by Babu G. Ranganathan
Recently a photo of the First Lady, Michelle Obama, was doctored up on an Internet site "Hot Girls" so that she appeared to have ape-like features. This is a horrible and offensive photo. We need to have a conversation on this topic now. Not long ago a team of psychologists from Stanford, Penn State, and UC Berkeley have reported that blacks are likely to be thought of by other races as being sub-human and associated with apes: http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/discrimination-against-blacks-linked-dehumanization. Let's admit it! Many people, even blacks themselves, wonder whether black people are more closely related to apes because of certain facial features or other similarities. This issue needs to be dealt with in the open and honestly.
Well, let me ask this question. Are bull dogs more closely related to cats because they have flat faces and short legs? Obviously not! A bull dog can be crossed with other dogs but not a cat! Neither are blacks more closely related to apes! There are monkeys which have some very fine features and skin complexion resembling those of white people (Do a google image search for "Snow Monkeys" and see for yourself). Does that mean whites are more closely related to these monkeys? Of course not!
Doesn't the Bible teach that Ham, the ancestor of the Black race, was cursed? No! The Bible teaches that the curse was on Canaan who was only one of the sons of Ham. The curse was not on Ham himself. The Canaanites were finally destroyed as a civilization long, long ago.
In fact, the word "Ham" means black. Noah named one of his sons "Ham" because he was born black. This was before there was any curse by Noah. Ham was born black before there was any curse! Black skin is not a curse and science shows that it protects from harmful, cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation from the Sun in tropical climate and weather. It's a blessing, not a curse. Only figuratively speaking are "black" and "white" considered as "good" and "evil". Physical blackness and physical whiteness have nothing to do with good and evil. Do you kick your dog because it's black? Do you stop eating dark chocolate because it's black?
Ultimately, all life forms on earth share varying similarities because of a common Designer who designed similar functions for similar purposes in all of the various species and life forms on Earth.
Young people, and even adults, often wonder how all the varieties or "races" of people could come from the same original human ancestors. Well, in principle, that's no different than asking how children with different color hair ( i.e., blond, brunette, brown, red ) can come from the same parents who both have black hair.
Just as some individuals today carry genes to produce descendants with different color hair and eyes, humanity's first parents, Adam and Eve, possessed genes to produce all the variety and races of men. You and I today may not carry the genes to produce every variety or race of humans, but humanity's first parents did possess such genes.
All varieties of humans carry genes for the same basic traits, but not all humans carry every possible variation of those genes. For example, one person may be carrying several variations of the gene for eye color ( i.e., brown, green, blue ) , but someone else may be carrying only one variation of the gene for eye color ( i.e., brown ). Thus, both will have different abilities to affect the eye color of their offspring.
Some parents with black hair, for example, are capable of producing children with blond hair, but their blond children (because they inherit only recessive genes) will not have the ability to produce children with black hair unless they mate with someone else who has black hair. If the blond descendants only mate with other blondes then the entire line and population will only be blond even though the original ancestor was black-haired.
In reality there is only one race - the human race - within which exists myriad variations and permutations. Just as you can get a pure bred from a mutt but not a mutt from a pure bred, so too all varieties of humans were able to come from Adam and Eve our first parents.
There are many genetic and biological similarities between various species. This does not necessarily mean that all life evolved from a common ancestor. A better explanation is that the similarities are due to a common Designer (God) who designed similar functions for similar purposes in the various forms of life. Genetic information cannot happen by chance anymore than other forms of information can happen by chance. Science can't prove it but science can and does point to God as the first Genetic Engineer! It's only logical, dear Watson.
All varieties of humans belong to one natural species since all varieties of human beings are inter-fertile, and this is biological proof that we are all descendants of a common human ancestor. This is why the Bible says that God "hath made of one all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth ..." (Acts 17:26, KJV). The Bible clearly teaches that God created all human beings in His image. Therefore, as one of my former pastors, Dr. Carl E. Abrahamsen, Jr., so truthfully and eloquently stated, to hate a fellow human being who has been created in the image of God because of the way he or she looks is a great and serious sin and offense against God which needs to be confessed and repented of before the Almighty.
