C. Brid Nicholson is an assistant professor of American history at Kean University in New Jersey who has studied Mormonism.

The Rev. Patrick Lynch is chair of the religious studies department at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. He is a Jesuit priest and has taught courses on Catholic social ethics, religion & politics and the Jesuits.

James R. Spencer is a minister and author of seven books on cults, the occult and secularism. He wrote an article about Mormonism and Christianity for the Assemblies of God magazine, Today’s Pentecostal Evangel. He runs the website Maze Ministry. He lives in Boise, Idaho.

Fritz Ridenour is the author of So What’s the Difference, in which he compares Christianity to other world religions, including Mormonism. The book is endorsed by Focus on the Family and declares that Mormonism is not compatible with Christianity. Ridenour lives in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Ed Decker is president of Saints Alive in Jesus, an evangelical Christian mission to Mormons, Freemasons and other groups the mission considers cults. He is a former Mormon and co-author of The God Makers.

Roberta Combs is president of the Christian Coalition, a political action organization that describes itself as “pro-family.” According to news releases on its website, the coalition has several times agreed with statements made by Mitt Romney.

Read “non-observance” for an idea of which states have opposed celebration of Christopher Columbus and why the holiday has become increasingly unpopular.

John Ankerberg is president of the Ankerberg Theological Research Institute in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He has a daily radio and television show.

In response to Berkeley’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day in place of Columbus day, Yale raised awareness of the holiday’s brutal origin and history in 2009.