The Rationalists

The differences between the Puritans and the Rationalists are quite distinctive. The puritans are set on belief in god and creation. The believe in what they do not see whereas the rationalist don't believe in what they cannot see. The rationalists believe in the theory of things and the scientific view of things. Rationalists believed that society is ran by natural law. The puritans took importance in improvement they but they pleaded with God for it, and the rationalists believed they could take a scientific approach to self-improvement instead. Rationalist believed anything could be proved through science but the puritans believed that the rationalist philosophy went against god and his reason for things being on earth. The declaration of Independence was noted by rationalists, they believed everyone had the same rights but the purtians said that god gives everyone different rights.


Franklin was a a good example of a rationalist because he looked at things logically and scientifically. He made a list or chart of things that he could perfect in his life vs. the puritans who would just pray for self perfection.


Tolerance- Help me tolerate ignorance around me.
Patience-Not be so impatient with my kids and school
Kindness- Be more kind to people instead of being mean to break the ice
Love- Give more love to my family and friends
Giving- Give what i have to the more needy
Time allowance- Have more time for my kids and work.
Production- Be more Productive
Hardworking- Work harder
Organized- less messy
Slow down- Slow down and breath
Caring- Stop being so hard on myself and others
Forgiving- Forgive and forget

I think maybe you can have this list to be a guide, i don't believe that this will make you happy necessarily. Moral perfection in my book is when your happy with yourself and you love your life. Moral perfection though can not be reached because no one is perfect, only god is! If you believe a list will help you be happy and jolly then by all means go for it but a list may not work all people. The things you need to do are in your heart and soul, not on a piece of paper.