Rationalist

The Rationalist and Puritans differ very much. The Rationalist are more scientific and don’t believe things just happen because god said so. They believe that most things can be proven through mathematics or science. The Puritans based their explanations of the world around them on god. They believed that god was the reason the sun set in the morning and the moon rises at night not that the earth in spinning and moving through space. In General, The Rationalist were open minded and wanted to fill their minds with more information. The Puritans were closed minded and wanted to keep their minds shut in order of god.

Benjamin Franklin in one of the best examples you can use to explain The Rationalist. Franklin was an open book ready to be filled. He wanted to know why things were and wanted to improve everything around him including himself. You can truly see this when you read The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin. "I balances some time between principle and inclination; till I recollected that when the were opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs. Then thought I, if you can eat one another, I don’t see why I can’t eat you. So I dined upon cod very heartily and continued to eat with other people." What is happening in this quote is Franklin doesn’t want to eat fish because he has felt they have never done him any wrong, but when he sees inside the fish’s belly he sees smaller fish. "So why not eat the fish? "He asks himself. And then comes to the conclusion that it’s ok to eat the fish and dines happily.

Franklin had a list of moral virtues that he went by day after day trying to make himself a better person. This is a very Rationalist thought because Rationalist wanted to better themselves, which in turn will better the society as a whole. Like Franklin I have a list of moral Virtues:

Being Nice- Do on to others as what you’d do on to yourself, and you will almost always be nice.

Honesty- Be honest and do not lie.

Being calm- Don’t Freak out over every little thing.

Reason- There is reason to almost everything. So use it.

Open minded- Stay open minded letting as much information in my head as possible.

Resourceful- Always make the best of what you have.

Silence- to not speak unless you have something to say, and do not get into pointless conversations.

Goals- Always have goals in order to keep yourself in line.

Moderation- Avoid extremes. Too much of anything is never a good thing.

Values- Always keep things you value close to you and cherish them.

Cleanliness- always to clean and keep things around you clean.

Humility- Imitate Jesus or anyone wiser than me.

Love- Always have love for something

Have you every asked yourself why America is as successful as it is? It is because we were founded by Rationalist. People like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock were Rationalist who played a major role in the creation of America. You can see strong Rationalist thoughts when you read The Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." What Thomas Jefferson is saying here is that all people have their natural rights, and we use governments as a way to secure these natural rights, but when the government takes your natural rights you have to abolish that government.
Rationalist played an important role around the world in places like France and all over Europe, but most evident in America. Puritans came in first and set the bar of hard work in America and set us in the right direction, but then The Rationalist came in and gave us our reason. They made America the "free country" that it is. They put the icing on the voluptuous cake that is America.