As we were

In 1776, on the eve of the Revolutionary War, only about 17 percent of those living in one of the thirteen colonies actually belonged to a religious congregation; hence more people probably were drinking in the taverns on Saturday night than turned up in church on Sunday morning. As for this being an “era of Puritanism,” from 1761 through 1800, a third (33.7 percent) of all first births in New England occurred after less than nine months of marriage, and therefore single women in Colonial New England were more likely to engage in premarital sex than to attend church. The Triumph of Christianity, page 353

<idle musing>
Talk about an interesting little tidbit, eh? What does that do to the "let's get back to the founding fathers" mentality!

And remember, just because they were members, doesn't mean they attended! So, probably you were 2–4 times more likely to be having premarital sex than to attend church. That doesn't seem to be too much better than where we are at now, does it? The "good old days" don't look so different from today when you look at the actual facts and records.

Of course, we don't do that; we look at the past through an ideology. And the dominant ideology of some is that the past was an ideal time that we should try to get back to—whether you are a Tea Partier or a secular person; it doesn't seem to matter, because if you ignore the facts, you can find something to bolster both sides...

No wonder we need the Holy Spirit! Only he can remove the blinders from our eyes so that we can see the truth...
</idle musing>