Guide to religious freedom

Columbus’ own writings reveal how tightly religion and conquest (and slavery) were intertwined from the start

His writings also show his delusions of grandeur

Peter C. Mancall, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

A manuscript with the text of the letter Cristopher
Columbus wrote in February 1493, giving his account
of the first voyage to the Americas.
Archivo General de Simancas/Spanish Ministry of
Culture via Wikimedia Commons

Few historic figures are as divisive as Christopher Columbus. For some, in both Spain and the United States, he remains a great hero, an explorer who found a “new world.” 

He is reviled by others who see him as an arrogant conqueror: the first European to enslave Indigenous Americans, and the man who launched ecological destruction in the Western Hemisphere.

As a historian who writes about early encounters between Europeans, Indigenous Americans and Africans in North America, I believe it is important to recapture this period as much as we can from existing documents – including Columbus’ own writings. Those texts reveal the enormous importance the push to spread Christianity played in Europeans’ colonial plans from the start.

In my 2026 book, “Contested Continent: The Struggle for North America, c. 1000-1680,” I describe how Europeans’ religious desires shaped the creation of American colonies that benefited conquerors, at a high cost to those they displaced or enslaved. In the Americas, the linkage of religious purpose and the eager pursuit of glory and wealth began in 1492.

Westerly culture war erupts again

After victory for trans student rights in Cumberland, all eyes turn to Westerly

Steve Ahlquist

Credit: Mel Woods/Xtra

As the Cumberland School District wrestled with and ultimately declined to pass changes to its transgender student policies last week, Westerly School Committee Solicitor William Nardone provided a freewheeling and imaginative overview of a recent United States Supreme Court decision, West Virginia v. B.P.J., regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes in female sports at last Wednesday’s meeting during his “solicitor’s report.”

In the decision, SCOTUS ruled that under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, schools may maintain women’s and girls’ sports teams based on “biological sex.” The decision permits—but does not strictly mandate—the exclusion of trans girls from female sports, said Solicitor Nardone. The solicitor advised the School Committee that the district should align itself with the court’s decision, even though the ruling did not affect Rhode Island General Laws or the Department of Education’s mandated Guidance for Rhode Island Schools on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students.

Nardone went even further than the court’s decision, interpreting the ruling’s “umbrella” to apply to spaces such as locker rooms and bathrooms. Christian nationalist Committee member Peter Nero was quick to point out the difficulties of enforcing a ban based on “biological sex,” noting that birth certificates can be legally altered in many states. Solicitor Nardone dismissed the concern and noted that the Supreme Court decision does not address the issue of verification, and that the “day-to-day” policing of the policy is up to the district administration.

Committeemembers Seth Logan and Lori Wycall cited Mirabelli v. Bonta, the case that was at the center of the kerfuffle in Cumberland. Unaware that Cumberland would conclude that altering their policy was, at the very least, premature (if not dangerous for the health and well-being of students), they suggested the district ensure parents are informed if a student begins to socially transition at school (that is, adopt names, pronouns, or the dress of a gender different from the one assigned at birth. Committeemember Logan is fairly new to the Committee, but Committeemember Wycall has long wanted to impose policies to discriminate against trans children. (See: here, here, and here.)

Though the opponents of trans girls playing sports couch their arguments in terms of competitiveness, safety, and fairness, their true agenda is Christian Nationalism, complete with Christian prayers and Bibles in public schools.

Committeemember Peter Nero formerly served as the Superintendent of the Cranston Public Schools until his retirement in 2012. During his tenure, an atheist student, Jessica Ahlquist (full disclosure, Jessica is my niece), was a plaintiff in a successful case brought against the city by the RI ACLU to remove a Christian prayer banner from the auditorium wall of Cranston High School West:

“We wanted to keep the banner,” said Committeemember Nero at Tuesday night’s meeting. “We thought it was the relic. It was Christian, and I’m a practicing Catholic, so I didn’t find a problem with it. We ended up getting a pro bono [lawyer] from the Diocese, but the [ACLU] won the case…

“…if the Supreme Court was empowered back in 2012, that prayer banner would still be up … because you can see now they’re putting Bibles in some schools, Bible studies… I had the prayer banner cut down from the wall, and I’ve had it hidden. And someday, if [the Supreme Court] turns that around, I’ll have it put back up.”

Here’s the transcript of the relevant parts of the committee meeting. You can watch the video here.

Begone

Guide to the Evangelical mind

NOT A JOKE: US Department of Homeland Security announces new state religion for the US

What does the Constitution say about this:

Trump posts on social media about himself

Insight into the mind of Donald provided by Donald himself...

Let's try having a king again

credit: Jesse Duquette

What Trump’s post as a Jesus‑like figure tells us about political messianism

Trump the Messiah

Austin Sarat, Amherst College

Donald Trump sparked immediate outcry on April 12, 2026, when he posted an image of himself as a Jesus-like figure. The post, which Trump later said was supposed to depict him as a doctor, came shortly after he criticized Pope Leo XIV as “weak” and “terrible.”

Three days later, Trump posted an image depicting Jesus with his left hand on his shoulder. Referring to that post, Trump observed, “Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!”

These posts help illustrate the political messianism that Trump has brought to the Oval Office.

Political messianism is a style of leadership that places great faith in a single leader who is endowed with godlike attributes. It does not welcome dissent, and it portrays politics as a struggle between good and evil.

Eric Voegelin, a 20th-century political thinker, warned that political messianism often fuels authoritarian rule. It divides society, with a messianic leader’s supporters seeing him as a savior who will deliver their country into a golden age, while opponents foresee a coming apocalypse.

Democratic politics thrive when leaders and followers act with modesty and humility, when no one sees themselves as infallible or indispensable. As someone who teaches and writes about U.S. democracy, I don’t think it can thrive, or even survive, when its leaders see themselves as godlike and when the citizenry is divided into true believers and heretics.

Trump’s messianic vision

The image depicting Trump as a Jesus-like figure is the latest evidence of Trump's messiah complex.

At the Republican National Convention in 2016, he boasted that “I alone can fix it,” referring to a system that was responsible for what he would later call “American carnage.”

In a 2019 speech, Trump referred to himself as “the chosen one.”

In 2023, he described what he had done in his first term this way: “I think you would have a nuclear war if I weren’t elected.” As president, “I was very busy. I consider this the most important job in the world, saving millions of lives.”

And in a Jan. 8, 2026, interview with The New York Times, Trump said, “I don’t need international law,” since his actions as commander in chief were guided only by “my own morality. My own mind.”

The president is not alone in believing in his messiah status, or in comparing himself to Christ. On April 2, 2026, at a White House Easter celebration, Paula White-Cain, one of his spiritual advisers, used Jesus’ death and resurrection to explain what had happened to Trump.

“Jesus taught so many lessons through his death, burial, and resurrection,” she said. “He showed us great leadership, great transformation requires great sacrifice. And Mr. President … you were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our lord and savior showed us.”

Bless him

Trump interprets God's will

Trump does it again. Can't help himself.

Donald Trump attacks Pope Leo while declaring himself to be the Savior

And then, Trump posted this image - not a joke - of himself:

Looks like Trump is trying to bring Jeffrey Epstein back to life. Trump later deleted this post. In response to the question "Did you post that picture of yourself depicted as Jesus Christ, " Trump said "I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with the Red Cross. Only the fake news could come up with that one." YOU BE THE JUDGE.

WWJD?

AG details scope of Catholic Church child sexual abuse and cover-ups in RI over decades

Providence Catholic bishop apologizes to victims of clergy sex abuse

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

For more than seven decades, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence concealed the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by over six dozen clergy members, according to a long-awaited report released Wednesday by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. 

A total of 72 deacons and priests faced credible accusations of abuse dating as far back as 1950, the 282-page report states. Only 14 of the men listed are still alive. 

Systemic sexual abuse by New England Catholic clergy was exposed over two decades ago. But the AG’s report, which took nearly seven years to complete, pieces together as complete a picture as possible of what happened in Rhode Island, home to the largest per capita Catholic population in the nation. 

“The numbers are staggering, shocking, astounding,” Neronha told reporters during a more than two-hour press conference at his downtown Providence office. “And we know we didn’t get it all.”

State Police and the AG’s office found at least 315 victims of abuse, most of which occurred during the 1960s and 1970s. The most recent known incident of misconduct cited was in 2011, when the principal of St. Joseph School in West Warwick alleged a deacon who taught in the school “had pulled down the pants of several sixth-grade boys.”

Most accused priests avoided disciplinary action or criminal charges because the diocese would often transfer them to new parishes without warning those congregations — a practice the report called “priest shuffling.” Neronha said 31 Rhode Island priests were transferred at least five times during their careers, promoting a “culture of secrecy.”

“That went on for decades,” Neronha said.

Only 20, or about 26% of the clergy identified in the report, ever faced criminal charges. Just 14 clergy were convicted. 

Neronha’s office has charged four current and former priests with sexual abuse for allegations over the course of the investigation between 2020 and 2022. 

Three of them are still awaiting trial, while the fourth died after being deemed incompetent to stand trial in 2022.

US Catholic bishops draw the line: ‘We ask — for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can’t be separated — vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization’

Tipping point: ICE murders and kidnapping of children

Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religious News Service

(RNS) — After immigration enforcement officials shot several people and killed two U.S. citizens, U.S. Catholic bishops have used increasingly urgent language in opposing the Trump administration’s immigration policies in recent days.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, called on U.S. members of Congress to oppose a funding bill that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We ask — for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can’t be separated — vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization,” Tobin said in a webinar hosted by Faith in Action on Sunday (Jan. 25). 

Tobin also used stark language to describe immigration enforcement actions, saying, “We mourn for our world, for our country, that allows 5-year-olds to be legally kidnapped and protesters to be slaughtered.”

Are you on Donald Trump's "enemies list?"

You Could Be on Trump’s Enemies List, But the Mainstream Media Won’t Warn You

Jim Naureckas

The Trump FBI is drawing up an enemies list that could encompass well over half the US public:

• Do you “advance… opposition to law and immigration enforcement”?
• Do you have “extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders”?
• Show an “adherence to radical gender ideology,” meaning you think trans people exist?
• Do you exhibit (what the Trump administration would interpret as) “anti-Americanism,” “anti-capitalism,” or “anti-Christianity”?
• Do you display “hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality”?

Congratulations—you may be headed for Attorney General Pam Bondi’s “list of groups or entities engaging in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism.” “Terrorism,” of course, is the magic word that strips you of all sorts of legal protections, especially in the post-9/11 era.

This is from a Justice Department memo obtained by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein (12/6/25)—which goes on to instruct the FBI to set up “a cash reward system” for people who turn in those promoting such thoughtcrime, and “establish cooperators to provide information and eventually testify against other members” of groups with these dangerous ideas.

This is the implementation of the Trump administration’s avowed policy of criminalizing dissent—in the words of the NSPM-7 decree, outlawing “organized campaigns of… radicalization… designed to… change or direct policy outcomes” (FAIR.org, 10/3/25; CounterSpin, 10/17/25)—and as such is another giant step towards authoritarianism. Establishment media didn’t see it that way, however.

As Klippenstein (12/9/25) pointed out, virtually no corporate media outlets covered this catastrophic memo, and those who did report on it did a generally poor job. The Guardian headline (12/5/25) was “Pam Bondi Tells Law Enforcement Agencies to Investigate Antifa Groups for ‘Tax Crimes,’” and Bloomberg Law (12/5/25) had “Bondi Orders FBI Extremism Intelligence Review with Antifa Focus”—completely misleading framing that suggests that if you’re not “Antifa,” the memo isn’t about you.

US Launches Christmas Strikes on Nigeria—the 9th Country Bombed by Trump

Trump has now bombed more countries than any president in history.

Brett Wilkins

Donald Trump—the self-described “most anti-war president in history”—has now ordered the bombing of more countries than any president in history as US forces carried out Christmas day strikes on what the White House claimed were Islamic State militants killing Christians in Nigeria.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” Trump said Thursday in a post on his Truth Social network.

“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” the president continued. “The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing.”

“Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper,” Trump added. “May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues.”

A US Department of Defense official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press that the United States worked with Nigeria to conduct the bombing, and that the government of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu—who is a Muslim—approved the attacks.

It was not immediately known how many people were killed or wounded in the strikes, or whether there are any civilian casualties.

Catholic Bishop of Providence leads saying the Rosary outside prison for immigrants in Central Falls

Catholics lead protest in opposition to U.S. immigration policies outside the Wyatt Detention Center

Steve Ahlquist

“Migration has been part of our spiritual DNA since Adam and Eve left the garden,” said Bishop Lewandowski (right in photo above). “We need a movement, akin to the civil rights movement or women’s suffrage, to advocate for just treatment of migrants.”

“We gather here today to pray for an end to the violence of mass deportations of our migrating brothers and sisters, which include practices of racial profiling, the separation of families, the deportation of people who are asking for asylum and safety from the conditions of their homelands, too often taken back to dangerous conditions without any criminal records to justify removal from our country and arbitrarily losing their legal status,” said Father Bob Mosher of the Bristol Columban Fathers, standing outside the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls yesterday. “Together with our bishops, we express concern for the conditions in detention centers like the Wyatt facility in front of us. We pray today, the Holy Rosary, meditating on the five holy migrations of our Lord Jesus Christ, aware that our Savior, whose birth we celebrate in a few days, also experienced the challenges and dangers of migration during his life on earth.

“May God help us to denounce this injustice happening today in our country and move our elected authorities to reform our broken immigration system so that all those individuals and families fleeing poverty, violence, and the devastating effects of climate change, may be welcomed, attended to, and integrated into our own society.”

On Monday, led by the Diocese of Providence and M25:35, around 60 people gathered at the new offices of Fuerza Laboral at 6 Chace’s Lane, Central Falls, to march to the Wyatt Detention Center to oppose the Trump Administration’s immigration policies and the brutality of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Fuerza Laboral is a social justice organization that supports migrants and works with the Diocese to train parish volunteers and families to respond to risks and emergencies.

M25:35 is a migrant and refugee ministry with a mission to welcome Christ in the stranger by providing general assistance with refugee resettlement and support for migrants, organized out of Saint Mary of the Bay Church in Warren. The name comes from the New Testament Gospel of Matthew 25:35: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you invited me in...” Due to changes in federal immigration policies, M25:35 has shifted its focus from resettling new arrivals to supporting families already in Rhode Island.

Last week, four M25:35 Advisory Board members attended the Witness to Hope conference at the cathedral in Providence, organized and sponsored by the Diocese along with national organizations, including the HOPE Border Institute based in El Paso, Texas, the Center for Migration Studies based in New York, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bishop Bruce Lewandowski was the opening speaker at the conference, and he spoke about church teaching on social justice related to migration issues:

“Migration has been part of our spiritual DNA since Adam and Eve left the garden,” said Bishop Lewandowski. “We need a movement, akin to the civil rights movement or women’s suffrage, to advocate for just treatment of migrants.”

One of the actions coming out of the conference was the formation of a Migration Commission in the Diocese of Providence to expand advocacy efforts in solidarity with migrants facing arbitrary detention, loss of status without due process, family separation, and deportation.

This commission organized Monday’s action. As people gathered outside, those imprisoned in the Wyatt could be heard banging on their cell windows. The crowd outside waved in response. The Rosary included meditations on the mysteries of the five sacred migrations of Jesus Christ, developed by Father Mosher:

• The first Holy Migratory Mystery: The Lord’s Journey to Bethlehem.
• The second Holy Migratory Mystery: The Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt.
• The third Holy Migratory Mystery: The Journey to Nazareth.
• The fourth Holy Migratory Mystery: The Journey of Our Lord to Jerusalem, announcing the Kingdom of God.
• The fifth Holy Migratory Mystery: The Journey of Our Lord to Galilee, to meet his disciples after the resurrection.

Attendees were not all Catholics. There were people there from many differing faiths, united in their support for immigrant rights, safety, and fair treatment.

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Most of what we believe about Vikings is wrong

For one thing, they didn't eat Spam

Cluster of Excellence

Ideas about Vikings and Norse mythology come mostly from much later medieval sources, leaving plenty of room for reinterpretation. Over centuries, writers, politicians, and artists reshaped these stories to reflect their own worldviews, from romantic heroism to dangerous nationalist myths. 

Pop culture and neo-paganism continue to amplify selective versions of this past. Scholars today are unraveling how these shifting visions emerged and how they influence identity and culture.

According to scholars of Scandinavian studies, many widely held beliefs about Vikings and Old Norse paganism cannot be confirmed through modern scientific methods. "They are based essentially on reports written by Christian scholars in the High Middle Ages well over a century later, since, besides brief runic inscriptions, no written texts from the original period have been preserved," explains Scandinavian scholar Roland Scheel from the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" at the University of Münster.

Scheel notes that people today often picture the Viking Age, which is generally defined as spanning the 8th to the 11th century, in very specific ways shaped by films, series, video games and museum presentations. Popular images, such as the fearless adventurer, powerful fighter and skilled seafarer, have become familiar. Yet Scheel stresses that the historical record is far less straightforward. He adds that important narratives used to explain paganism, including in museums and the media, frequently overlook that the surviving texts represent "memorialized history" only.