The National Council of Churches adopted a resolution called “A Faithful Response” in 1990 calling the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ first landing and “the painful aspects of the American history of racism.”

Read a History article about the history behind Columbus day and what it means to Americans today.

Read a March 6, 2011 article about the “quintessential American issues of free speech and ethnic pride” against the Columbus Day parade debate in Denver, Colorado.  

Thomas E. FitzGerald is professor of church history and historical theology at Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Mass.

Read an NPR investigation of what Columbus Day means for Native Americans.

Oct. 9 each year also honors Nordic explorer Leif Erickson, since a 2005 proclamation by President Bush.

Donald M. Fairbairn Jr. is professor of historical theology at Evangelical Theology Faculty in Leuven, Belgium. Previously he was a professor of historical theology and missions at Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, S.C. He is the author of Eastern Orthodoxy Through Western Eyes.

Read an Oct. 5, 2012 Wired article about the movement to rename Columbus Day as “Exploration Day,” to preserve the history of America and its discovery while keeping the story true to its essence in regards to the violence towards the Native Americans.

John H. Erickson is professor of church history at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y.