Cain, Abel, and Shem...

[Bill Burns]

Xferen writes:

>It (meaning the whole "curse of Ham" 
>myth) goes partway towards understanding the foundations of European 
>racism contra Africans.

There's also a considerable tradition setting up Cain (in the Land of Nod)
as the progenitor of Africans. In either case, the biblical myths have been
used as a justification for racism. 

Intolerance for people of other cultures seems to be part and parcel of a 
lot of the strictures found in the Old Testament (or Pentateuch, or whatever
portion of scripture you're discussing). It's a pretty long-standing
tradition in mythology and religion to count one's own cultural values as
sacred and "the others'" values as profane and blasphemous. Consider the
prohibition of eating pork or shellfish among semitic tribes--apparently the
Phoenicians ate both. Or consider the common denunciations of homosexuality
in the later Old Testament books and the New Testament. Is this possibly
related to the influence of Hellenism on Hebrews of the period?

I've read of similar patterns in Native American cultures, so it isn't
necessarily endemic to Judeo-Christian religions.

Bill Burns
WDBurns at micron.net
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  "One bad-hair day in the 13th century and 
   suddenly you've got horns." The Devil/*Drew Carey*
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