I thought this was interesting:

“At African Ancestry, an unhappy customer peppered company President Gina Paige with e-mails after DNA testing of his male line indicated that he had descended from a white man. “He was especially upset that (the ancestor) was German,” she recalls. “More so than white, he had a problem with being even a little bit German.”

Help me out, I’m colour blind what does white look like anyway? Now, if I could hear a sample of what they sounded like maybe I can get a better ethnic picture of their racial makeup.

I’d like to offer a special present to the girl in my Sunday School class who does the best this year. (Bribery is not only wrong, it’s absolutely necessary.) I’m considering giving them their choice of (a) a nice CTR ring, (b) scripture study materials or (c) some spiritual art.

Now it just so happens that all three girls in my class are of African descent. So I’d like to offer them pictures with African people. There was a beautiful picture of Jesus talking with a young woman and teaching her not to hide her candle under a bushel but the girl was Caucasian. Does anyone know where I can find art like that? Keeping in mind that I live more than 500 miles away from the nearest “This Is The Place” store.

Who’d've thought . . .

N.O.

If I read the verse in context, along with the rest of the chapter/vision, and with or without the context of the other relevant scriptural texts and historical context, I find an interpretation of “black skin” unlikely-not as unlikely as interpreting verse 28 to mean that rain comes from god’s tears (#94), but unlikely (and then, highly unlikely in light of the information about how the slavery of black Africans impacted readings of the Cain and Ham verses).
I learned a lot from this thread. Thanks.

I find it interesting that the women who’ve posted seem not to buy a “Cain was black” interpretation, and that among the men there seems to be a strong correlation between the author’s spot on the cultural and political conservative/liberal spectrum (my judgment here comes from reading their T&S, Bcc, ldslibfront, and BS posts), and whether he is more likely to accept a reading that turns Cain’s skin dark. Of course, this group of bloggers is a self-selected sample, so I don’t mean to draw any population-wide conclusions, I’m just describing a tentative observation.

Following Justin’s lead in 209, here are some other questions that I think are relevant as to how a person read’s experiences these texts.

O Do you believe the Church’s temple and priesthood ban regarding people with black African ancestors was divinely inspired?
O Do you believe there is any religious reason that people with different skin colors and ethnic backgrounds should not marry?
O Do you regard the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden as recounting historical events that occurred as described?
O What is your own skin color?
O What is your understanding of why variations in human skin color exist? (is your answer for this any different than as to why there are variations in whether the second toe is longer than the big toe?)
O Do you believe there are separate human races. (If so, how many?)
O Have you sent your DNA sample to National Geographic yet for a report of your “deep ancestral history?”

Justin,
who knew you could be funny? where’s the Mormon history oddity here?!

Some possible questions:

*Did you use models for the painting?
*Were they a 30-something couple from Orem? If so, do you think that there is anything wrong with that?
*What is the theological significance of the fact that Adam and Eve both sported 80s hairdo’s and that Adam wore a miniskirt?
*Are they wearing mini-skirts or deerskin kilts?
*Why does Adam have darker skin than Eve?
*Are Adam and Eve in the garden (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, for short) or out of the garden (Out-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, for short)? Their attire suggests they’re Out-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, so why is that tiger just chilling out there as they stroll past?
*Have you ever seen the 70s sitcom “Good Times”: the one where JJ paints a picture of “black Jesus” with Ned the wino as the model? Did it influence your painting of Adam and Eve?
*Have you ever seen Bruce Almighty? Did it influence your painting of Adam and Eve?
*Just when did you do this painting?
*Have you done an Adam and Eve painting with bears?
*If Adam and Eve were our first parents and of one race, then from where did the different races come from?
*Are you under the assumption that Adam actually existed and that he was the first man?
*Do you agree with the following logic: Eve had very feathered hair. Adam apparently shaved his legs. That is embarrassing. Therefore, under a criterion of embarrassment, Adam and Eve must have existed. Q.E.D.?
*Isn’t the combined meaning of Abraham 1:21-27 and Moses 7 that Ham’s wife was of the seed of Cain?
*Okay, in the Moses account, all of Cain’s seed are destroyed in the flood. So whatever Cain’s seed were or were not, they have absolutely no relationship to any peoples in the world today. Don’t you believe in the worldwide flood, man?
*If Ham’s wife is the seed of Cain and therefore bears the mark/curse (not that these two should be conflated, but we’re working with the folk dotrine here!) and so some of the people on the ark are the descendents of Cain and therefore carry the curse/mark beyond the flood….if all of that is true (and we don’t think it is), then how/why was Ham worthy enough to earn his ark ticket if he married one of these wicked, marked people? Or, the other way around: if these people were worthy to be on the ark, wouldn’t it suggest that they were *not* wicked?
*Do you believe that Cain is Bigfoot?
*Do you agree that the subset of Bookcase people who view MoDo as a valid instructional manual is necessarily smaller than the total number of Bookcase people?
*Do you believe that Justin was just a little less righteous in the pre-existence than J. Stapley?
*Do you believe in pre-Adamites?
*Do you think that Ronan is a stranger in a strange land or a simply strange mate?
*Finally, do you know who the boss is at BCC or the most interesting places to get ethnic food in Austin?