October 12, 1492
Some tell us that we should be ashamed of him...These people view him as the man responsible for what they deem as genocide, because had he not landed in the Western Hemisphere, there would be no European settlement here, no slavery, and the land would be populated exclusively by Native Americans.
There would also be (not coincidently) no concept of constitutional government, no refuge of settlement for many who came here for a better way of life, no Tennessee, and no United States of America.
For all of his many faults, Christopher Columbus (Christoforo Columbo), also brought the zeal of the Catholic and Christian faith to this continent, and he insisted to his dying day that the voyage he undertook in 1492 was one that "the Lord put into my mind." This might explain to some degree the reason for the name that he gave the first island that he landed on: San Salvador-Holy Savior. Some of the other islands of the Caribbean bear the imprint of the Faith that Columbus gave them over the course of his finding them over his four voyages:
Santa Maria de Guadalupe-Our Lady of Guadalupe
St. Kitts (St. Christopher)
Santa Maria de Monsteratte-Our Lady of Montserrat
Trinidad-The Trinity
Martinica-Martinique (for St. Martin of Tours)
Our cuisine was forever changed. Spaghetti has red tomato sauce because of Columbus, who brought the plant to Europe. If you like omelets, you can thank the Spanish for them-the contraption that we have come to call an omelet is called a tortilla in Spanish cooking (as opposed to a piece of flat bread, which is called a tortilla in Mexico).
Most importantly, however, Columbus brought the faith of Christ on to this continent. Father Juan Perez, OFM was the first member of the Christian clergy to be "permanently" stationed in the New World, and celebrated the first Mass in the New World on December 8th, 1493-Perez would become an advocate for the rights of the Arawak people.
We should be ashamed of him, we are told-but it is because of him that we are here, and because of his efforts that ears first heard the name of Christ, and ultimately because of him that we live in the society that we do today.
Labels: Conservatism, Holy Mother Church, Political correctness
posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 6:23 AM
12 Comments:
Columbus didn't bring Christianity to America. It goes back further than you think. See this documentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeZB2EsPqGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmzailhVl-U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6UdQxt7b24
Ah, the freak shows they do abound...
Didn't think you could handle the truth, you've obviously been indoctrinated from an early age. I wouldn't call the lessons of history a freak show.
Since we've all seen you on here before (and only at selective times at that) I think that all of East Tennessee has managed to see that your version of history-not to mention just about everything else-is the internet's version of Barnum and Bailey's Circus.
Did you watch the documentary? What in it do you refute?
BTW
The annoted transcript of the documentary is up in case you have questions on the sources of your christian mythology. It's well documented:
http://zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm
A sample:
There are numerous historians who lived in and around the Mediterranean either during or soon after the assumed life of Jesus.[S185] How many of these historians document this figure? Not one. [S186] However, to be fair, that doesn't mean defenders of the Historical Jesus haven't claimed the contrary. Four historians are typically referenced to justify Jesus's existence. Pliny the younger, Suetonius, Tacitus and the first three. [M] [S187] Each one of their entries consists of only a few sentences at best and only refer to the Christus or the Christ, which in fact is not name but a title. It means the "Anointed one" [S188] The fourth source is Josephus and this source has been proven to be a forgery for hundreds of years.[S189] Sadly, it is still sited as truth.
You would think that a guy who rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven for all eyes to see and performed the wealth of miracles acclaimed to him would have made it into the historical record. It didn't because once the evidence is weighed, there are very high odds that the figure known as Jesus, did not even exist.[S190] [S191] [S192] [S193]
The reality is, Jesus was the Solar Deity of the Gnostic Christian sect, [S194] [S195] [S196] and like all other Pagan gods, he was a mythical figure. It was the political establishment that sought to historize the Jesus figure for social control. By 325 a.d. in Rome, emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. [S197] It was during this meeting that the politically motivated Christian Doctrines were established and thus began a long history of Christian bloodshed and spiritual fraud. And for the next 1600 years, the Vatican maintained a political stranglehold on all of Europe, leading to such joyous periods as the Dark Ages, along with enlightening events such as the Crusades, and the Inquisition.
Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age.
As I said, Barnum and Bailey's Circus...typical low-level liberal tripe that we have heard 1,000 times before.
There is not a bit that was in that documentary that I haven't heard before, and not a word of it do I (or anyone else with both faith and a good bit of Chesterton and Tolkein besides) actually believes. Now go waste your utterly obviously useless time preaching to your sad atheist choir.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those men that detain the truth of God in injustice:
Because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. His eternal power also and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.
Because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified him as God or given thanks: but became vain in their thoughts. And their foolish heart was darkened.
For, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man and of birds, and of fourfooted beasts and of creeping things.
Wherefore, God gave them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness: to dishonour their own bodies among themselves.
Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Romans 1:18-25
Thinking rationally and critically here now Oat, the facts as presented in this documentary require much less in the way of assumption to accept than any theistic religion. I find it fascinating how such dogma has the power to control peoples' rationality, requiring a complete suspension of critical thinking. Faith is deemed as a great attribute but in essence, it acts as a crutch to hold up the beliefs of people that are not based on facts or rational deductions.
I have no problem with the philisophical wisdom of the Bible as long as it doesn't become the basis for law, but I do have a problem with national leaders who base their governance on their supposed connection to an invisible man in the sky. I find it terrifying that such leaders (ie GW Bush) have access to weapons that can destroy the earth.
Case in point, the question has been asked many times, why didn't GW Bush gain a better understanding of the sectarian makeup of Iraq before he invaded?
Just before launching the attack on Iraq, Bush apparently felt he didn't need to learn about the culture he was invading, because he prayed about it.
"I prayed that our troops be safe, be protected by the Almighty. Going into this period, I was praying for strength to do the Lord’s will. ... Nevertheless, in my case, I pray that I be as good a messenger of his will as possible.” - Bush, as told to Bob Woodward.
An now we see this report by ABC News that the US military is forcing Christianity on US soldiers: http://abcnews.go.com/US/CSM/story?id=3694726&page=1
Seems like we should be further along than this as a species. Just because a belief from the dark ages has continued to the present day, doesn't prove it's value or creedence.
There is nothing in that so-called documentary that can be concretely proven. It (and everything else you post here) is fluff designed to promote your atheism. Indeed, you've spend such an inordinate amount of time on my (a believer's) blog, it really appears as though what you are really trying to do is convince yourself that you are right.
Sad, really...very sad indeed.
The documentary is based on researchable facts, far more than support the Jesus story. I know you won't change your beliefs, thats ok. You've proven by your posts to be a fair thinker, except in this case, but that likely relates to an ingrained tradition from childhood. I'm not an atheist. Just an agnostic realist, who searches for knowledge. When someone believes in something absolutely, they stop seeking knowledge that could possibly negate their beliefs. I am a confirmed catholic, and have studied these issues enough to make a qualified opinion, but I don't pretend to have the answers. No one does and I'm suspicious of anyone who thinks they do.
I have great respect for the catholic faith and the art, culture and traditions associated with it.
Pam;
When you forsook your faith, you were no longer Catholic.
Since you were at one time, you know that the idea of free will is a cardinal doctrine of the faith, and thus you have every right to choose between right and wrong and good and evil.
The thing that is utterly impossible to explain to you is that faith by its very nature asserts that it is possible to believe in something that you cannot see. Merely because you cannot see it does not mean that it does not exist or is not true. That is what it means to have faith-faith is a gift.
Nearly everything in that documentary has been asserted or reasserted by the opponents of Christ and Christendom for the last 2,000 years-some of it goes back to the time of Julian the Apostate (in terms of the rash arguments), and the attempts to discredit Christ go back to the very day of the resurrection itself when the Pharisees told the guards at Christ's tomb to tell everyone the disciples stole the body.
The resort to raw intellectualism goes back to the time of St. Paul (himself a learned intellectual), who said of the intellectuals attempting to discredit Christ "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."
2,000 years later, we are still here and we are not going anywhere.
This is precisely why I think you spend time posting these tired, old, repeated arguments (that is really what they are) on blogs like mine. I usually learn that the person posting such things is a former Catholic. Somewhere deep in the recesses of your heart, you know that God is real. In posting things like this, you are somehow trying to convince yourself that you are right (which means that somewhere deep in your soul, in the stillness of the night alone with your conscience, you know better)-because you know you aren't going to convince me.
Remember Barry Goldwater's campaign slogan? It applies much more to Jesus Christ in your case:
"In your heart, you know He's right."
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