On 2012-01-03, at 9:28 AM, Jim Devine wrote: > Chuck Grimes wrote: > The use of genetics is hopelessly flawed for use on just about any subject, > except genetics and evolution. > > genetics can debunk silly theories. For example, one of the Big Theories > which bedevils humanity is that there is a clear genetic "racial" difference > between "Black" and White" people. But there's more genetic variation within > the Black population than between Blacks and Whites. > > (of course, genetics is often used for evil, as with the eugenics movement.)
Shlomo Sands was and perhaps still is a Marxist. I haven't read his book, only reviews and criticisms. The genetic evidence aside, I can accept that the Yiddish-speaking collectivity in Eastern Europe had the major the attributes of nationhood, and that a Hebrew-speaking fragment subsequently reconstituted itself in Palestine. But otherwise Judaism, like Catholicism and Islam, is a global religion for those who choose to practice it. What's unique is that the legacy of the Holocaust and anti-semitism has left a large number of the descendants of Yiddish-speaking immigrants in the diaspora with a continuing belief that they still constitute a single people with a distinct history and culture, and need to stick together. That self-identification is weakening with each generation, as anti-semitism has been largely displaced by prejudice against immigrants of colour, and as Israel becomes more regarded as an oppressor (and oppressive) state. Does Sands depart from any of this? _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
