I value the Puritans of old. I come from a long line of them. Here is just one reason why.

This group that our culture loves to hate played a foundational role in shaping early America. Puritanism influenced the development of American values, and the idea of a "city upon a hill" that has persisted in the American identity. But, oh my, how far we have drifted from this beginning. 

They have much to teach us and America has much to learn from them.