Howard W. French article headline: "What the World Will Look Like
Without a ‘West’". Looks like French is trying to remind readers of past history before the rise of modern West. In some sense, he was trying to
cut history into two parts, before and after the rise of modern West.

But the rise of a prosperous modern day West depends on the Doctrine of Discovery issued in the name of Christ. People of modern day West
certainly would thank God that the West had been as successful as they
wish. How about the rest of the world?

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Doctrine of Discovery


“…invade, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans…to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery and to take away all their possessions and property.” 1452 from Pope Nicholas V to King Alfonso V
of Portugal.

Europeans in the 1400s were focused on creating a Christian Kingdom—Christendom—that would be ruled by the Pope in Rome and backed
by Christian Kings and Queens. At this time, Christianity was organized
into a hierarchy where the Pope and Monarchs were above all other living
beings in the world. In following with this practice a series of Popes instructed their subjects to take whatever riches they could from
non-Christian people. This issued in the Age of Discovery.

The “Doctrine of Discovery” originated with Papal Bulls (letters from
the Pope) issued in the late 1400s. In particular, two bulls from 1452
and 1493 (written only a few short months after Columbus’ return to
Spain), authorized the Kings of Portugal and Spain to exploit Africa and
the Americas for slaves and lands to enrich the Catholic Church. The
Jesuits that came to Onondaga Lake in the 1650s to convert the Onondaga
Nation were acting both as missionaries for the Catholic Church (headed
by the Pope) and the colonial government of France (headed by the King).

The Doctrine of Discovery justified the taking of land from Native
Americans long after the colonial era and during the early formation of
the United States. Writing in 1823 for the Supreme Court ruling in
Johnson v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Marshall said the doctrine meant
that “unoccupied lands” were those “lands occupied by Indians, but unoccupied by Christians.” The concept of owning land, in United
States’ property law, rests on the “Doctrine of Discovery.” Since then the “Doctrine of Discovery” has been regularly cited by legal scholars
and in court decisions including the Supreme Court decision Sherrill v.
Oneida Indian Nation (March 29, 2005).

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