tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582751663390398171.post6684417990851793761..comments2023-11-03T17:20:18.270-07:00Comments on William & Mary Dyer: Mary Dyer featured in guest post on Americans United blogChristy K Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05988458745832012138noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4582751663390398171.post-50747944096327093512018-03-24T12:36:53.356-07:002018-03-24T12:36:53.356-07:00FACEBOOK COMMENTS:
Opal C: It was so sad that it...FACEBOOK COMMENTS: <br /><br />Opal C: It was so sad that it started out like that. She was probably sent to the gallows all because she didn't pray or believe a certain way. Think about what Bloody Mary did to those who opposed her beliefs. My Quaker ancestors were beheaded because of her. Yet, she too is on my tree.<br /><br />Christy K Robinson: <br />Thank you for commenting, Opal. May I please correct a few of your statements? (I've researched Mary Dyer and written three books on her, over the last 15 years.) <br /><br />1. Mary was sentenced to death if she defied her banishment order from Massachusetts. Which she did repeatedly. It was her intent to become a martyr to the cause of religious tolerance and freedom. She was a famous woman already, and had respect as the wife of a government official. She went to Boston intending to force them to hang her. This is called "civil disobedience." She was no victim. They didn't want to execute her, and urged her to go home to Rhode Island, but she would not back down and they had to enforce their law. <br /><br />2. Quakers were never beheaded. They were beaten and branded, fined heavily and had their property confiscated. Only four Quakers were executed by hanging. Mary's death, plus the writing of her husband and Dr. Clarke, and an English Quaker named Burrough, convinced King Charles II to stop religious executions in New England.<br /><br />3. There were several high-status Englishmen who had been in Massachusetts and then returned to England, who were beheaded by King Charles II, but they were actually Puritans.<br />Christy K Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05988458745832012138noreply@blogger.com