Columbus Day…A Little Late

Despite the title I gave this post, Columbus Day was actually celebrated a bit earlier this year. But that’s just my view, that of a holiday purist, someone who believes dates are important reminders of real people and events, and that holidays should never be moved to Mondays. Columbus Day used to be celebrated on October 12 to commemorate the day the explorer arrived in the Americas in 1492. But this year it was moved to Monday, October 11, so government workers could take advantage of a 3-day weekend. That came about because of the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act,” passed by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on June 1, 1968. Even back then, when I was a 20-something young naval officer and, therefore, a government employee, I considered this law a travesty. I actually wrote to my congressman, encouraging him to vote against it, but not surprisingly received a only form letter in response. Even today I still receive form letters from members of congress, so things haven’t changed much. Anyway, I’ve been far too busy lately and, although I certainly hadn’t overlooked Columbus Day this year, I had little time to celebrate. And so, today, I’m commemorating this heroic figure a few days later than usual. 

But these days, the larger issue is whether we should celebrate this man and his accomplishments at all. Some states and localities have canceled any commemoration of Christopher Columbus and instead substituted the celebration of “indigenous people.” I find this to be almost as stupid as the Monday Holiday Act, largely because it is driven by lies instead of historical fact. 

For the left, those who hope to eradicate all vestiges of Western Civilization in our national life, Christopher Columbus is a prime candidate for cancelation. In the view of these idiots, he is a symbol of imperialistic European greed. They also frequently accuse him of encouraging the genocide of those peaceful indigenous folks he encountered when he reached the Americas. This, of course, is complete garbage. When you really study the life of this extraordinary man, you encounter a deeply religious Christian, a devout Catholic who desired only to serve God and his fellow human beings. He desired the best for those he encountered in the new world, and for Columbus the best was their salvation.

Columbus Statue High Above Barcelona Harbor

As a naval officer, I can say without qualification that Christopher Columbus was a remarkably competent seaman. He was a sailor from his youth and over time became an excellent navigator, a demanding and challenging skill in those days. An Italian from Genoa, he had sailed the North Atlantic as a young man and came to realize that a voyage to the East would be possible by sailing West across the Atlantic. (By the way, in those days no one, except the truly ignorant, believed the earth was flat.) Columbus realized, too, he would need serious financial backing to make such a voyage, support he eventually received from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Columbus made several voyages to the new world, and always treated the native peoples with great respect. When any of his crew mistreated the natives, they were severely punished. In his diary, Columbus wrote, “…in the world there are no better people or a better land. They love their neighbors as themselves, and they have the sweetest speech in the world and are gentle and always laughing.” He was horrified when he encountered the vicious Carib tribe, a warlike people who were cannibals that practiced sodomy and the castration of young boys they captured, among other horrendous practices. He rescued and returned their captives to their home islands. Interestingly, Columbus also asked King Ferdinand to apply any profits from these voyages to the financing of a crusade to recapture Jerusalem which he believed was tied to Christ’s Second Coming. Who knows? He may have been right. The fate of Jerusalem is still in some uncertainly.

If you want to learn about the true Columbus, read one of Samuel Elliot Morrison’s wonderful books on this remarkable explorer and even greater Christian. And continue to celebrate his life, his accomplishments, and his faith every year on October 12.