Reflections on Columbus, Culture, and Consciousness From sermon excerpts

Only in the last fifty years or so, dating to coincide with the awareness and ethical implications of the postwar realities of dictators, genocides, and the lust for conquest etc., have we begun to gradually place Western Colonial exploration into a different, much less flattering perspective!

Maybe the whole culturally imposing process of what has been called Western Civilization, when its implications are placed under a broader, more discerning examination, harshly reveals a far less glamorous, far less generous view. Gandhi was once asked: “What do you think of Western Civilization? He thought for a moment, and then said: “It would be a good idea!”

Now this change of perspective is one that stands in opposition to my “personal” and ethnic experience of Columbus Day: As a North American of Italian descent, October 12th was MY St. Patrick’s Day- a time to celebrate my ethnic heritage. Columbus, after all, was one of the Italian heroes in history, and wearing Italian flag colors or burgundy red was in his honor. There would be special Catholic Church services, dances, and of course lots of wine and FOOD! As you know, various groups such as the Knights of Columbus were founded on such ethnic pride…

So you see, looking at Columbus, at least early in my life, was an affirmation that soured over time and with my more mature insights… It represented for me a long, hard step into political, religious, and economic objectivity- maybe more personally disillusioning because, for many Americans who look at American holidays and their meanings superficially, Columbus Day was just another day off from work!

Let’s begin by a brief summary of what we know about this momentous event in Western history. As a caveat, I realize fully that depending on your political, ethnic, racial, and religious views, you can come to completely different assessments and emphasis concerning Columbus and the extended value and meaning of his journey to the New World.

For instance, on the positive side, you can list that he was the first Southern European to bring back evidence that the world was indeed rounder or at least larger than anyone had previously taught or even remotely anticipated. He informed the Spanish monarchs that in this “New World” there were that widely ranged from pepper to gold, from corn, tomatoes and potatoes, to lumber, gemstones, new medicines, and all that could be justified as a new opportunity to spread the faith of Catholic Christianity and claim those lands for Spain!

On the negative, and admittedly more cynical side, we are given the picture of a near-do well explorer who thought that he knew where he was going, and almost did not find any land at all! (Please, no jokes about men and how they do not want to stop for directions!) That he succeeded only after persistently appealing to the greed and pride of a thoroughly corrupt and prejudiced queen and her lackey husband, and winning that vain appeal, he was given three meager ships that were to be filled with gold and riches on his return… If he returned… .

We are informed by the ship’s log records that Columbus nearly missed out on a full mutiny that would have returned the ships empty to Spain, or sunk them somewhere in the Atlantic!
On his ship’s tenuous arrival, he then arrogantly claims all the land he finds for Spain and the Roman Catholic Church! After loading up all the gold, silver, and spices he could, he then forcibly held some natives aboard ship, so they had to return as captive slaves.
With a more cynical and tragic viewpoint, the Spanish or the European crew did give the Native Americans presents of their own;They gave the Indians many new things, along with a forced religion and a new system of slavery! They gave them smallpox, tuberculosis, and syphilis! These are only some reasons why the coming of Columbus is treated as a great tragedy and a day of mourning by many Native Americans.

Now I am sure that we can begin quite a debate over the pros and cons of Columbus… from the positive contributions of the European culture to the New World such as horses, honey bees, rice and wheat, and from the Native Americans to the Europeans, they gave them an effective model for a cooperative governmental community that could work; that peanuts taste good, and chocolate is delicious…Negatively, we can state that Europeans forced cultural change and adoption of alien mores and values. And conversely, as a subtle more long range deadly revenge, the Native Americans introduced Europeans to tobacco!

But I feel that it is necessary to look at the larger perspective of how explorers such as Columbus teach us about basic precepts in the creation of world culture and consciousness. Only recently have we begun to amend our textbooks and provide our students with a more balanced and objective appraisal of history’s events.

This attempt, as I see it, is an attempt to place reason over the emotions of pride, and to reinforce that admission that history is rarely straightforward and clear, and that the saga of humankind always includes many shades of gray. (regressive current debates around Texas and textbooks, Confederate monuments etc.)

I will readily admit that I can have my problems with too much “political correctness” in society today! Over all, I find modern attempts at objectivity and balance to be constructive, positive, and that it represents a healthy departure from the historical, more harmful, jingoistic, and the excessively patriotic elements that many of us grew up believing as being patently or undeniably true. (Q: Who won all those TV Westerns? A: White Men!)

Unfortunately, with the new rewritten examinations of historical figures like Columbus, there comes torrid exposes of everyone, including intolerant tirades and unforgiving indictments of our national Founding Fathers, our former military and political heroes, and many cancel culture attacks on all the imperfect persons whose ideals lead them to public service.

These leaders now have been harshly seen to have “clay feet” AND those judgments are being made with today’s eyes and more complex knowledge of self and psyche, so they have been taken out of cultural context of their times, and so our national heroes can be socially and historically demoted-made to appear to be unworthy of serious regard, study, and yes, our admiration!

And as a consequence, many of these heroes of yesteryear have undeservedly lost our respect, especially when we want to hold them up as shining examples of the “American character”,
We have become disillusioned and angry that they had been held up as moral, and ethical models for our youth and new citizens who wish to know what it means to be “an American!”
(I dislike the renaming of schools and public buildings!)

Tragically, by unmercifully debunking our historical ancestors, we are given very few examples of true heroism and genuine nobility in our culture that pass the “political correctness”’ smell or purity tests. Instead, what has filled that ethical and societal vacuum has now become the lowest common denominator of media driven morally suspect heroism which we could call “living the good life” that is, having money and fame- and so the modern heroes become rock stars, movie icons, sports figures, in short, “sex and success” objects!

This conclusion leads me to a working definition of culture as the LCD; Culture can be operationally defined as the lowest common denominator of interpersonal ethics and condoned social interactions that everyone is willing to support, or is willing to allow)
There is a vital and important point in assessing history and the change of civilizations, and it is this: Not all change is progress, nor does all progress creates meaningful change; It does not necessarily follow that because things change, it is necessarily better, higher, more refined or more evolved.

Progress, as we most commonly define and understand it, is almost always a result of a change in technology, but not an advancement in ethics and values, conscience, and compassion. After all, the stock market and stockholders are loath to consider the ethical, medical, and ecological implications of capitalism, or what the long range effects of various manufactured products are having on the national health, our culture, and the environment!

Only recently have we begun to incorporate dissenting views into our perspective of history so that we could at least begin to present a balanced view. Previous to these last few decades, it was exclusively from the viewpoint of the victors, and the dominant class, color, and cultural priorities that were supported. It is almost as if public opinion and its chief ally, social media, has become a master puppeteers; pulling the strings of public information in a way that only reinforces the dominant feelings and values, and doesn’t let dissent or change assert itself, or be a corrective on the status quo.

Each of us has to admit, to some degree or another, that we allow these dominant and forcefully media driven opinions to be pervasive and persuasive in their ability to sway our own conclusions. We have allowed various arbitrary levels of priority and meaning to limit or even undermine the otherwise multivalent and understandable range of possible outlooks that lie somewhere in-between these opposing poles or dichotomies.

My personal understanding is that we unavoidably hold a shared responsibility, that each of us separately, and our families and social groups together, can act to shape or create history.

That through our honest relationships, our appraisal of how we work, what we value etc., We can shape what is to be commonly known as accepted or condoned history; and then begin to determine the actions and consequences of the future by how we choose to define and refine the culture we will live in and actively support.

This relationship, this interdependence of the individual with their society, is what creates history and culture. The admission that history teaches us that “humanity and nations can behave wisely-once they have exhausted all other ways,” (Lawrence Durcell) need not be perpetuated in this next generation!

As the Unitarian mystic and man of letters. R.W. Emerson advises, the only history that personally counts or as he emphatically puts it, that is worth a tinker’s dam, is the history we create today, together…

Lastly, As I look at it, history, civilization, and consciousness are both ancient and timeless. They are experienced as inconsistent teachers, whose lessons are still relevant and emerging each and every day. It is up to us to design ways and means to benefit our society and future generations from a fair and balanced knowledge of history, not just blindly rehearse its fallibility.

In the ominous and insightful words of the philosopher George Santayana, if we refuse to learn the lessons of history, we will be doomed to repeat them.