believed reaped numerous benefits, and not believing earned one alienation from the community-at-large at best, or worse, a one-way ticket to noose (as exemplified in The Crucible). Given the choices (to believe or not believe because I am not convinced that we freely choose our religions), it would be much easier to live a life mildly adverse to the towns school of thought than it would be to openly disagree.So now we have a town full of people whom, whether or not they all really feel the same, they say they do. Everyone is probably pretty aware of the consequences for disbelief and in an attempt to cover up their own disbelief for fear of persecution, will vehemently persecute anyone who deviates from the norms. This is what grows into hysteria. This is where the mob mentality comes in. To me, the dangers of hysteria are staggering. Nothing is more frightening to me than a large group of people trying to cover up that they dont really subscribe to a set of standards. Because the lie has already begun, going back would surely only incite harsher penalties. The further one moves away from true beliefs, the more difficult it is to go back (as in the case of Abigail in The Crucible, as well as most everyone except for John Proctor).Now that the blind belief is in place and there is a desperate need to cover ones own back, the framework is there to enter power into the equation. Ah, yes.power. Now thats what I call American as Apple Pie. It really only takes one person to recognize this mindset of the people and to decide that there is a vulnerable place. In the case of The Crucible, it was the clergy (surprise, surprise) who saw this weakness. Power could easily come to those who would execute the inevitabl...
