The Rise of the New Puritans

Fighting Back Against Progressives’ War on Fun

By: Noah Rothman

Narrated by: Noah Rothman

“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”

-H.L. Mencken

The Left used to be the party of the hippies and the free spirits. Now it’s home to woke scolds and humorless idealogues. The New Puritans can judge a person’s moral character by their clothes, Netflix queue, fast food favorites, the sports they watch, and the company they keep. No choice is neutral, no sphere is private.

Not since the Puritans has a political movement wanted so much power over your thoughts, hobbies, and preferences every minute of your day. In the process, they are sucking the joy out of life.

In The Rise of the New Puritans, Noah Rothman explains how, in pursuit of a better world, progressives are ruining the very things which make life worth living. They’ve created a society full of verbal trip wires and digital witch hunts. Football? Too violent. Fusion food? Appropriation. The nuclear family? Oppressive.

Witty, deeply researched, and thorough, The Rise of the New Puritans encourages us to spurn a movement whose primary goal has become limiting happiness. It uncovers the historical roots of the left’s war on fun and reminds us of the freedom and personal fulfillment at the heart of the American experiment.

Outstanding book to read for 2023

The author does an excellent job of drawing the parallels between old-fashioned Puritanism and today’s left. Although he is a little verbose, he keeps the reader captivated by the timely, subject material. I recommend this book to anyone who is trying to understand the difficult times our nation is going through here in the early 21st-century

Proves holier-than-thou can have nothing to ...

Proves holier-than-thou can be unrelated to holiness. New Puritans are an unholy bunch, yet they think they are better.

Great, fast summer read

The insights will make the current headlines seem a little less crazy. The history lessons are fascinating and a primer of our colonial past. I especially enjoyed Noah’s reading. It was one of those fast reads that was done over a weekend. Enjoy, and never stifle your laughter.

Irreverent and Challenging

Some points made me uncomfortable…which is to say I had to consider my own attitudes and beliefs. This is a good thing.

Fighting the culture wars

What a great read ! It was interesting to learn about the parallels between the progressive left and the Puritans. Rothman takes us on a historical deep dive of original puritan religion and cross references it with anecdotal media stories of how old puritan ways of curtailing fun snuck into our everyday lives. Todays we live in a world filled with the fear of being canceled, the metaphoric witch hunt, for the non pc comedy we like, the fusion food we eat and the culturally appropriated cloths we wear. Rothman’s advice to us is to just live a little and laugh at the character they are. None of these ideas are bad or unjust, it’s just the extremes that they are taken that have gone to far in their puritanical rhetoric.