CHAPTER 1

1492: The Seven Deadly Sins Tumble out of Europe

AT DAWN ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1492, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS LANDED at an island that the indigenous Taino called Guanahani. With the captains of the Niña and Pinta, he "went ashore in the armed launch," displayed King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella's flags, with the cross prominent, and took "possession of the said island for the king and for the queen his lords."

Some Taino witnessed this ceremony, but they likely saw no reason why this stranger should take possession. Nor did they understand his actions in the next weeks: planting crosses as symbols of conquest, naming places and natural features, eyeing the Taino as potential slaves, looking for gold and reconnoitering for good sites for forts.

• The Revisionists' Critique of Columbus, Europe and Christianity
• Human-Centered Belief Systems Versus God-Centered Christianity
• Europe Rebelling Against Christianity
  • The Role of Religion
  • The Role of Government
  • The Role of Merchants
  • The Role of the Renaissance
• The European Conquest of Another World: The Columbian Encounter
• New World Mirror and Old World Bible
• European Capitalism: Amoral, Abstracting, Accumulating, Limitless
• The European Conquest of the New World: Synopsis