Columbus Day and other thoughts…
Ok, so yesterday was Columbus Day, and I was quite disturbed about the way in which Christopher Columbus is being trashed by many in the academic circles and the news media. I read story after story about how so many teachers on all levels are blaming Christopher Columbus for all kinds of the evils. One Jr. High School history class went so far as to hold a mock trial and found Christopher Columbus guilty of war crimes!
Now I freely admit that Christopher Columbus was not a perfect individual; neither of us are. He was wrong in most of his assumptions and calculations. He also was a horrible administrator. But to accuse him of war crimes and other atrocities is outrageous! Most of what Christopher Columbus did was accidental! But I personally thank God for those accidents. For if he had not miscalculated the circumference of the earth and accidentally discovered the Americas, we quite possibly would all be living somewhere in Europe, Asia, or Africa, with far less freedom than we now know. The United States of America has been the greatest champion for freedom and prosperity that the world has ever known, and its founding (and the principles upon which it was founded) have in arguably changed the course of world events, I believe for the good.
I apologize for the rambling, but I am so tired of people denigrating everything we used to hold in high esteem in our history.
