If you're puzzled about Columbus...

American Vision magazine (http://www.americanvision.com/) did a great article about secular myths concerning Columbus. It was very good. I'll see if they have it online somewhere and try to post it if I find it.

One myth - The church leaders opposed him because they thought the world was flat. Not true, the debate was whether or not he had enough resources to make the voyage around the globe since they doubted that it was as small as he had estimated. They were right, by the way, it was a lot bigger world than Columbus thought.

 

LE - Yes, I saw the Discovery program and it was very interesting. Our technology is quite amazing!

Strat - You're partially right about the myth but not exactly. The church's position was that the world was indeed flat (in principle), though they accepted science that said the surface may be curved. I believe that the Italians were the ones who questioned Columbus' resources and size estimates. They used the "flat" card in an attempt to discredit Columbus. The result was a matter of history: He went to Spain instead, who authorized his expedition.

The Disover Channel investigates the ethnicity of Columbus. It's been presumed that he was Italian because he resided in Italy. However, Europe was not ethnically exclusive. There were Spanish living in Italy, Italians living in Spain, etc. The most interesting question brought up on the program was the possibility that Columbus might have been an ethnic Jew. If that's the case, it's a secret he would have kept hidden, since Jews were not given the same rights as Europeans. In many parts of Europe, they were not allowed to speak in public.

 

I still haven't found the American Vision article which went into great detail on the myth but I did find this little tidbit:
http://id-www.ucsb.edu/fscf/library/RUSSELL/FlatEarth.html

 

"I posted about Columbus being a Jew one time and got laughed and guffawed off the Board. Funny thing, though, months later look what was on Discovery, LOL."
''
I remember that. Sadly Discovery channel can be as reliable a source as Michael Moore at times. So we still don't know how likely that theory is.

 

Just to make it clear for those who didn't watch the program, TDC determined that Columbus was not an ethnic Jew. The likelihood is that he was Catelonian.

Columbus was Roman Catholic. The "Jewish" issue was one of ethnicity, not religion.

 

If Columbus was a Jew, he must have been a closet Jew.

Roy