When we look at the ugliness of racial division in the Cincinnati area in 2001 (and, sadly, around the world still today), and how wrong thinking has fueled racism, we want to share the antidote:
To address the problem of racism, we must first ask the question: “Where did the different people groups (or ‘races’) come from?” Accepted scientific principles and the teachings to provide easy-to-understand answers about the origins of people—and the answer to racism.
Unfortunately, and largely as a result of Darwinian thinking over the past 140 years, most people today think in terms of different “races’ around the world. Consciously or unconsciously, many people have ingrained prejudices against certain groups of people. While this is not to say that all evolutionists are racists, Darwinism has given many people a justification for their racist attitudes. Darwin himself was very much a racist. The subtitle of his famous book On The Origin of Species was The Preservation of "Favoured Races" in the Struggle for Life.
Abandon the word “race!”
Scientists are now agreeing that, biologically, there is only one “race” of humans. For example, a scientist at an Advancement of Science Convention in Atlanta declared: “Race is a social construct derived mainly from perceptions conditioned by events of recorded history, and it has no basic biological reality.”1 The word “race,” therefore, should be abandoned—it is meaningless.
We are all related, for all humans are descendants of the first man and woman. Some people think there must be different “races” of people because there appear to be major differences between people groups, especially skin color.
The truth, though, is that the so-called “racial characteristics” are only minor variations among the people groups. Scientists have found that if one were to take any two people from anywhere in the world, the basic genetic differences between these two people, even within the same group, would typically be around 0.2 %. Furthermore, the so-called “racial” characteristics that many people think are major differences (skin color, eye shape, etc.), account for only 6% of this 0.2% variation—which amounts to a mere 0.012 % difference genetically!2 In other words, the so-called “racial” differences are absolutely trivial.
We're all the same color!
Furthermore, all people have the same skin color. You see, we all have the same coloring pigment in our skin called “melanin.” If we produce a little melanin, it means that our skin will be a very light brown (or “European white”) If our skin produces a great deal of melanin, we will be a very deep brown (“black” if you will).
If Adam and Eve were middle-brown, as is most likely, one can explain all the different shades of brown skin that we see in people today. Surprisingly, we find that an entire range of “colors,” from very “white” to very “black” can result in one generation, if beginning with this particular type of mid-brown parents. Some readers may recall a newspaper photo a few years ago of twins, one of whom was very light and the other very dark.
Scientists have also shown through the study of mitochondrial DNA that all people today trace their ancestry to a single mother. Why should we be surprised that the Bible records such a woman, Eve, whose name means “to become the mother of all living!” Although evolutionists are at pains to point out that they are not saying that this “mitochondrial Eve” is the Eve of the Bible, they are forced to agree that, at the least, this evidence confirms that all the groups of people alive today are astonishingly closely related.
The science are in remarkable harmony—there are no different “races” of people today!
Conclusion
Racism is morally, socially, scientifically, and Biblically wrong. The more we realize that we are all of “one blood,” the more peace, freedom, and opportunity all people in the Cincinnati area—and all over the world—will have. The only true, lasting change will come, however, when citizens recognize their sinful condition. They will also discover the principles of leading a fruitful and purposeful life—including loving their neighbor. The Word is relevant to us today in this area!
08/08/10
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