Modern Puritans...somewhat

Puritans from my perspective were very narrow-minded and strict, and honestly the only system that pops in my mind that is kinda like the puritan system is gymnastics.  Not really though. I guess it's mostly the strict part of both these systems that is similar. By gymnastics system I pretty much mean the coaches, not the gymnast.  Gymnastics is the only thing I do in my free time and its the only thing I can compare to the Puritan system, so...play along. 

Gymnastics is a very beautiful sport, but behind the competitions and pretty leotards everything is not what it seems. Forgot a piece of your routine? As punishment do 20 more routines, and if you wiggle it doesn't count. Did you forget to point your toes on your leap? OK! Do 20 leaps, over splits, and some toes exercises! Were you tired during your floor routine? Lets do 2 floor routines in a row instead! And we'll include complete tumbling! This is similar to the puritans because with one little mistake there's a punishment that no one wants. Obviously the punishments are very different. In gymnastics the punishment is made so that the gymnast get better. As for the puritan's, punishment can mean death, and there is no escaping it unless you point some fingers. At least in gymnastics you can get away a little bit without hurting anyone else. 

Puritans are also very narrow-minded. They don't consider any other ideas besides their own and the lifestyles they share are the same. In gymnastics you want to win, and to win you gotta do want the judges want, even if it means doing the same thing that every one else is doing. Nowadays the average beam routine is just tumbling and jumps. "Jump, tumble,leap,pose, repeat."  Compared to the 70's or 90's there no longer is as much artistry. If you don't do whats expected then you can't win, or in the Puritans case, you can't survive.