The eyes of common perception do not see far. Too often we make the most important decisions based only on superficial information. - Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson, The Butlerian Jihad 2002  

Centuries have past and the lies told to us about how we are condemned as black savages who should learn to love and serve their white overseers as if serving Christ Jesus himself continue unabated! Except now, the people in priestly robes standing before us spouting this nonsense @the pulpit aren't just white anymore, they're black and everything else in between. When one believes that the very Creator of the Cosmos has set out for him and his people to be slaves for all time, then he cannot truly aspire to achieve greatness...for who can go against the very Word of God? That leaves the hereafter as an only worthwhile aspiration. To reach it, one must suffer - usually needlessly - and obey corrupt authority figures that take advantage of their simple faith & gullibility. The inaccurate analyses by clergy of all denominations regarding the "The Curse of Ham" has bread every kind of violence imaginable against blacks and other non-whites; for example, such erroneous beliefs very likely occasioned for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade - sanctioned by Pope Nicholas V in 1455 by his decree Romanus Pontifex.

In short, the interpretation of this supposed curse of Hamitic peoples i.e. dark-skinned peoples essentially has been the bane of our existence as African descendants. Too many people, nevertheless, cite it as evidence (or justification) of our inevitable decline and degradation in society. Believe it or not, some even derive a morbid sense of satisfaction in helping to bring this about given it's false biblical premise. It becomes a license  to mistreat, abuse, and ultimately grind us into oblivion. Even the church today quietly seeks to disregard blacks in minute ways.  I spit on their racists notions, if not, coward-like contrivances to further marginalize blacks. 
_______________________________________________
In Richard's Corner
_______________________________________________

   At South Florida Churches of Christ, a religious organization of which I am no longer an official member, I find such analysis in play. In a book titled Re-Introducing God (2006), authored by Richard Rodriguez (a prominent member of that church) he writes the following:  

* In June of 2005 I decided that I would spend time getting to know him. I had all sorts of mixed emotions and motives. Not the least of which was to learn how he thinks so that I might get ideas for the purpose of building wealth for my family (again, being real with you). I got this idea from this book I was reading at the time titled, Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill ... As a child of God, as a disciple of Christ, should I not have been already really reading it? But I must confess I had not. My daily subsistence of biblical food was a calendar I have at my desk with a daily scripture which I may or may not kept up with (p. xiii) :: (blogger's words) This is a capitalist society so I suppose I can't fault him for his  openness about peddling Christ, even though it flies in the face of learning to be content with one's own possessions. Anyway, what he's saying here essentially is that in order to make more money he wrote this book. This of course, required him to read a bit more than his usual calendar scripture which he may or may not have kept up with apparently. Mind you, this is a prominent figure in the church, who occasionally preaches & teaches on Sundays.  He counsels married couples and regularly confers with other clergy members regarding church activity. While, some of you may be inclined to shrug your shoulders, I only mention this to denote by how much this church in particular, has fallen into mediocrity.

* Now Ham, the father of Canaan, probably had no business going into Noah's tent without first calling in from outside to see if it was okay to come in... When Noah awoke from his stupor and learned what his immature and perhaps flippant son had done to him his reaction was visceral, immediate, vicious and the results were devastating (p.80) :: (blogger's words) These are only two of the many inferences Richard makes about the "flawed" character of Ham all based on a sliver of information. Is Richard a seer of some sort that he is able to glean so much off a single statement and speak convincingly regarding Ham's character? By no means! Ham was the youngest and quite naturally the most naive. Therefore, it is not surprising for him to be so impolitic in his juvenile deliberations. At one point in our lives, we too were youngsters; some of us have also stumbled in haphazardly on our parents while they were dressing and were rightly scolded for our impropriety and lack of manners. Secondly, whether you wish to accept it or not, the prophets were men and therefore  very much under the sway of erratic and sometimes irrational human emotion. They were subject to all the same flaws and imperfections common to man.  They've actually made very bad judgments causing other innocent people harm! You doubt this? Consider how the very BRAVE Abraham lied and said that Sarai - later named Sarah - was his sister (which was actually a half-truth) causing pharaoh and his household great harm as he innocently took her as his wife in Genesis 12:15-20.

[More Prophets who spoke/acted Precipitously]

A good number of the prophets of antiquity spoke too soon or acted prematurely bringing about unfavorable consequences...including for themselves; Remember why Moses didn't cross over into the promised land even though his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone? (Psalm 106:32-33); consider when Elisha was jeered by boisterous and irreverent children 23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. Go on up, you baldhead! they said. Go on up, you bald head! 24 He turned round, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. (2 Ki 2:23-24) Did the punishment fit the crime? These are kids, and kids will be kids; Consider also the misfortune that befell Jephtahah's Daughter by a foolhardy promise he made to God (Judges 11:32-33); or the  prophet who did not heed God's express commands by which way to go and what not to do and instead followed the natural urges after a long trek by resting and feeding his empty stomach (1 Kings 13)

So don't just jump on the bandwagon or subscribe to whatever is before you just because it's in a book. Trust me, that doesn't make it anymore valid than if it was said.  Getting back to Noah, so If you were drunk and fell asleep naked only to awaken to the fact that now everyone knows you were drunk and naked...you'd probably be a little upset to or did you forget that no one is righteous (Romans 3:9-31) (Ecc 7:20)? Ham's decision didn't lead him to the wisest course of action obviously, but Ham wasn't a devious pervert as some make him out to be. However, in the old testament, the word of God's prophet justified or not was like the word of God itself;  Whatever he spoke, became reality irrespective of the mitigating circumstances. Other than seeing his father's nakedness, the bible doesn't suggest that Ham was a habitual sinner bent on rebellion. One careless mistake was all it took for his hapless son Canaan, to suffer the slings and arrows of his grandfather's impetuous anger. Amazingly, Richard adequately categorizes Noah's reaction as visceral (5th def.) and vicious. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers." (v. 9:24-25) Why did he decide on so severe a punishment? Well, maybe he didn't! It's as if he said it reflexively without much of any thought, in the same way  how one reacts today when they instantly retort, "screw you and your damn family etc,."  or something to that effect. Essentially, it's just swearing.

* God expanded Japheth's intellectual borders as well! Consider the following: (p.91) :: Does Richard mean to suggest  in a round about way that God made white people more intelligent? Seems so. Where is this in the bible or did he yet again extrapolate all this  from a few loose words?  Apparently, he and Mr. James Watson share the same beliefs regarding the  "intellectual deficit" of Hamitic peoples.

* In his Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel and the National Geographic documentary, Jared Diamond, Crescent and surmised that the reason for the European or white man's geography or where they migrated. ...Now, what Mr. Diamond has explained from physical evidence in his Pulitzer Prize winning research is what physically happened over the course of history to the descendants of Shem, Japheth and Ham. It is not Diamond's assertion that this was ordered by God. That is my assertion based on what I studied in Genesis before I came in contact with this documentary. (p.92-93) :: Unbelievable! This guy will say whatever he thinks will prop up his very sad and faulty premise.  However, Richard's mention of this book is perhaps the only sensible thing he's referenced thus far, and not because it supports any of his incredible theories - it doesn't! The work itself is important for the mere sake of it's anthropological value. God doesn't even factor into the equation. Now, before you guys jump off the deep end and consider what I've just written as blasphemous, realize that one needs to appreciate and relish the chase of the hunt, the way one does the journey of a final destination.  Proverbs 25:2 says it best. Beyond what isn't quantifiable - like the very subjective meaning of life -  God I believe, desires for us to delight in our own determinations about how things function and came to be in terms of logic and other empirical methods of discovery. 1 Kings 4:33 tells us that Solomon was fond of botany and anthropology. But one can reasonably deduce through countless scriptures his preoccupation with various engineering projects, and quite naturally geology. Human interest in these areas of scientific study well beyond the confines of subjective interpretations on religion  is...dare I say...divine?

_______________________________________________
My Final Notes
_______________________________________________

It was COMMON PRACTICE for the children to pay the cost of their father's crimes or  good deeds in the old Testament.  Consider the following: Achan's Sin Jos 7:24-26, not only occasioned his death, but that of his children and livestock as  well; also when Esther 9:13 had Haman's ten sons hanged on the gallows; In Num.16:31-35 when the ground swallowed all of Korah's men with their household and their possessions; Or in 1 Samuel 2:30-33 when he told Eli that all his line after him will die a premature death. So you see!? There was no flux in this primitive custom, even among those who weren't of the Hebrew faith practiced similar customs. Until...

The Soul Who Sins Will Die

18 The word of the Lord came to me. What do you people mean  by quoting this proverb about the land in Israel: "'The fathers eat  sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son -- both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.  "Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right. He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor's wife or lie with a woman during her period. He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives this food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man. He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord.   - Ezekiel 18:1-9  (Ezekiel 18 Whole Chapter).

:: So according to the passage above, one can quite easily see that God assures us that He will no longer punish or condemn the offspring or children because of the sinful actions of their parents or even their ancestors. That doesn't mean that certain groups of people won't try to do this, just that it will no longer come by God's personal decree. This passage completely knocks out whatever racist foundations numerous individuals had hoped to employ as justification for how the status quo has, is, and must be maintained regarding the marginalization of all kinds of people of color.

On a side note not related to this book per se, I wish to relate a small personal anecdote that occurred when I was still  an official member there at that same church. This is  what happened:  Sometime slightly after the horrific incidents  devastating the many lives (most of them black) by hurricane Katrina in 2005, a brother from the same church - who is not black  by the way - sent me a text with the following msg: This happened to them because they were truly sinful. They were into all kinds of things there. [or something to that effect] I sent him an apt reply for which he graciously thanked me with his ensuing text. My only reply had merely prompted him to read Luke 13:1-5.  This is Scripture:

Repent or Perish

13 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered,"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

(To Black People) You guys are going to have to wake up and SAY NO to the garbage that people are trying to feed you in and out of church! Many of you "Christians" cannot even recount some of the most basic tenants of your own Christian faith confidently, convincingly, or intelligibly. Ironically, many of you tend to be quick in defending the status quo...EVEN TO YOUR OWN DETRIMENT! This is truly the mark of a slave race. It is also the principle reason I am no longer a member of ANY church establishment and am not likely to be so again in the foreseeable future. Whether you greet me as a brother or not is inconsequential. Why? Because God's kingdom extends beyond the four walls of any building i.e. the church itself cannot give or take away salvation! For more on my perspective regarding this church specifically, consider reading the blog entry for 6/12/09: Why Organized Religion is far less attractive to me these days (Click Here). 

Incidentally, I have taken the liberty to include in the Articles Archives Section a document titled The Curse of Ham (Supplemental) excerpting two prominent scholarly works that will also emphatically conclude that black people are NOT cursed by God, one originating from Mr. Richard's very own church establishment by a Douglas Jacoby; Apparently, he  and John Brush, the church elder who gave his blessing and seal of approval, both forgot to check the backlog of church DPI publication from those same stuffy theologians Richard sarcastically derides in the introductory paragraphs of his hapless book. Thanks, but no thanks Richard, I'm going to have to stick with the academics on this one.