by Babu G. Ranganathan
As I was walking down the road the other day I overheard a German Shepherd talking to a bull dog. I over-heard the German Shepherd saying to the bull dog "You can't possibly be a dog because you don't look like me! Why, just look at your flat nose and jaw, your round head, your stumpy neck, and short legs. You look more like a cat than you do a dog! Hey, is that your nose or your mouth? Hahahaha! Do you grow the ugly nappy hair that poodles have? How can anything that looks like you have the soul, intelligence, and feelings of a dog? Who gave you the right to be called a dog? Get out of my sight you ugly looking thing!"
I mention the above illustration to make a point to those who harbor racism. I hope that you will repent of your sin of racism, which is a great sin against God Who created all men in His image and has commanded all men to love one another, and that you will receive the love and forgiveness of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior Who paid the penalty for all our sins through His death and shedding of His blood on the Cross of Calvary and Who rose again from the dead to give us eternal life.
You see, just as a co-signer to a bad loan takes the full legal blame and liability to pay the entire debt on the loan so, too, Jesus Christ, God's eternal and only begotten Son, took upon Himself the full legal and moral liability to pay the entire debt for our sins.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth and that on the Cross He bore our sins in His own body and received the punishment from God (the Father) that we deserve for our sins and then He rose again from the dead. The Bible teaches that the penalty for even one sin is so great that we could never completely pay the penalty. Only God Himself is capable of fully paying for our sins and Jesus Christ Who is God (the Son) did just that on the Cross of Calvary. It was for us that Christ suffered and died on the Cross! Christ took it upon Himself to pay our debt. Because Christ took the blame and punishment for our sins, God (the Father) can be just in freely forgiving us of our sins when we genuinely repent and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save us.
You know, people often ask how all the different races of men could have descended from Adam and Eve. But, in principle this is no different than asking how children with different color hair can come from the same parents who both have black hair. Just as some couples today carry the genes to produce children with different color hair, so too Adam and Eve, our first parents, carried the genes to produce all the varieties and "races" of people. You and I today may not possess the genes for producing various races, but Adam and Eve did possess such genes. Everyone knows that you can get a pure breed, or race of dog, from a mutt, but you can't get a mutt from a pure breed. A mutt carries genes to produce pure races. Adam and Eve, our first parents, were mutts!
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.
What about “Junk DNA”? The latest science shows that "Junk
DNA” isn't junk after all! It's we who were ignorant of how useful
these segments of DNA really are. Recent scientific research published
in scientific journals such as Nature has revealed that the "non-coding"
segments of DNA are more than just useful; they are vital in regulating
gene expression (i.e. how, when, and where) genes are expressed.
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 an "Image" search for "Snow Monkeys" on Google and see for yourself). Does that mean that whites are more closely related to a Snow Monkey? Of course not!
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.
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 immediately before the Almighty.
Many believe that the Bible teaches the so-called "Curse of Ham" and that the black race has been cursed. This is not true. Such teaching is a major misinterpretation of the Scriptures and was wrongly used to justify slavery.
The name “Ham” in the Bible means “black,” or “burnt.” Ham, who was one of the
three sons of Noah, was black. Ham was named “black one” by his father
Noah from birth. In other words, black skin was not a curse because Ham
was born black, long before Noah placed any curse. In fact, contrary to
popular belief there was never a “Curse of Ham” because it wasn’t Ham
who was cursed. The curse for Ham’s sin against Noah fell on Ham’s son
Canaan and not on Ham himself. Canaan was one of the four sons of Ham.
Ham also had other sons, but they were not cursed. Noah foresaw that Canaan would
follow in the immoral steps and behavior of his father Ham and, as a
consequence, Noah declared Canaan to be cursed. The curse was ultimately
fulfilled in the total destruction of the Canaanites (Phoenicians) as a
nation by the Roman Empire.
Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that black skin is a curse from God.
Black skin protects from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light from
the Sun. In fact, all human skin color is really brown. The pigment that
gives skin its color is melanin and melanin is brown. Whites have the
least amount of melanin in their skin and that’s why they appear to be
“white.” Only albinos (those born with no melanin because of a genetic
defect and mutation) are pure white and are in most danger from the
harmful effects of the Sun’s rays. Instead of black skin being a curse
it is a healthful blessing for those living in year round hot climates.
