The explanation

Abstract This paper examines the religious, social, and political characteristics of early English settler groups in North America, particularly the Puritans of New England, through a sociological framework commonly used to analyze high-control religious movements. It argues that while these groups are not “cults” in the modern colloquial sense, they exhibit a set of structural features consistent with cult-like social control, including absolutist belief systems, moral surveillance, suppression of dissent, and theocratic governance. The paper further demonstrates that the popular narrative of settlers seeking “religious freedom” obscures a more accurate reality: these groups sought freedom from persecution in order to establish regimes of religious conformity. The analysis situates this origin within the broader framework of settler colonialism, Indigenous dispossession, and enduring institutional logics that continue to shape modern governance and bureaucratic systems.