Americans (and nowhere else in the English speaking world) have
overly 'Puritanized' the original Puritans, ignoring the
practices of the early Puritans themselves (who had abnormally
high rates of illegitimate births) into a modern, but fake,
psuedo 'Puritanical' ethic. That allows modern illiterate and
ignorant 'Bible thumpers' to pass judgement on our forebears, in
spite of the Biblical command, "Judge not so you will not be
judged". Pepys a 'letcher', what ignorance! Thank God (who I don't trust to do much right to my way of thinking) I am, in the USA, not often required by law to follow the lead of those I consider to be complete idiots.