I recall a historic tour of Salem where we were told that individuals were, in fact, attached by rope to the backs of wagons and paraded through town naked. Amazing that a religious society would countenance such a thing... _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

Yeah, wouldn't you think so? Well, it was their pornography, I guess, legitimized and made righteous. This didn't start with the Puritans. Maybe it also was important to be able to de-humanize the accused by making them naked as animals, sort of the way the Old South was hyper-modest when it came to wealthy white women while selling black people naked on the auction block. Back to Salem: no radio, no tv, no books and little literacy... comes a time when this sort of 'entertainment' is all there is, I suppose, especially in societies that frown on singing, dancing, and music-making. And like Phil, I've wondered how body-modest people in such cramped quarters could be. He mentions basic body functions and conjugal relations -- I'd add breast-feeding to that. Was it accomplished with great modesty, or none? Hey, Phil, not only was shaming cheap and effective, as you say -- it's *enduring.* Here I am, 310 years later, and *I* am embarrassed! At 07:06 AM 3/5/03, Irene Del Bono wrote: >I recall a historic tour of Salem where we were told that individuals >were, in fact, attached by rope to the backs of wagons and paraded through >town naked. Amazing that a religious society would countenance such a thing...