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The Myth Called ‘Race’
Townhall.com ^ | September 25, 2016 | Matt Barber

Posted on 09/25/2016 6:49:57 AM PDT by Kaslin

It’s often said, “There is only one race – the human race.” While the phrase has become almost cliché in repetition, it happens to be 100 percent accurate, both scientifically and theologically speaking.

From Ferguson to Baltimore, Tulsa to Charlotte – and on college campuses from coast-to-coast – a great divide is sweeping America. It is fueled largely, if not entirely, by half-truths and outright lies. Truth is irrelevant. Only the narrative matters. When “Hands Up Don’t Shoot™” can do so very much to further “the cause,” it matters not that it represents a holocaust-denial-level of detachment from reality.

Which tells you everything you need to know about the cause.

This is by design. These embers of racial division are purposely fanned to a red-hot flame by certain political leaders, “social justice” warriors and “community organizers” (cut principally from the same ideological cloth) in order to permanently ingrain a turbulent level of cultural division based solely upon the varying shades of people’s skin. This, in turn, is intended to provoke widespread governmental dependency and, thus, one-party political control in perpetuity.

Yet, even at its core the idea of racial division, of race itself, is a myth. To sub-divide humanity based upon nothing more than varying levels of skin pigmentation is to rely upon the weakest of genetic markers.

And “race” really does signify nothing more than skin color.

Science dispels the myth of ‘race’

In aFeb. 5 Scientific Americanarticle titled, “Race is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue,” journalist Megan Gannon writes, “Today, the mainstream belief among scientists is that race is a social construct without biological meaning. And yet, you might still open a study on genetics in a major scientific journal and find categories like ‘white’ and ‘black’ being used as biological variables.”

“In an article published today (Feb. 4) in the journal Science,” continues Gannon, “four scholars say racial categories are weak proxies for genetic diversity and need to be phased out.”

“It’s a concept we think is too crude to provide useful information, it’s a concept that has social meaning that interferes in the scientific understanding of human genetic diversity, and it’s a concept that we are not the first to call upon moving away from,” notes Michael Yudell, professor of public health at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Under the latest genetic research, race is “understood to be a poorly defined marker of that diversity and an imprecise proxy for the relationship between ancestry and genetics,” he adds.

While not directly involved with the research, Dr. Svante Pääbo, a biologist and director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, agrees wholeheartedly with its findings. “What the study of complete genomes from different parts of the world has shown is that even between Africa and Europe, for example, there is not a single absolute genetic difference, meaning no single variant where all Africans have one variant and all Europeans another one, even when recent migration is disregarded.”

Still, as the researchers likewise note, “Assumptions about genetic differences between people of different races have had obvious social and historical repercussions.” Indeed, there are those on both extremes of the political spectrum with a vested interest in making sure these social and historical repercussions remain as inflamed and catastrophic as possible.

“Race” is a divisive means to a selfish political end.

It is not a scientific reality.

God’s final word on ‘race’

We love labels. We love to pit people against one another and lump them into neat, fixed little categories of put-upons, most often based upon outward appearances: black vs. white; Hispanic vs. Asian; tall vs. short; skinny vs. fat; old vs. young; abled vs. disabled, and so on.

Yet these divisions are artificial. They’re man-made. Every human being is created by a holy God, in His image and likeness, and imbued by Him with infinite worth and import. There is only one true and transcendent physical division, and that division was both created and intended by God to become reconciled (as one flesh) through the holy bonds of marriage – this, to propagate the human race: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis1:27).

Male and female. The XY and the XX. Immutable distinctions with a beautiful and bountiful difference. That’s it. All other physical divisions, especially racial divisions, remain artificial.

Our bodies, you see, are merely outward shells. As the great Scottish author and theologian George MacDonald once wrote, “Never tell a child ‘you have a soul.’ Teach him, you are a soul; you have a body.”

We are souls. We have a body – an outward shell or “earth suit” as one of my favorite professors used to say. Why on God’s earth are we so deceived to believe that we must separate ourselves and hate one another based upon superficial, almost cosmetic outward appearances?

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them” (Romans16:17).

To be sure, Christ Jesus alone can dissolve these divisions. “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him” (Romans10:12).

These are not financial riches, but riches of love, life Spirit and salvation.

As a man with an Italian wife, a black sister-in-law, a Filipino uncle and biologically related half Filipino cousins, a step-grandmother who illegally immigrated from Mexico, biologically related half Mexican aunts and uncles, and dozens of foster brothers and sisters from across the globe, I have learned firsthand throughout my life that “race” is truly meaningless – it’s less than skin deep.

Until we learn this as a nation, we will remain a nation divided.

Yes, love is the answer. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John13:34).

There is no political fix to this problem.

It’s a spiritual problem, requiring a spiritual fix.

And His name is Jesus.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: race
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1 posted on 09/25/2016 6:49:58 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Related, not duplicate
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3473190/posts


2 posted on 09/25/2016 7:02:50 AM PDT by Pollard (TRUMP 2016)
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To: Kaslin

http://physanth.org/about/position-statements/biological-aspects-race/


3 posted on 09/25/2016 7:05:51 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: Kaslin
Roddenberry nailed it a long time ago


4 posted on 09/25/2016 7:08:12 AM PDT by tx_eggman (Liberalism is only possible in that moment when a man chooses Barabas over Christ.)
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To: Kaslin

Sorry... But this is not scientifically true.

The scientific fact is: Sub Saharan Africans are the only race which does not have Neanderthal DNA.

That is a fact.

I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it does make them different and could by itself explain many things.


5 posted on 09/25/2016 7:16:56 AM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (You can't spell Hillary without using the letters L, I, A, R)
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To: Kaslin

Race is not a ‘social construct’. A number of bird species have different identifiable ‘races’, and they are actually called ‘races’. Domesticated animals have a variety of same-species ‘breeds’ with different appearances and behaviors. The idea that humans who tend to endogamy don’t differentiate in physical and mental characteristics is scientifically absurd. There’s Orwellian language control being attempted here.


6 posted on 09/25/2016 7:18:01 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: Kaslin

Is it racist now to say that a tom cat is different from a panther?

The Left would never buy this argument.

There are scientific findings that would dispute this article.


7 posted on 09/25/2016 7:21:12 AM PDT by odawg
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To: Kaslin

I don’t usually like to recommend a click-bait site, but this survey question was worth it for me.

“IS BLACK LIVES MATTER A RACIST ORGANIZATION?”

So far with 20,274 respondents, it’s:

96% Yes of course

03% No, of course not

01% It’s complicated

If you want...

http://www.yesimright.com/is-blacklivesmatter-a-racist-organization-click-the-picture-to-vote/


8 posted on 09/25/2016 7:32:05 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (Forty-five days until we take measures to end this nightmare. Trump, for the Free World...)
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To: Kaslin

Before you start a debate you must define your terms. Obviously not done. Don’t confuse the genetic reality (true) with the government classification of people by an ethnic tag. (false).
Not the same thing.


9 posted on 09/25/2016 7:37:37 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Lying Media: willing and eager allies of the hate-America left.)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

Meanwhile for forty bucks you can send a saliva sample in and have your ancestry calculated.

Hardly a “social construct”. You can measure it these days. Unlike the gay gene which doesn’t exist. I bet these Dan me “scientists” would say being gay is inherent.


10 posted on 09/25/2016 7:38:56 AM PDT by Jack Black (Dispossession is an obliteration of memory, of place, and of identity)
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To: TexasFreeper2009; Kaslin

There are no different dog breeds just dogs and all dogs are the same.

It is stupid assertions like these that fly in the face of reality that are causing so much of today’s social problems.

A better solution is to acknowledge that the races are different and that perhaps a friendly separation is a better answer. It is abundandantly clear that blacks and whites cannot peacefully coexist - ANYWHERE. Why keep denying what is so obvious? (There is a reason for it, it’s the significant difference in the AVERAGE IQ of the races)

Wishing away reality has never been a good formula for success.

Even Lincoln understood this but lacked the will to do it.
http://www.etymonline.com/cw/lincoln.htm


11 posted on 09/25/2016 7:40:06 AM PDT by aquila48
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To: I want the USA back

Exactly. The term has been redefined to destroy conversation,
When someone can seriously insist “all white males are racist, but I can’t be racist because of my race” then the term is useless.


12 posted on 09/25/2016 7:41:18 AM PDT by ctdonath2 ("If anyone will not listen to your words, shake the dust from your feet and leave them." - Jesus)
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To: Kaslin
Yes, we're all human and, as such, part of one human family. But there are definite distinctions within that family. Some non-controversial distinctions are medical: Africans are more likely to have sickle cell anemia; Europeans are more likely to have hemochromatosis. There are more controversial distinctions regarding intelligence, testosterone and other factors.

If you don't want to call the convergence of these distinctions within certain gene pools race, fine - come up with another word. But denying them doesn't make them go away and opens the door to extremists to exploit them due to the lack of a reasoned response.

To say "there's no such thing as race" will make people think "do I believe you or my lying eyes?" Race is an often uncomfortable reality, but if the facts are acknowledged we will be better enabled to deal with it in an rational and equitable manner.

13 posted on 09/25/2016 7:43:45 AM PDT by TexasKamaAina
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To: Kaslin
Live not by lies!

Yet, even at its core the idea of racial division, of race itself, is a myth. To sub-divide humanity based upon nothing more than varying levels of skin pigmentation is to rely upon the weakest of genetic markers.

The Myth Called ‘Race’ - This is the true myth, to pretend that race is a myth.

14 posted on 09/25/2016 7:48:02 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
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To: TexasKamaAina
I always write in Human as race when I fill out the census form. I can not think of anything different.
15 posted on 09/25/2016 7:58:39 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Pollard

“When it comes to protein-encoding genes, mice are 85% similar to humans. For non-coding genes, it’s only about 50%. The National Human Genome Research Institute attributes this similarity to a shared ancestor about 80 million years ago.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/comparing-genetic-similarity-between-humans-and-other-things-2016-5


16 posted on 09/25/2016 8:12:23 AM PDT by GOPJ ("..unbridled ambition, greedy..with a husband still dicking bimbos at home"- Colin Powell on Clinton)
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To: Altura Ct.

“Even bananas surprisingly still share about 60% of the same DNA as humans!”

http://www.businessinsider.com/comparing-genetic-similarity-between-humans-and-other-things-2016-5


17 posted on 09/25/2016 8:14:09 AM PDT by GOPJ ("..unbridled ambition, greedy..with a husband still dicking bimbos at home"- Colin Powell on Clinton)
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To: Pollard

I am sorry, but I don’t see how this is related


18 posted on 09/25/2016 8:33:29 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
To sub-divide humanity based upon nothing more than varying levels of skin pigmentation is to rely upon the weakest of genetic markers. ... And “race” really does signify nothing more than skin color.

Much more to it than that.

19 posted on 09/25/2016 8:39:08 AM PDT by Nellie Wilkerson
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To: Kaslin

If race is a “social construct” how come a forensic dentist can tell identify the race of a person by looking at a single tooth? How come a forensic anthropologist can identify the race of the person by examination of a skeleton? If race is a “social construct” how come organ tansplantation are by far more successful if done within the same race and even within the same ethnic group?

This article is pure Critical Race Theory 101, nothing more.


20 posted on 09/25/2016 8:49:52 AM PDT by euram
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