PCP, thank you for your excellent post that is Biblically spot on point with what the Bible actually says.
Fathers are to teach and train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord...that means teaching them how to live a God honoring life in all things. That covers all the behavior issues regarding the original post!
Now on to the race issue:
I understand that in many families it has been taught and modeled that races are not to intermarry that is rooted in racism or rooted in the "bible". However, the Bible does not address the issue concerning skin color. It does however address His chosen people not to intermix with the pagan culture of idol worshipers because God was creating a people for Himself and His divine purposes. Fast forward thousands of years to today and we are still called to purity of heart because unbelievers are told not to be unequally yoked to unbelievers. It is amatter of the heart, not skin color.
Ignorance (lack of understanding or knowledge) of the Bible and its concepts, misuse of scripture, and out of context verse picking leads to many unsound doctrines and ideas. "Gotta keep the races separate" is a prime example. Outback's misuse of Scripture is another prime example.
A simple look at human genetics and how certain traits such as skin color, eye color, hair color, teeth, and physical appearance characteristics make it very clear that there is but one race...the human race. All the other traits are just that--traits.
If you believe the Bible and believe that we all descended from Adam and Eve and then through Noah and his family, then you have to realize that our traits all hold that common ancestry and heritage. Race is a social construct, not a scientific one. The genetic variation between any two people is roughly .02%. The genetic variation between any two races is roughly .012%. There is but one blood and but one race and the differences of simply variant traits. Skin color is a variant trait and has everything to do with melanin...we all have one of the two types of melanin in some combination. Some of the caucasian "race" are lilly white while some are darker white and the same transcends around the world. Cultural difference are much more profound than skin color and in our world we have divided by skin color in large people groups: Europe/Russia=white. Western Eupore where it meeets with the Middle east is a darker white typically (think Greek skin vs. English skin). Middle East/North Africa/India/Far East=tan. Africa/Aboriginal groups=black. Pacific Islands=tan to black. North American and South American Indian tribal groups=tan. Three distinct skin colors (white, black, tan) with all kinds of shading variants in people groups all over the world. Ever thought of how that happened?
To illustrate the basic genetic principles involved in determining skin shade, we�ll use a simplified explanation, with just two genes controlling the production of melanin. Let�s say that the A and B versions of the genes code for a lot of melanin, while the a and b versions code for a small amount of melanin.
If the father�s sperm carried the AB version and the mother�s ovum carried the AB, the child would be AABB, with a lot of melanin, and thus very dark skin. Should both parents carry the ab version, the child would be aabb, with very little melanin, and thus very light skin. If the father carries AB (very dark skin) and the mother carries ab (very light skin), the child will be AaBb, with a middle brown shade of skin. In fact, the majority of the world�s population has a middle brown skin shade.
A simple exercise with a Punnet Square shows that if each parent has a middle brown shade of skin (AaBb), the combinations that they could produce result in a wide variety of skin shades in just one generation. Based on the skin colors seen today, we can infer that Adam and Eve most likely would have had a middle brown skin color. Their children, and children�s children, could have ranged from very light to very dark.
No one really has red, or yellow, or black skin. We all have the same basic color, just different shades of it. We all share the same pigments�our bodies just have different combinations of them.
Disclaimer: The actual genetics involved are much more complicated than this simplified explanation. There are 4 to 6 genes with multiples alleles (versions) of each gene that operate under incomplete dominance, that is, they work together to produce an individual�s particular skin shade. However, simplifying the explanation does not take away from the point being made. Tower of Babel where God confused the languages of the people. If you take a peak into linguistics you can see some very difinitive differences in languages that correspond with the skin color of those groups. The Ancient European groups vs. the African groups vs. the Middle East groups vs. the Far East Groups. Lots in common between the hundreds of languages within each group. The people were divided by language and then subdivided by skin color. They grouped with people like themselves by language and then subdivided by traits because we all want to have things in common. People groups migrated and inhabited the earth. The population pool slit, divided by culture and by geography. That is why the world was populated like it was and the Bible supports this. From this grew a culture in each respective area.
Cultural studies show us the commonality by regions as well.
Behavior and culture issues....well now that is a completely different animal. I think that the intermixing of behaviours, ideals, attitudes and cultures has more of a negative impact on society than the intermixing of races. There much more of an obstacle to overcome within the concept of marriage and family when you mix cultures. And skin color might play a role because our cultures are often (but not always) divided by skin color.
In the end, what does the Lord say? If you say you trust in the Lord, then trust in what he says about "race". If you don't, then keep on believing in your own doctrine of man.
1 Samuel 16:7
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, �Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.�
Acts 17: 24-31 (Paul speaking to the men of Athens)
24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men�s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood[c] every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, �For we are also His offspring.� 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man�s devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.�
