A correspondent writes:
when i see inter-racial couples my spirit tells me that this is not natural. i have seen the child of an inter-racial marriage. the child had a black skin, had a white scalp with bright red hair. the child looked like a freak
I can’t agree with you, nor does the Church. From a moral perspective, differences in skin color are no more significant than differences in hair color or eye color. Neither are other racial characteristics. The human race is already one big family; it’s simply that certain characteristics have come to predominate in different parts of that family.
From the perspective of intrinsic morality, there is no more reason for people with different skin colors not to marry than for people with different hair colors or different eye colors. That may lead to uncommon combinations, but hey, I always thought Storm from the X-Men looked cool.
There can be extrinsic reasons why individuals of different racial backgrounds ought not marry. E.g., two hundred years ago in America a mixed-race couple would face an extremely hard life, including in some places imprisonment or worse. For example, in early Utah Brigham Young decreed that any white man who had conjugal relations with a black woman was to be put to death:
Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so [Journal of Discourses 10:109].
Fortunately, in the developed world, the attitudes creating such factors have virtually disappeared.
Let me share with you the Bible’s perspective on interracial marriages. First, they are not at all unusual in Scripture. Palestine is located at a major junction between Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and so mixed race marriages were far from unknown. They occasionally crop up in the Bible. For example, two of the tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh) resulted from the union of the patriarch Joseph (a Semite) with the daughter of Pharoah’s high priest (an Egyptian, and thus a Hamite).
Scripture also records God’s intense displeasure at the criticism of one particular interracial marriage. In Numbers 12 we read that Moses’ brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, criticized Moses for marrying a black woman (she is described as a Cushite, meaning she was probably of Ethiopian ancestry):
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed; and when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. And Moses cried to the LORD, “Heal her, O God, I beseech thee.”
But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut up outside the camp seven days; and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again [Num. 12:1, 5, 9-11, 13-15].
In this passage the text notes that Miriam, who had been criticizing Moses for marrying a black woman, was turned “as white as snow” by her leprosy. It is as if God is saying, “You want white? I got yer white! I got yer white right here!”
Now if only I could find me one of those beautiful Syrian Catholic girls to inter-marry with.
🙂
Wow, that’s an interesting passage. Gotta remember that one.
I should note that in the passage in question there is more going on than just the race issue. Miriam and Aaron are also attempting to usurp Moses’ leadership role. Their criticism of Moses involved two elements: (1) He had married a Cushite woman and (2) they also are prophets (implying equality with him).
To keep the quote from getting overly long, however, I selected the elements that have to do with race.
I commend you for taking the stance that you did regarding interracial marraiges. I am a white woman married to a wonderful black man and I find racial intollerance to be the result of ignorance. All of us were created by one God. And in all the commandments he gave, the two primary ones were to serve him with all our being and to love one another. Why would that same God condem love because of skin color? I applaud your speaking out the truth in love.
it wasn’t god’s intention to have a multicultural race of humans dwelling in his creation. pre bibical or parallel to genesis, the first creation was in africa. dark skinned humans who migration out of africa to the north, then to the far east. the ice age trapped and forced them to live in caves in most cases, and caused a physical transformation/adaptation due to their environment. as a result, afro euro/asiatic humans emerged. we’re all one under the source: god and africa. To add, it has been proven that the bible through the hand of man has been greatly altered for selfish reasons. from the book assembly of constatine to modern day publishers, scripts have been modified to suit the needs of the self. in summary, who are we to judge who shouldn’t integrate. seek carefully and you will find, “the truth and nothing but the truth so help me god.”
“(I)t has been proven that the bible(sic) through the hand of man has been greatly altered….” Would you mind citing that “proof”.
Well, let me cautiously speak a little truth. The simple, unevoidable fact is that the Bible teaches us that black skin comes from Cain. Does that mean that all black people are evil? Of course not. I’m not racist, nor does God want anyone to be. But that’s the way it is. Does God approve of inter-racial marriage? Honestly, I don’t know. But is it smart? I would say, in most cases, no. Why? Because, the reality is that different races have different cultures. Even Blacks in America today – the vaste majority of them live in highly Black communities. The vast majority of these highly Black communities happen to be poor. Take L.A. and New Orleans for example. Now, what is the cause of this poverty? The overwhelming truth is that they are welfare, because their parents are on welfare, because their parents were, etc? And why? Because they feel the country owes them something because their ancestors were slaves. Now, this environment produces some other side affects. Again, I’m not saying it’s because of their color. It’s because of where they grew up. One thing that tends to happen is a lack of interest in education. Also prominent is gang behaviour. SO, should these people – not Blacks, but the people who live in these situations, who happen to be predominately Black, mingle with the more educated class of people, who, by no virtue of their race HAPPEN to be white, mix? Probably not, as they would simply be unhappy. Are there exceptions. Of course.
Okay… I don’t believe Cain is the ancestor of black people. That’s just Mormon BS. And besides, Brigham Young was a racist bastard.
it wasn’t god’s intention to have a multicultural race of humans dwelling in his creation.
Just thought I’d add my two cents and say I think God did intend the diversity in human form we see today.
Granted, without the Fall there would be no illness or anything of that sort, so whatever the original basic pigmentation etc. of Adam and Eve, that would be the basic form of all their descendants. Those entering areas of less sunlight would not suffer from Vitamine D defficiency and so there would not be a selection pressure for lighter skin. Also presumably the mutation for blue eyes would not have occured. Similarly individuals entering an area with a higher level of sunlight would not get sunburned and skin cancer so there would not be a selection pressure for darker pigmentation.
But God permits evil to happen to bring about a greater good. It is clear to me that the racial diversity of humanity. There is a different beauty in an American Indian, a Chinese person, and Indian person, an African, a European, etc. But they are all beautiful in their own way. These are fairly arbitrary deliniations because of all the variation within and the fuzzy borders of any “classification” of race or ethnicity. It is sort of like how there is also a kind of beauty and nobility in old age, wich never would have come about without Original Sin. In every face, every “race” the beauty of God is reflected anew.
Of course there are much greater goods that came of the Fall, but this is one good that came of it.
And, it should go without saying, there is nothing wrong with members of different “races” marrying, producing children who in another way will reflect the beauty and goodness of God not just in their souls but in their bodies as well.
Black skin tone, white skin tone, yellow or red skin tone? The only reason we are the “race” that we are is that our ancestors traveled from Africa to other parts of the world thousands of years ago. If they stayed where they were, we’d ALL be black as tar.
Oh, I love the story about how we all left Africa and became “white mutants” held-up in caves where the sun stopped blackening our skin.
Also, I love the story about the curse of blackness upon Cain becoming today’s African race.
Truth is, for the mere fact, white, black, red, yellow…even blue eyes with black hair and brown eyes with blonde hair people can procreate together…and that makes us one family.
i just want to know if it is a sin for a white woman to marry a black man
Victoria,
Didn’t you read?
I can’t agree with you, nor does the Church. From a moral perspective, differences in skin color are no more significant than differences in hair color or eye color.
How the heck can it be a sin?
This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!
The Church has NEVER taught this NOR does the Bible!
I agree that interracial marriage is okay, how is it a sin… we all come from adam and moses
A thought: if one believes the book of Genesis, then ALL people are the descendents of Noah and his three sons; and as there obviously was intermarriage between the children of Shem, Ham and Japheth (unless they all married only their sisters), if there is a claim that black people are somehow descended from Cain, then logically ALL people are in some way descended from Cain.
There is no doubt that Num 12: 1- is the anwer to those who still are hatemongering that interracial marriage is against bible. God not only accept marriage of Moses and ethiopion wife but He also punished Aron and Mirjam.
I just wonder why it took so long e.g Bob Jones University to find how painfully wrong they’ve been such a long time. Think about how badly they have red the bible?
i believe God is love and where ever you find it no matter what color is a beautiful thing, God honors love. and as for the person who insulted the black race saying they are mostly poor and living in the projects it is a mean thing to say and it sounds like your prejudice. further more i am a black woman who is disabled and was on welfare and is going to school to get my bachelors degree and i knew a lot of black people living in the poor sections that do go to college and also have jobs. everyone in the projects is not on welfare, and for your info statistically there are more white people on welfare than black. please do not insult. also i have met people that got married and came from different cultures including the low income and are doing well. we are not all bad and poor . granted there are people in our neighborhood that do bad but on a whole there are more decent people than bad. don’t speak about something you never experienced .
i believe God is love and where ever you find it no matter what color is a beautiful thing, God honors love. and as for the person who insulted the black race saying they are mostly poor and living in the projects it is a mean thing to say and it sounds like your prejudice. further more i am a black woman who is disabled and was on welfare and is going to school to get my bachelors degree and i knew a lot of black people living in the poor sections that do go to college and also have jobs. everyone in the projects is not on welfare, and for your info statistically there are more white people on welfare than black. please do not insult. also i have met people that got married and came from different cultures including the low income and are doing well. we are not all bad and poor . granted there are people in our neighborhood that do bad but on a whole there are more decent people than bad. don’t speak about something you never experienced .
“And besides, Brigham Young was a racist bastard.” (not Jimmy Akin)
I don’t think such is true nor just to speak so even were it true.
AFAIK, Mormons have never held that being black is a cause of inferiority. There is a complex theology that Mormons hold which is not even mentioned in the OP and which would give some context to certain things that in isolation seem very shocking. It is unfair to tarnish Mormonism without presenting this context. This context may have made the OP too long, but then the tarnishing of Mormonism without referencing the context should not have taken place. Part of this context is the pre-bodily life and requirements for the priesthood (the Catholic church excludes women today — and does so because they are women; Mormons excluded blacks only due to an arcane theology where race was not a cause as much as it was a marker of what disqualified one — and that disqualifaction condition in Mormon mythology had nothing to do with race as it was in the pre-incarnate life of the spirit children in which race did not even exist … as you can see it is not “racist” — colloquially understood — as much as it is bizarre.)
On the black or African race, we can see the history and present of some Catholic thought by reading this from the Catholic Encyclopedia as well as this from the eve of 2004
From the latter on racism and Catholicism:
…………………………………….
A Catholic Definition
A precise definition of racism is important, since it is a word that is even more misunderstood than egalitarianism. According to the Dictionary of Moral Theology: “Racism is a doctrine which asserts that race is the essential and initial factor in man’s refinement and in the historical and cultural evolution of all peoples.” [Msgr. Pietro Palazzini, ed, Dictionary of Moral Theology (London: Burns & Oates, 1962). See also: Austin Fagothey S.J., Right and Reason, Ethics in Theory and Practice (St. Louis: C.V. Mosby Company, 1953).]
What is condemned by traditional theologians is not the recognition of “psychic and morphological differences between races” but the idea that posits something other than Jesus Christ and His Church as the basis of human culture. Every person has a soul worth saving, and baptism puts us all on a level playing field as far as spiritual and moral potential are concerned….
As regards anthropological and genetic findings, the Church passes no judgment on scientific inquiries into race so long as they do not stray from the role of empirical observation and pass into ethical matters beyond their purview. Given the continually shifting views of scientific “doctrine” such an attitude is judicious.
…………………………………..
So according to this article, the church would not condemn some things which are called racism by some in modern culture, such as hypotheses regarding the causes (the degree genetic or environmental) of disparity on intelligence tests with good psychometric properties in various races. It’s also worth noting that very few scripture passages are purported to have been infallibly interprted by the church and none of the interpretations in this thread seem to be one of those few purportedly infallibly interpreted scriptures.
BTW, in modern science, “race” is not encapsulated as “skin color.” Two “races” can have the same skin color yet be of different “races.” There are different frameworks for the human races, but one simply uses a definition of “race” that is not specially tailored to humans and which applies to other species, including … plants. Even in older, outdated frameworks, skin color was not seen as crucial to racial classification. In some older frameworks for example, the Caucasoid race included the very dark skinned peoples of India.
White light can be beautiful but there is also a beauty in its refraction or in a rainbow. The union of colored pigment to form black pigment can be beautiful but there is also a beauty in the orignal colored pigments in separation. According to Catholic philosophical doctrine, beauty, including physical beauty, is objective in nature. That doesn’t mean that all our judgments about beauty are accurate or that we perceive beauty fully or always clearly. But it means that beauty, including physical beauty involving shape, color, etc., is not “in the eye of the beholder” but rather inheres in the object of beauty just as (at least in the common understanding of the masses) mass inheres in an object or charge inheres in an object or spin inheres in an object, etc.
Matters such as graying hair may not be as significant as matters such as the desertifaction of nature, but even of my hair it is said that God is in cognizance of each.
I disagree with the OP. I do not believe interracial marriage as such is sinful or morally impermissible, in any circumstance, even “extrinsically”.
Online phentermine.
Buy prozac phentermine online free shipping cheap. Buy cheap phentermine online.