http://web.mit.edu/thistle/www/v9/9.11/1columbus.html
[quote]The 1492 “voyage of discovery” is, however, hardly all that is
at issue. In 1493 Columbus returned with an invasion force of
seventeen ships, appointed at his own request by the Spanish Crown to
install himself as “viceroy and governor of [the Caribbean islands]
and the mainland” of America, a position he held until
1500. Setting up shop on the large island he called Espa–ola (today
Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he promptly instituted policies of
slavery (encomiendo) and systematic extermination against the native
Taino population. Columbus’s programs reduced Taino numbers from as
many as eight million at the outset of his regime to about three
million in 1496. Perhaps 100,000 were left by the time of the
governor’s departure. His policies, however, remained, with the
result that by 1514 the Spanish census of the island showed barely
22,000 Indians remaining alive. In 1542, only two hundred were
recorded. Thereafter, they were considered extinct, as were Indians
throughout the Caribbean Basin, an aggregate population which totaled
more than fifteen million at the point of first contact with the
Admiral of the Ocean Sea, as Columbus was known.
[/quote]
I have read other accounts as to how they killed these Indians and because their cries annoyed the settlers, sticks were jammed down their throats to muffle the sound.
Much talk of the Aztecs who preserved the Mayan wisdom, they also were almost wiped off the face of this earth and most all of the Mayan writings were destroyed.
This became there justification to continue on:
http://www.americanindiansource.com/columbusday.html
[quote]the Pope’s declaration ultimately had dire consequences for native inhabitants of the Americas. Beginning in 1514 Spanish conquerors adopted “the Requirement,” an ultimatum in which Indians were forced to accept “the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the whole world” or face persecution. If Indians did not immediately comply, the Requirement warned them:
“We shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do all the harm and damage that we can.” [11]
Often the Requirement was read to Indians without translation, or in some cases even from ships before crew members landed to kill Indians and take slaves. [12][/quote]
and yet
[quote]Since 1971 Columbus Day has been celebrated in the U.S. as federal holiday, and on October 9, 2002, President George W. Bush issued a presidential proclamation celebrating “Columbus’ bold expedition [and] pioneering achievements,” directing that “the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of Christopher Columbus.” [/quote]
It is easy for me to understand why some people hate religion. I have some good friends who are Christian and sometimes I offend them by things that I say so I try to be careful.
All I can say is that Confucius, as wise as he was, was also confused and often questioned how it was that the most ignorant and wicked of men were to become rulers of others. He mistakingly believed that if the people could vote for their leader, then there would be justice in the land. G.W. Bush didn’t exactly prove him wrong, because those elections were fixed, the majority of the people did not vote that man in. But it was embarrassingly close. To many people believed in that man, Christians mostly, and some, far too many still do. So yes, I can understand how some would blame religion.
All I can say is, question everything and have an open mind. Don’t just believe the first thing that you might conclude, but question even yourself and that is the only way to the truth of the matter.