Old Habits Die Hard (The "mark" on Cain)

My humblest apologies if this has been discussed before.When Cain killed his brother Abel, so the story goes, his skin turned black. UhhhhMkay. Now I know that "God can do whatever he wants," but am I the only one whose suspicions are raised by this idea? I think the physiology alone is laughable. But I am willing to let that issue rest for a moment. What I want to talk about are the racist precidents this scripture sets. You see, if you can convince a large enough group of people that black people are black because somewhere down the line their ancestors sinned agregiously it makes it a little easier to enslave them, and take away their God-given agency (look what they did with that agency in the past!!!)
When you fill a book with ideas like 'Cain turned black because he was bad,' and say that it is the irrefutable word of God, you have implied white supremacy.
I'll keep this short. What I'm saying is this: with what we now know about heredity and genotyping, unless Cain (through the grace of a loving God no-doubt) developed a delayed onset super melanin-producing gene mutation, this story can not be true. More likely, it is a myth developed by oppressors to justify their oppresion. (Do you think white supremacy is a new idea?) So why do most religions regard themselves as God's chosen people when it would be highly uncharacteristic of the classic christian God model to ever take sides? Because it's easy to justify mistreating people if you've convinced yourself that God is on your side. Then again, it could have just been an old fashioned miracle.Sincerely,
That Girl From UtahPS Even if Cain did "turn black," wouldn't his dirty race have been swept away during Noah's flood? Or did Noah take two of every ethnicity along with him?

Karl: That idea's not in the Bible, and to be honest I've never heard of it before. I notice you're from Utah - is it possibly an extra-Biblical Mormon tradition?***Actually, I was raised Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) although I have ceased to identify with that faith. Something you might find interesting is that Joseph Smith did recieve revelation that the mark of Cain was indeed black skin, and my entire life I believed that this was a belief held by all Christians. The origion of my first post was a criticizm of what I thought was a widely accepted theory. I didn't know that Mormons were alone in this.
However, the sweetness of discovery on this point is tempered by all the questions that are rasied by it. I think that this theory is socially damaging. It makes racism ok, and I vehemently disagree, but even in the 1850's, it was the mormons who first accepted blacks into their congregations. I have never witnessed a mormon having a racist bias in dealings with other people... what I'm saying is that in my experience as a mormon, and my experiences outside that church, I have never percieved racism to be a problem for the people of the religion. (Believe me- it's got it's share of issues, this just doesn't seem to be one of them) So I must admit, your logical assessment (that I agree with) doesn't seem to fit with my personal experiences in the Salt Lake Valley.
However, I think it's possible that we are both right. -Here's my hypothesis:Looking closely at the populationone might find that most white, middle-class mormons I know secretly feel superior to every other race. They feel superior to other religions. The men feel superior to women. The LDS know they're Christ's Chosen, and it's an ego-trip. That's why I think Mormons are so nice to every one- they seek to embody the love of Christ, whose ambassador they are. Unfortunately, most of my friends and family who belong to this church are constantly trying to catch up to the wonderful person the church makes them want to be. (I think this is the truth behind the anti-depressant business here; people are so disappointed that they couldn't live up to God's (the church's) standards...) Anyway, thank you for opening up another realm for me to think about.Tab