[Magdalen] Columbus.

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

1492 was the years the Muslims were finally kicked out of the Iberian
peninsula and it was only with the assurance that more funding would not be
needed for war at home that Isabella ("la Catolica") decided to fund the
Columbus expedition to, well, wherever. Saw a statue showing Isabella with
a list of those who subscribed to the campaign to support the Columbus
expedition. Wonderfully done statue! Ferdinand did not support the
expedition. 1492 was also the year that Ferdinand and Isabella threw the
Jews out of Spain.

At the same time, if we withheld recognition of those who advanced our
knowledge because they did not have twenty-first-century ethics, we might
have many discoveries unconnected to any discoverers.  Columbus had a
strong conviction that sailing to the west ought to open a new route to the
east, and while the idea was kicked around a lot, nobody before him did
anything about it, and he definitely worked very long and hard to get his
idea listened to at all, and then to get acted on. We celebrate Columbus
day because of his discovery, not because he was or was not a nice guy.
Sort of like saying Wagner's music was bad because he was antisemitic.

I fear that we have a crazy mindset going on that if the ancients weren't
as enlightened as us, then they were dog-food, and that's stupid. Even
Jesus made a racist comment at least once, even if the lady he was
insulting turned it around and schooled him on it. His virtue was accepting
the correction with grace. It's pretty reasonable to say that the event
happened that way, since the writer of a gospel would surely not have
written something which would even suggest the possibility of Jesus being
racist if it were not true.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 6:08 PM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ferdinand and Isabella are some of the most revolting examples of European
> "Christianity" of the period, IMNSHO. Don't forget they were right behind
> Torquemada, sponsoring him and urging him on. "Reyes católicos" of the most
> abominable kind!
>
> On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 4:03 PM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
> magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 10/18/2017 2:43:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> > jay.weigel at gmail.com writes:
> >
> > white  man's age of exploration"
> > in general, since they thought they were so damn  superior. This may
> > include
> > some number of my ancestors, I don't  know.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> >
> >
> > Don't you suppose this assumed superiority was due in large
> > measure the paganism of the American Indians?  You have the
> > situation where that most Roman Catholic of countries, fresh out
> > of the Inquisition, encounters a civilization that executed prisoners
> > on stone slabs on the top of pyramids, by tearing out the prisoners'
> > hearts and tossing them down the steps for all onlookers to see.
> > They thought the Aztecs were beyond redemption.
> >
> > Ironically, during that same century there is the Guadalupe
> > event not far away also in Mexico.  So much for being beyond
> > redemption.
> >
> > Such as Pizzaro were indeed ruthless in their well executed
> > invasion, culminating in pushing on into Mexico City.  He was
> > interested in the treasury of gold, of course, and that was all that
> > mattered.  Pizzaro inadvertantly gave the Native Americans  horses,
> > escaped and left behind their conquest.  This acquisition of  horses
> > was ironically probably the greatest single addition to everyday
> > Indian life.  What would depictions of Indian chiefs be if they were  not
> > always mounted horseback?
> >
> >
> >
> > David S.
> >
> >
> >
>