I had my husband read this, and he said my point is not clear. To be fair, I am fully aware that some of the blogs I post are random blabbing. It is my thought process and I don't have the time to devote to good writing. I asked chatgpt to rewrite more cohesively, but then I don't feel like it is authentic. So I'll just amend this by stating my points up front.
1) The history of civilizations and the development of denomination (ie gender hierarchy and slavery.)
2) The unfaithful method of interpretation by evangelicals. (ie the point of the story of Cain and Abel is that God didn't want Cain to trust in his good works.
3) The evangelical movement is actually very anti-moral. The normal interpretation is that God didn't want Cain to trust his good works, when the real point is that God was upset about Cain's oppression of his fellow man.
In the Paleolithic era, there was very little war, hierarchy, land ownership, or division of labor. The introduction of agriculture demanded a labor force with overseers as well as divison of land and water sources. It is here you see the advent of walled cities. "This 'agricultural revolution' deeply affected gender relationships, class distinctions, and economic priorities as most humans left their foraging days behind them...."
Could it be that the story of Cain and Abel is a condensed version of this transition, with a prophecy of the ensuing wars and domination?
Another interesting fact is that women began to produce more offspring in the Neolithic Era, a fulfillment of the prophect that Eve's conception would be "greatly multiplied," and that her husband would rule over her.
The domestication of animals during the Neolithic era also introduced sickness and disease as diseases were spread from animals to humans.
In Eric Skwarczynski's interview with Sara Moslener, she postulates that white women prop up patriarchy because it gives them an advantage through white supremacy. Even though they do not gain gender equality, they do gain racial superiority.
However, in an Instagram reel by by a man named Vic Mensa, he says that white supremacy is and always has been a front for capitalism. Slavery used racism as a frontal excuse to pillage Africa for free labor and resources. Race was justification for the murder of Native Americans, when the stolen land mass was the true goal.
The more centralized the general population of white people are on the issue of race, the more rich the rich become.
It's almost like "The love of money is the root of all people" is true. Weird how that verse follows a section on both slavery and greed together. And a command to withdraw from people who believe that gain is godliness. (👀)
Seemingly critique of cities in the Bible- "Considering things like war, slavery, and the spread of diseases, there were sometimes advantages to living outside the nexus of civilizaitons." People who lived in decentralized states were healthier and lived longer than did their counterparts in early civilizations.
The Fertile Crescent is referred to as "the Cradle of Civilization" and Genesis is an account of the development of civilization.
Civilizations are the humans that left written records. The others didn't.
I keep wondering over the theory that God only gave the ten commandments. Passages that refer to the giving of the law as TEN commandments include Deuteronomy 4:13 and Deuteronomy 10:4. When Jethro suggested the addition of other judges, they added the other laws, which is yet another example of mankind exerting more control than God originally intended. In the prophetic books of the Bible, Jeremiah and Isaiah focus on calling individuals back to a more personal relationship with God, and true justice. (Interesting that these books contain a lot of contempt for cities.)
Back to Abel... This doesn't mean that Abel was still a hunter/gatherer because the Bible calls him a keeper of the sheep. It is interesting that the story begins with "in the process of time." This indicates a long development. While farming isn't necessarily a sin, there can be an in-built temptation for domination. The methods used are of utmost importance. We know there were other people on the earth because of Cain's marriage. It could be that Cain was using slaves, theft, and coercion to obtain his crops. This would imply that the theme of this story IS GOOD WORKS, and not the opposite, ("can't get blood from a turnip") as is usually preached.
His punishment was to be sent away from civilization. It was for protection for those he oppressed, as well as himself. A mark was put on him for protection, but what reason would anyone have to kill him?? (It was previously taught that his "mark" was to make him a black man. But all of the current civilizations in the Middle East have dark sin. Some says Japheth was white. That is complete speculation. Cain's "mark" could have been, in fact, turning him into an albino! (Book of Lamech and Cain))
Another point to consider is that God, as a righteous judge, did not practice capital punishment for the first MURDER. He did not execute "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth," and he definitely didn't implement "F- around and find out."
It really seems that much of Christian teaching actually DEVALUES morals. I will link here two examples. Please be assured that I am not arguing doctrinal methods of salvation. I am talking about how we live our lives.
https://thehomeschoolbookshelf.blogspot.com/2026/01/satan-is-not-opposed-to-good-morals.html
https://thehomeschoolbookshelf.blogspot.com/2025/12/eternal-security.html
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