The repudiation of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery is fundamentally a religious issue.  It is a terrible legacy that assumed that Indigenous Peoples were naturally inferior to Christians.  As a consequence societies founded on this Doctrine have been actively involved in practices of forced religious conversion, Indian boarding schools, relocation of tribes, seizing of Indigenous lands, and other immoral and illegal practices.  This 500+ year old doctrine is still with us in a number of ways, which makes it an urgent current issue.  It is at the root of religious intolerance.  
It justifies the mistreatment of Indigenous Peoples, and is directly related to the mistreatment of our Earth.  
We can’t afford to treat the earth as a commodity anymore, and this implies adopting a more indigenous perspective toward our home.  We can’t simultaneously diminish and destroy Indigenous peoples while also trying to adopt their values. Religious communities must take the steps to lead our society toward a healing of the genocidal history and environmental destruction that the Doctrine set in motion.  (Phil Arnold, Professor of Indigenous Religions, Syracuse University)