Sex ed gets another endorsement Nov 7, 2009
for a man to Spend more than he Gets," said Cotton Mather. Profit was equally sinful: A Puritan could be jailed for charging the market price for his products. Still, the Puritans exalted labor, God's punishment of Adam and Eve for seeking knowledge (and sexual pleasure). "Let your Business Engross most of your time," wrote Mather in a treatise on Diligence. Mather prescribed diligence as a cure for masturbation, but also for something called "economic depression ... This is American... (Salon)
White House Requests Removal of Religious Symbol Oct 16, 2009
We are not Harvard, a place that perhaps found good reason to wipe their institutional memory of Cotton Mather. We stand on the proud history of centuries of Jesuit discernment and defense of human rights. (The Hoya, Washington DC)
The Discovery of the Smallpox Vacci... Oct 9, 2009
Cotton Mather and the American Inoculations. During this time, Lady Mary Montagu had also been corresponding with American minister Cotton Mather, who had noticed that his family's African slaves seemed immune to smallpox. (Suite101.com)
A pox on you Oct 4, 2009
Inoculation, known in parts of Asia and Africa for centuries, had been introduced to Boston minister Cotton Mather by his African slave Onesimus in 1706, and had slowly gained popularity in Europe and America. But inoculation was expensive, as was quarantine, and it was not at all clear what share of this - if any - should be borne by the government. (Boston Globe)
Witchcraft in the American Colonies Sep 7, 2009
It was what prompted Cotton Mather to write Memorable Provinces relating to witchcraft and Possessions one year before the outbreak of the 1692 witch trials ... It was these celestial events Cotton Mather referred to as Memorable Provinces in his 1691 treatise warning New England that the devil was preparing a final onslaught to disrupt the Puritan theocracy. (Suite101.com)
Less Vegas: The Casino Town Bets on a Comeback Aug 14, 2009
The one that not even Cotton Mather could get Americans to buy. This precarious moment early on a Tuesday afternoon I could not be more unconcerned that my room reservation has been screwed up. (Time.com)
Lincecum, duckwalks, and an NL All-Star win. Jul 16, 2009
I d rather have Increase or Cotton Mather. semiballcoach. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Sports)
Analysis: Nation of certainty, uncertain outcomes Apr 30, 2009
From the earliest American voices like John Winthrop and Cotton Mather, the seeds of what would become Manifest Destiny were being scattered. That's a difficult tradition to abandon. (Anchorage Daily News)
Ben Franklin, Boston punk Apr 17, 2009
As his nom de plume Silence Dogood makes fun of the city's leading Puritan minister, Cotton Mather (and his "Essays to do good"), so Franklin has found his voice by contrasting the city's pomposities to a tradesman's down-to-earth logic. By the time he's 18, Ben has given (in his own words) "[the] Rulers some Rubs" and needs to get out of town. (Boston Globe)
Trial Tweets Through The Ages Mar 14, 2009
Cotton Mather tweets the Salem witch trials of 1692. Who should be the next earnest Pilgrim to be tortured into confessing witchcraft. (CBS News)
Were There Sex Shops in George Washington's Day? Mar 3, 2009
In the early 1700s, Boston minister Cotton Mather attempted to form a group to oppose brothels but met widespread public indifference due to the relative invisibility of the problem in America. Sex workers multiplied dramatically by the mid-1700s. (Slate)
U2's "Unsatisfied" — and Unsatisfying — New Album Feb 27, 2009
Early on, Bono sang with a moral force that suggested Cotton Mather with a mullet; not satisfied to rock you on "Sunday Bloody Sunday," he needed to convert you. In the towering period that spanned The Joshua Tree to Zooropa, U2 made stadium-size art rock with huge melodies that allowed Bono to throw his arms around the world while bending its ear about social justice. (Time.com)
Blessed Be the Newsmakers Feb 12, 2009
Nothing can be "more proper for a Minister," proclaimed Cotton Mather, than to record those "illustrious displays of that Providence, wherewith our Lord Christ governs the world." ... "Victory Over Horseshit" would be a worthy motto for any paper, but "All the News That's Fit To Print" could have come from Cotton Mather. (Slate)
