Hernan Rodriguez
From Philosopedia
Rodriguez, Hernan (1948 - )
Rodriguez, who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, came in 1976 to the United States. In Minnesota, he has been a member of Minnesota Atheists and he works as a translator.
In the Minnesota Atheist newsletter (July-August 1995), Rodriguez discussed his surprise in high school upon learning that Columbus, whom he previously had thought was sent to enslave the Indians, had not been allowed to enslave them. That, in fact, when Bobadilla, the special envoy of the Crown inspected Columbus’s governorship in Santo Domingo, he had sent Columbus back to Spain in chains from his third voyage for having done so.
Rodriguez cites a work by a Spanish priest, History of the Indies by Bartolom de las Casas, which argues that, wanting to save the Indians from slavery by the Spaniards, he had recommended the introduction of black African slaves in order to spare the indigenous people from the hard labor.
Because Queen Isabella did not want her own subjects to be enslaved, and these included the Indians, it was considered permissible to use blacks inasmuch as they came from other dominions.
Rodriguez then cites James Michener’s postulates in Iberia, which complement the views of de las Casas:
- Catholicism captured Spain and adopted a policy of keeping the country in darkness.
- Using Spain as a base, Catholicism intended to enslave the world.
- In order to police its conquests, Spanish Catholicism invented the Inquisition, which it proposed to install in subdued territories.
- The archpriest of these designs was King Felipe II. He was personally evil and committed many crimes in furtherance of his aims.
At the end of his life, de las Casas recognized his mistake and condemned the importation of African slaves, Rodriguez notes.
The British abolished slavery in 1833, and Spain and Portugal ended it in 1840. Today, Rodriguez states, Latin-America has formed societies based more on the interrelation of human beings as the fundamental organization of life rather than on the production and distribution of goods.
