This past Monday the nation celebrated Columbus Day. But I doubt that many people really understand who he was and what motivated him to do what he did in 1492. Several thoughts about Columbus:

Many Americans, aided by grammar school teachings and texts, still believe that Columbus's big achievement was to prove the earth's roundness to ignorant contemporaries who believed that the world was flat. Is this true? NO! The ancient Greeks clearly believed that the earth was a sphere, such that even in the medieval period, no serious scholar believed that the earth was flat (e.g., Bede, Roger Bacon and Thomas Aquinas). The reason the myth about Columbus grew was due to late 19th century scientists who propagated the story to fell religion in its war with science. According to historian J.B. Russell, this myth can be attributed to two 19th century Americans: John William Draper, a physician, and Andrew Dickson White, a scientist who became Cornell's first president. Both argued that Christianity and Science were "absolutely incompatible." For White especially, the enemy was his fellow Protestants. Both men seized upon the flat-earth myth to help make their larger case against religion. It spread quickly. Russell found that after 1880 nearly all textbooks use in schools now mentioned the flat-earth myth. Those years also witnessed the construction of the model of warfare between science and religion as a guiding theme of Western history. Science now became the only legitimate source of truth. As a biblicist, I believe this is not true. Science and religion, especially Christianity, are not enemies; they are complements: each pursue one of God's sources of revelation. Each contains truth.

What motivated Colombus? Columbus wrote a book called "Books of Prophecies," which demonstrates clearly that biblical truths had a place equal with scientific knowledge in his mind. Science did not reign over religion in Columbus's mind; rather, they were complements. Columbus was motivated as much by the desire to take God's truth to "India" as he was to find treasure or seek conquest. Columbus was a religious man, who knew God and loved God. He was motivated by his religious convictions, centered in the Bible. That is something you do not read about in the textbooks of American history. This is as serious a gap in the truth about Columbus in believing that he was the only person who believed that the earth was flat.

See "Columbus's Circle," Wall Street Journal, 9 October 1999.

Back to top

CONDOMS AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Federally funded organizations and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continue to promote condoms as effective barriers against sexually transmitted diseases (STD). However, condoms, whether used correctly and consistently or not, do not prevent the spread of an STD called human papillomavirus (HPV). Currently infecting as many as 24 million Americans, HPV is the most common incurable STD in the US. Besides tending to cause warts on various part of the body, HPV has been linked to over 90% of all invasive cervical cancers, which claims the lives of 5,000 women each year. Two thoughts:

• This once again confirms that the only totally safe sex is no sex abstinence before marriage or faithfulness within marriage. Nothing else guarantees total protection. Why is it that so many organizations and schools are so unwilling to promote abstinence? It is common sense and it is safe. Reinforcing it and championing it can save lives and save millions of young people heartbreaks and hurt.
  
  
• Rep. Thomas Coburn (OK) offered two amendments a few weeks ago to help counter the spread of HPV. It first would require the CDC to have doctors report cases of HPV, something it does not now do, and second would it require condom packages to have a label stating that it is ineffective in preventing the transmission of disease. Both of these seem logical and sensible in dealing with HPV.
  

See "Washington Update," 22 September and 1 October 1999.

Back to top

TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND SOVEREIGNTY

Nearly two weeks ago, the European Court of Human Rights handed down a decision that is frightening in its implications. The Court unanimously declared that Britain's ban on homosexuals in the military is a human rights violation. Therefore, Britain may be forced to allow homosexuals into its military for the first time in its history. Because Great Britain signed the European Convention on Human Rights, its government is obliged to abide by the court's rulings even if it means changing its laws. In previous cases, Britain had to end corporal punishment in state schools and to give greater rights to people suspected of terrorism. How should we think about this?

It means that national sovereignty is not the major value in Europe. The European Union can transcend even national laws rooted in the ethics, values and morals of member countries. If the Court decides those values, morals and ethics are out of step with the rest of Europe, that country will need to change. Margaret Thatcher warned years ago that this very thing would happen. The European Union is gradually, almost imperceptibly becoming sovereign in ethical areas. This is a bit frightening.

It also has implications for the United States. As we become member of more and more transnational organizations, our sovereignty, especially in area of morals and ethics could be in jeopardy. This is one of the prices we are paying for globalism and the interdependence of all things, both economic and political. The Bible speaks of a future time when an antichrist will impose his will on the world. With the kind of organizations and structures we are establishing worldwide, his rule might seem very near.

 

Back to top