Native Americans VS. Puritans

There are stark differences between how the Native Americans worshipped and how the Puritans worshipped. The Native Americans had a sense of being at peace with the world:

"Sweet memories come back to me
Bringing fresh remembrances
Of the past
Dearest one, yes, you are mine own
From you, true love shall never depart"

This quote signifies that the Native Hawaiin's felt much more at peace about the prospect of human mortality than did the bitter and ruthless rhetoric of John Edwards:


“You have nothing to stand upon, nor take hold of. You have nothing between you and hell but the air. It is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.”

This statement by Edwards proves, I believe, better than any other the belief amongst the Puritans that God is a vengeaful God, and that you should live your life in total fear of his will and power. While by and large the Native American of God was one much more built around the nature of things and was not one overly occupied with notions of casting the evil people of the world into eternal damnation.

I think that it is very easy to see how these cultures could clash. The Puritans had a feverish belief that those who live in what they percieved as sin should be dealt with in the harshest of ways. And since the Native Americans were significantly more relaxed socially than the Puritans, it is easy to see how the Puritans came to despise the Natives in the new world.