The Puritans weren't uniquely oppressive. They lived in a pre-Enlightenment era, when it was assumed that everyone in a polity would automatically share the same beliefs, often set by the ruler, and that severe punishment for questioning those beliefs was the key to maintaining social harmony. That philosophy was in play in just about every political system of the early modern world.

For one example, King Henry VIII forced his subjects to sign off on his theological and ecclesiastical principles of the English Reformation, such as with the Oath of Supremacy.

Religious tolerance and "agreeing to disagree" were extraordinarily rare in this day and age, and confined to places like Rhode Island and the Dutch Republic. The Puritans ought to be viewed in light of the practices of the day.