Why in the world is Columbus Day contentious? Christopher Columbus discovered the New World kindling a historic era of exciting exploration, starting a centuries long boom in trade, establishing Christianity on two continents, and setting in motion the events that would ultimately lead to the founding of the greatest nation on earth, the United States of America! Despite some ugly episodes, overall, Columbus’s legacy is a huge net positive for the world and particularly for America, so why has it become questioned and controversial?

The short answer is globalists and leftists hate America, so they persistently try to discredit and undermine our venerable American heritage. The stark reality is there was a clash of civilizations and one prevailed. The cultures of indigenous peoples were indeed eclipsed by a robust beachhead of Christian and European culture, but they were not eradicated. Although largely subsumed, many indigenous cultures remain and continue their traditions, but most people of indigenous heritage which has also largely mixed with European settlers now live and even thrive in the new civilization founded in the wake of Columbus’s monumental discovery.

Leftists in academia, entertainment, and politics prefer to celebrate “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” not so much to extol indigenous peoples, but rather to diminish or even malign Columbus’s contribution. A simple review of leftist pronouncements of “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” shows no substance but only hollow platitudes of “enduring contributions,” but no examples of actual contributions. However, when pushed, they will hurl largely baseless endless accusations of malintent and misdeeds by Columbus.

Sadly, this sells indigenous peoples short. Contrary to leftist insistence, that indigenous peoples are not respected, they patently are appreciated and respected by Americans. Most of our states and rivers retain indigenous names; and we honor them by naming military equipment and even sports teams after noble Indian warriors. Indigenous peoples are woven into our history sometimes fighting against us and sometimes with us. The Navajo Code Talkers made a crucial contribution in WWII with a code Imperial Japan could never break.

The crossover between cultures was early. In 1620, the pilgrims were aided by a friendly Indian, Squanto, who showed them how to grow crops and survive the inhospitable Massachusetts winters. He spoke English and was already a Catholic because he had encountered Spanish and English explorers. His tale is compelling having been sold into slavery in England but freed by a Spanish priest; he had already lived a few years in Europe and returned to North America.

The contributions of indigenous peoples are genuine and worthy of celebration, but they should not and really cannot compete with Columbus’s legacy. While noteworthy, indigenous cultures were not material to the Declaration of Independence or Constitution. Our Republic was founded on Christian principles that matured from European culture not any tribal laws or traditions.

Leftists continue to revise history about Columbus, but the truth is spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ was as important as finding new trade routes. Columbus was known as the “Admiral of Christ.” A devout Christian, Columbus prayed daily for God’s providence and to advance His kingdom on earth. The Knights of Columbus still follow his example today.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isbella of Spain commissioned Columbus’s expedition and certainly hoped to get a return on their investment with new trade routes, but Queen Isbella was particularly insistent that spreading the Gospel was paramount and that any natives encountered were treated humanely and with dignity. This encounter with new people forced European monarchies to reconsider how they had mistreated their own European subjects. While not perfect in execution, Columbus’s mission established the concept of universal human rights for all people.

The legacies of Columbus and indigenous people are both remarkable but also very different; they are not really in competition. We can appreciate indigenous peoples and their cultures, but the New World prior to European settlement was barbaric, cruel, and primitive not unlike any where else in the world absent Christianity. Leftists want you to believe the continent before Christianity was a blissful peaceful life rooted in nature; it was not. Indigenous culture made little progress over centuries compared to the rocket sled of development ignited in 1492.

Columbus has been pitted against indigenous people by leftists to sow division and strife among Americans. Joe Biden declared “Indigenous Peoples Day” to be celebrated on Columbus Day in 2021. Why Columbus Day? Why not give them their own day? A different day.

Biden and leftists targeted Columbus Day to supplant it, to remove it. Columbus Day celebrates our uniquely American Christian heritage that has made America great; and leftists loath everything it stands for because it’s the singular obstacle to recasting America has a godless secular socialist state.

Give indigenous peoples their due and day but not at the expense of Columbus’s vital contribution. America is great because we are a beacon of freedom founded on Christian principles that all started with Columbus. Reject leftists’ manufactured contention to simply divide us but rather choose to celebrate all the varied contributions that made America without losing sight of the Christian heritage that brought it all together and made this great nation possible.

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).

Pete Riehm is a Navy Veteran, conservative activist, and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.