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Race

PotomacBob 🚫

In writing, how do you use race? Specifically, are Jews a race? Are Asians a race? Japanese? Texans? Hillbillies? Humans?

CB 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

They can all contain subgroups of various races so no. Asians is borderline but is not a true race.

Three are currently widely accepted.

Caucasion:

Skull: Dolicephalic(Long-Head),High forehead,Little supraobital development.

Face: Mainly Leptoproscopic( Narrow)Sometimes Meso- or even Euryproscopic, Neither Facial nor alveolar prognathism occurs except among some archaic peoples.

Nose:Long,narrow,high in both root and bridge.

Mongoloid:

Skull: High incidence of Brachycephaly(Short Round Head)

American Indians while Mongoloid are often Dolicephalic.

Foreheads slightly lower than that of the Caucasoid.

No Supraobital development.

Face: Wide and short, projecting cheek bones, Prognathism rare. Shovel shaped incisors common especialy in Asia.

Nose: Mesorine(Low and Broad in both root and bridge.

Negroid:

Skull: usually Dolicephalic, a small minority are Brachycephalic.

Forehead most often high, little supraobital development.

Face: Leproscopic (to a much lesser degree than the Caucasion), Prognathism common in most Negro populations.

Nose: Low & broad in root and bridge with characteristic depression at root.

Australoid is a possible fourth recognized by many.

DiscipleN 🚫
Updated:

@PotomacBob

Heh, I recently skimmed through an old story with a title similar to "The Apaches and the Missionary Family".

It was just the typical trope of sexual predators of another race. These were/are often used to dehumanize a race, for political purposes.

Personally, I get off on transgressive sex tales, so I enjoy these 'stroke stories' AND I worry that some readers might accept the dehumanization expressed, instead of pinning it as pure fantasy.

When I write transgressive, interracial sex stories I always show that the transgressor is just one person, an individual among a group of normal humans who happen to have distinct features or lineage.

Switch Blayde 🚫

@PotomacBob

Specifically, are Jews a race?

Ancestry.com thinks so, based on my results after sending in DNA.

I only use race when it's important to the plot. "Death of a Hero" is about racists so of course race is important. My WIP takes place during WW2 so race comes into play with a Japanese/American woman. In my novel "High School Massacre" there's an Apache character. Race comes into play just a tiny bit. I made him an Apache mostly to add color to the story (no pun intended). So I have to have a reason for making a character something other than white.

Dominions Son 🚫

@PotomacBob

I generally don't use race.

I may describe skin tone and other features generally attributed to race, but where it's relevant I tend to use ethnicity rather than race.

There are significant differences in average appearance between the northern European "Nordic" countries and the Southern European Mediterranean countries.

For Africa: There are major differences between different tribal groups, the Hutu (tallest on average) vs the Pygmy tribes from the Congo.

In Asia, The Japanese, the Mongols, the Chinese, and the various small South Asian countries are all a little different.

If you really look at the biology of the various physical traits assigned to race, what you will see is not distinct groups, but continuums that run north to south and east to west.

These factors supposedly ascribed to "race" are all evolutionary adaptations to local climate conditions.

If you took a group of Nordic people from Northern Europe and a group from Central Africa, swap them geographically, then check up on both of them a few hundred or thousand generations later you would likely find that Central African group moved to Norther Europe now looks "Nordic" and the Norther European group moved to Central Africa now looks African.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Dominions Son

In Asia, The Japanese, the Mongols, the Chinese, and the various small South Asian countries are all a little different.

This can also depend on the viewer of the individual.

I can often pick out Asian ethnic backgrounds from facial features. I see many actors and actresses, and can tell if they are Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese or "other". Of course, I have also had a lot of exposure to each of these groups, so guess I have just learned to spot the little clues in their facial structure.

I did not need to be told Linda Park and Margaret Cho were Korean, George Takei and Jodi Long are Japanese, and Anna May Wong and Lucy Liu was Chinese. Their faces alone told me that.

Dominions Son 🚫

@Mushroom

I can often pick out Asian ethnic backgrounds from facial features. I see many actors and actresses, and can tell if they are Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese or "other". Of course, I have also had a lot of exposure to each of these groups, so guess I have just learned to spot the little clues in their facial structure.

I wouldn't claim to be able to identify specific Asian ethnicities from looks, but I've worked with enough people from different Asian backgrounds to recognize that they aren't all the same.

Replies:   Remus2
Remus2 🚫

@Dominions Son

I wouldn't claim to be able to identify specific Asian ethnicities from looks, but I've worked with enough people from different Asian backgrounds to recognize that they aren't all the same.

Asians are often confused with pacific islanders. They are not visually nor genetically the same.

Replies:   awnlee jawking  Mushroom
awnlee jawking 🚫

@Remus2

Asians are often confused with pacific islanders. They are not visually nor genetically the same.

That leaves Caucasian or Negroid.

AJ

Replies:   Remus2
Remus2 🚫

@awnlee jawking

That leaves Caucasian or Negroid.

I fail to see how that is. Unless you mean the variations.

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking 🚫

@Remus2

If they're not Caucasian, Mongoloid or Negroid, are they even human?

AJ

Replies:   joyR
joyR 🚫

@awnlee jawking

If they're not Caucasian, Mongoloid or Negroid, are they even human?

Neanderthal ..??

:)

Mushroom 🚫

@Remus2

Asians are often confused with pacific islanders. They are not visually nor genetically the same.

Traditionally, they (as well as American Indians) are classified as "Mongoloid". As that is the branch that they all came off of.

And why today you often have the classification of "API". Asian - Pacific Islander"

helmut_meukel 🚫

@Mushroom

I can often pick out Asian ethnic backgrounds from facial features

Even within Germany there are some facial features dominant in some areas which are rarely found in other areas.
Looking at the faces of say 1oo people from different parts of Germany I can at least pick out 10 and tell you from which part of Germany they come. There are facial features unique to the upper Rhine valley (Schaffhausen to Basel), common on both sides of the Rhine (the German-Swiss border).

HM.

Mushroom 🚫

@PotomacBob

In writing, how do you use race? Specifically, are Jews a race? Are Asians a race? Japanese? Texans? Hillbillies? Humans?

You have a great many things that all tend to blur the lines. Race, Ethnicity, Faith, they are not all the same thing, but many tend to mix and match whatever they like now and just call them all "race".

And I agree with CB as to the "Three Races". Of course, today we are being told by many that is "outdated", but it was and is still valid, and far easier at tracking the migrations of humans throughout history than trying to trace 10,000 "races".

Myself, I often rarely mention it, or only in passing if it is not important. I normally have an image of a character in my mind, and they may be of any race. But since such to me rarely matters, I rarely put it down unless it is important to the story. Or something about that has to come into play.

In "Country Boy" Rebecca was always a Mexican-American, even though this was not obvious until much later in the story. Cliff was always Black, even if I felt no reason to ever do more than hint at it. To me, it simply was not really important.

However, most times I tend to use it where appropriate, both for the story and the setting. Blacks are not common in Idaho, so I really do not use them there. But in LA and the military, all the time. Sometimes I mention it, other times I do not. People are people to me, nothing else really matters.

I even had fun with this very concept in one of my stories, where the main character was blind. And to her, "A blind person sees no color". She even joked that the only reason she knew she was Chinese is that she could see before she was 10, and her last name was "Wong". And joked that if her mother objected to her dating somebody of another race, she would simply ask how she would know that herself.

But for Jews, they are a Religion, and originally ethnically of the Semitic subgrouping of Caucasians (the same as Arabs). And even though they live in Asia, those from India are also predominantly Caucasians.

richardshagrin 🚫

@Mushroom

"race"

race1
/rās/
Learn to pronounce
See definitions in:
All
Sports
Science
Nautical
Mechanics
Biology Β· Dated
Food Β· Dated
noun
1.
a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, boats, etc., to see which is the fastest in covering a set course.
"I won the first 50-lap race"
Similar:
contest
competition
relay
event
fixture
heat
rally
trial
time trial
head-to-head

2.
a strong or rapid current flowing through a narrow channel in the sea or a river.
"angling for tuna in turbulent tidal races"
Similar:
channel
waterway
watercourse
conduit
sluice
spillway
aqueduct
verb
1.
compete with another or others to see who is fastest at covering a set course or achieving an objective.
"the vet took blood samples from the horses before they raced"
Similar:
compete
take part in a race
run
contend
compete against
have a race with
run against
be pitted against
try to beat
2.
move or progress swiftly or at full speed.
"I raced into the house"
Similar:
hurry
dash
run
rush
sprint
bolt
dart
gallop
career
charge
shoot
hurtle
hare
bound
fly
speed
zoom
go hell for leather
pound
streak
scurry
scuttle
scamper
scramble
make haste
hasten
lose no time
spank along
really move
tear
belt
pelt
scoot
zap
zip
whip
step on it
get a move on
hotfoot it
steam
put on some speed
go like a bat out of hell
burn rubber
bomb
bucket
put one's foot down
leg it
wheech
boogie
hightail it
clip
barrel
get the lead out
cut along
fleet
post
hie
haste
vulgar slangdrag/tear/haul ass

Definitions from Oxford Languages

Replies:   oyster50
oyster50 🚫

@richardshagrin

Absolutely correct.

And totally useless.

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son 🚫

@oyster50

Absolutely correct.

And totally useless.

Par for the course for the Grinning Dick. He's like MS tech support.

Replies:   irvmull
irvmull 🚫
Updated:

@Dominions Son

"He's like MS tech support."

Wow. Talk about your low blows.

Uther Pendragon 🚫

@Mushroom

And I agree with CB as to the "Three Races".

Historical footnote:
The US government wanted to have broad racial divisions -- I don't know why. They assigned it to a group of academics. These divided it up into Asian, Negroid, nd Indo-European. Congress moved the Indians into the Asian component.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Uther Pendragon

Historical footnote:
The US government wanted to have broad racial divisions -- I don't know why. They assigned it to a group of academics. These divided it up into Asian, Negroid, nd Indo-European. Congress moved the Indians into the Asian component.

Which is also the cause of debate even today.

When you start with the Eskimos they bear a striking similarity with those from Asia. But as you move South and East, the feature of most tribes start to change. And in this, some more than others.

I will admit, I do accept the Solutrean theory, because it explains a lot. In short, that there were hundreds of migrations of people to the Americas, from both directions. It explains the curiosity of stone spear points first appearing on the East Coast and moving West. Also, why the facial features of Indians in the East are so strikingly different than those in the West. Looking at paintings of those met on the Atlantic show almost Roman or Spanish features. Longer faces, more pointed noses, generally taller and more slender and angular.

Not the same facial and body characteristics as those that Lewis and Clarke met in the Pacific region. Rounder faces, less prominent noses, generally shorter and more squat. And more and more they are finding really ancient "European" DNA inside of living and past Indians (mostly the Eastern tribes).

But it is still something we do see. I often laugh because most I have met like me can spot others of similar mixed heritage. And it always confused many when I lived just outside of the local Maidu lands, as they could tell I was also a "skin", but one they could not recognize.

But to be honest, I still classify them as "Mongoloid", simply who had picked up a quirk of genetics that made unusual features genetically dominant. Just as the quirk of genetics that made a region of China have an unusually large number of blonde kids.

Replies:   Remus2
Remus2 🚫

@Mushroom

When you start with the Eskimos they bear a striking similarity with those from Asia. But as you move South and East, the feature of most tribes start to change. And in this, some more than others.

Eskimos have a distinct difference in genetics. A difference most likely caused by environment driven mutation. An Eskimo can live with diets so high in fat that it would kill other races.

Just as the quirk of genetics that made a region of China have an unusually large number of blonde kids.

Also blue eyes etc. That has been traced by genetics to the time of the original silk road.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Remus2

Also blue eyes etc. That has been traced by genetics to the time of the original silk road.

Nope. It is just a curious genetic mutation. Most of the peoples these appear in live in high altitudes, and well off of the "Silk Road". And even if that was the cause, blonde is a recessive gene, and would have faded away under the vast majority having black hair. The only reason why my 2 youngest sons have blonde hair, is that I inherited the gene from my father (even though my own hair was dark brown before it went gray). So even though I had one color, I still carried the genetic markers for the other.

However, one has brown eyes (mine), the other blue eyes (his mother). But it really is a crap-shoot. Especially in the US, where we are such a mish-mash of ethnicities and races. Some anthropologists are even saying that "American" is within a few generations of being it's own unique ethnicity. Mix and match for enough generations, and you do have a new grouping that is distinct from others.

Like a single drop of ink in a gallon of water.

No, it is just a curious mutation. Such things pop up all the time, like albinism. But one that was passed along in some regions to become their own sub-group.

Replies:   Remus2
Remus2 🚫

@Mushroom

So you're a geneticist, nuclear engineer, military, IT, train, mechanical engineering, and other expert. Interesting...

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Remus2

So you're a geneticist, nuclear engineer, military, IT, train, mechanical engineering, and other expert. Interesting...

I am fascinated by a great many things, and am constantly researching things that get my interest. I do not watch TV, and largely spend my time reading anything that I find of interest.

But please, feel free to mock me if it makes you feel better. Does not negate anything I said. The "blonde Chinese" are predominantly the Hmong people, originally from Mongolia, they have lived in the same remote area of Central China for over 8,000 years. Largely unwanted land by the Chinese, very high altitude, where they had to use terracing in most places to grow enough food.

This is a region far from the Silk Road. And the genetics in recent decades have caused even more questions, as the closest group were nomads from around Turkey. However, some still question if they are related by a group migrating from that region to settle there, or if they were differing offshoots of a single group that split, one staying in East Asia as the other moved West.

And yes, another long time passion of mine is studying human migrations. How tribes from along the US East Coast ended up in the Great Plains, and how one nomadic Asian group pushed against another, causing waves of barbarians to be thrown against Rome.

As for the Faraday Cage, that stems from the 1985 novel "The Postman". Where some professors after WWIII in Oregon set up0 as a "Think Tank" with the last of the super-smart sentient computers. It was protected by a Faraday Cage, but in reality it was just a parlor trick. But being 22 I had no idea what that was, so I started researching them and was fascinated by the concept.

And of course being a prepper, I could see the advantage of making my own for things like a spare radio as part of my GOD bag. But you also missed that I am a motorcycle enthusiast, DJ, SCUBA diver, skier, videographer, and that I diddle out the occasional dirty story.

Replies:   Remus2
Remus2 🚫
Updated:

@Mushroom

I've spent a great deal of time researching many things over the years. It comes with the territory for my line of work. One of the most important lessons I ever learned was that books are a poor second to direct experience. Have you ever been to Mongolia or witnessed those people for yourself? To read your words, you make it sound as if it's common place. Having been there myself, I can directly state that it is actually very rare.

https://www.chinadiscovery.com/assets/images/silk-road/maps/iron_silk_road-full.jpg

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ancient+silk+road+route&t=fpas&iax=images&ia=images

I would also draw your attention to the route of the silk road before you dismiss my comments.

Remus2 🚫

@PotomacBob

It was in the 80's when the US census began lumping Asians and Pacific islanders together.

Remus2 🚫

@PotomacBob

As to the topic in general, tagging a story as Asian, usually means a stereotype fixated on Chinese or Japanese.

Redsliver 🚫

@PotomacBob

I don't really think to much about race, but I like populating my stories with more than just white characters. So I use race at a barely cosmetic level. I favor character tropes for differentiation, and then race can be used to just create a mental visual to differentiate the characters. Which race is applied to which character has often been little more than a die roll.

If I'm making something a bit more Epic Fantasy/D&D I'll use race to mean tribe or species than any modern version of the word.

Crumbly Writer 🚫

@PotomacBob

Normally, most of the race-based tags on SOL are to denote sexualized racial stereotypes (WW and BBM, Asians, etc.), so the tag has nothing whatsoever to do with a character's race unless it's targeting a specific class of readers looking for that particular kink.

So far (thank God!) there is no Jewish tag on SOL (though given the recent trends, it's only a matter of time until the antisemites demand one).

Long story short, if you're advertising for a kink, sorry, there's no tag for that here yet. Alternatively, if this is addressing a particular character in a story, then there's absolutely no reason to include a 'racial' tag of any sort in ANY story on SOL.

Replies:   joyR  awnlee jawking
joyR 🚫

@Crumbly Writer

Alternatively, if this is addressing a particular character in a story, then there's absolutely no reason to include a 'racial' tag of any sort in ANY story on SOL.

Alternatively, if this is addressing a particular character in a story, then there's absolutely no reason to include a 'racial' tag of any sort in ANY story on SOL.

Double quoted because it needs repeating. often..!!

Thanks CW

Replies:   Uther Pendragon
Uther Pendragon 🚫

@joyR

The only tag on my story, Dusk Hunt, is BM; it is absolutely accurate.
As both of the characters are leopards, however, it might be considered misleading by some picky types.

awnlee jawking 🚫

@Crumbly Writer

there is no Jewish tag on SOL

There was a recent topic started by a reader who specifically wanted stories containing Jewish characters.

AJ

Switch Blayde 🚫

@awnlee jawking

who specifically wanted stories containing Jewish characters.

I always thought Ben Hur was a story about Jewish characters. It wasn't until I was much older that I found out it was a story about Christ. I realized it when it was one of the movies they played every year during Christmas.

Replies:   joyR
joyR 🚫

@Switch Blayde

I always thought Ben Hur was a story about Jewish characters. It wasn't until I was much older that I found out it was a story about Christ.

Jesus INRI "The King of the Jews" very much counts as a Jewish character.

Replies:   Switch Blayde
Switch Blayde 🚫

@joyR

Jesus INRI "The King of the Jews"

That's a Christian slogan, not a Jewish one. Hence it's a story about Christ and the beginning of Christianity.

The Jews never considered Jesus their king. Or even the Messiah who was predicted to come.

Replies:   joyR  Crumbly Writer
joyR 🚫

@Switch Blayde

The Jews never considered Jesus their king. Or even the Messiah who was predicted to come.

In those times the Jewish leaders preferred the designation "King of Israel". (In the Hebrew translation) Which is pretty much splitting theological hairs. So nothing new then or now.

Replies:   Crumbly Writer
Crumbly Writer 🚫

@joyR

In those times the Jewish leaders preferred the designation "King of Israel". (In the Hebrew translation) Which is pretty much splitting theological hairs. So nothing new then or now.

Uh, not even close! The Israeli King was, like most monarchies, an inherited position. Again, the only ones who used that term were the Romans, who were trying to turn the Jews against the newest Roman uprising in the region.

Replies:   mauidreamer  joyR
mauidreamer 🚫
Updated:

@Crumbly Writer

Er, the Judean kingdom was an inherited position during late 1st century BC/BCE, but the first Herod the Great was a Roman appointed provincial governor (appt'd or retained by a succession of Roman Generals - including Marc Antony) until appointed by the Roman Senate as king of the Roman client state Judea. Isreal was pretty much an unused term at the time.

joyR 🚫

@Crumbly Writer

Uh, not even close! The Israeli King was, like most monarchies, an inherited position.

Nope.

It was common practice at that time to point out the specific crime for which the person was being crucified. The main point of the statement, "INRI "The King of the Jews" was to highlight the 'crime' of king within a territory occupied by Rome, how dare anyone presume to rule where Caesar ruled?

Rome typically dealt mercilessly with anyone 'preaching' rebellion, or just inciting others to refute Rome's rule or laws.

It is worth noting how as christianity grew within Rome, the desire to destroy all other religions grew.

Replies:   Mushroom  Crumbly Writer
Mushroom 🚫

@joyR

It was common practice at that time to point out the specific crime for which the person was being crucified. The main point of the statement, "INRI "The King of the Jews" was to highlight the 'crime' of king within a territory occupied by Rome, how dare anyone presume to rule where Caesar ruled?

Oh, the Romans had no problems with King. In fact, the Bible talks about 2 kings of the area at the time (there were actually 3).

You had Herod the Great, his son Herod Archelous, then Herod Antipas.

The Romans had no issue with local kings, after all that is why they were an Empire. Just so long as those kings knew they came under Rome.

Replies:   joyR
joyR 🚫

@Mushroom

The Romans had no issue with local kings, after all that is why they were an Empire. Just so long as those kings knew they came under Rome.

Exactly right. Neither presumed to rule in their own right, instead both were puppet kings.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@joyR

Exactly right. Neither presumed to rule in their own right, instead both were puppet kings.

Not at all.

In the Roman Empire, most of the "Client Kingdoms" were actually given a lot of free reign. In general, most of them only had a few basic requirements. Keep their area peaceful, and send food to Rome. Even under the rule of the Senate before the Imperial Era, that was the norm.

About the only time they stepped in (multiple times in Judea) was when they could not keep the area stable and peaceful. But they were hardly "puppet kings" at all.

Vandals, Goths, Visigoths, Franks, they were all kingdoms recognized by Rome, and largely left alone. Only if they revolted or collapsed to internal or external issues did the Romans themselves get involved.

In fact, most of their "Satellite Kingdoms" early on were the collapsed remnants of Alexander. When his former Generals and their descendants started fighting among themselves, most turned to the new power in the region for help.

After almost 200 years of constant fighting amongst themselves, invariably one side would call to Rome for help as the country collapsed. And most had a good position, until for political reasons they themselves would then get involved in Roman politics.

Most famous example, Egypt. Almost entirely independent, it was their own siding against Octavian in the Roman Civil War after Caesar's death that cause them to get stomped on and devoured.

It was Cleopatra VII that asked for Roman help against her brother. Then 18 years later (when she was almost 40) when she took in Mark Antony during the Roman Civil War, and went to war against Rome. If she had kept her Greek nose out of their affairs, that would not have happened.

Replies:   richardshagrin  joyR
richardshagrin 🚫

@Mushroom

In the Roman Empire, most of the "Client Kingdoms" were actually given a lot of free reign.

Would that be free rein?

"Reign as a noun: As a noun, reign refers to the period of time a sovereign rules.

This chapel was built during the reign of Charles I.
Reign as a verb: As a verb, reign refers to the action of holding royal office, being the best of most important, or holding a title.

Queen Elizabeth reigns over the United Kingdom."

joyR 🚫

@Mushroom

Semantics

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@joyR

Semantics

Not at all, that is a huge difference. Japan had such as recently as 1945, and China had them for thousands of years. Also the Mongols, the Aztecs, etc, etc, etc.

It is much more then "semantics".

Crumbly Writer 🚫

@joyR

Uh, not even close! The Israeli King was, like most monarchies, an inherited position.

Nope.

It was common practice at that time to point out the specific crime for which the person was being crucified. The main point of the statement, "INRI "The King of the Jews" was to highlight the 'crime' of king within a territory occupied by Rome, how dare anyone presume to rule where Caesar ruled?

But again, that was a classification dictated by Pontius Pilate, a Roman official in charge of a typically difficult Jewish region, who was specifically trying to justify putting him to death. It wasn't how the Jewish population thought of him, and was certainly not how his followers thought of him. Instead, it was a handy sentence to assign the blame for Pontius's decisions upon the Jewish mob protesting on his doorstep at the time.

Those sorts of situations tend to flavor the rationales, even in the best of times. But I know better than to get into either religious or political discussions, as each point is heavily weighed by the perceptions of each side, which is itself heavily 'seasoned' by their particular backgrounds, making rational discussions difficult, at best.

As an atheist, who was raised by a Methodist/Protestant Naval Chaplainβ€”which exposed me to a wide variety of different religious perspectivesβ€”I prefer not weighing into these discussions (since I have no real skin in the game), but Pilate's position was fairly clear.

Replies:   Dominions Son  Mushroom
Dominions Son 🚫

@Crumbly Writer

But again, that was a classification dictated by Pontius Pilate, a Roman official in charge of a typically difficult Jewish region, who was specifically trying to justify putting him to death. It wasn't how the Jewish population thought of him, and was certainly not how his followers thought of him.

Actually, According to the biblical story, Pontius Pilate didn't particularly want to execute Jesus. Jewish leaders were pushing him to do it because they considered Jesus a Heretic.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Dominions Son

Actually, According to the biblical story, Pontius Pilate didn't particularly want to execute Jesus. Jewish leaders were pushing him to do it because they considered Jesus a Heretic.

Which is now believed to be apocryphal. The first written record did not happen until almost a century after the Passion, and most scholars now believe that was mostly inserted by the early Roman Christians to try and shift blame away from the Romans and onto the Jews

Plus a lot of segments have no precedent in historical records, and are obviously planted into the story at a much later date.

Mushroom 🚫

@Crumbly Writer

It wasn't how the Jewish population thought of him, and was certainly not how his followers thought of him.

To most, he was yet another desert brained "redneck" who came in from a backwater part of the Kingdom with ideas and concepts almost at odds with much of what most Jews believed.

Yet one in an almost endless stream of almost mad desert aesthetics who wandered into town preaching that it all had to change.

Crumbly Writer 🚫

@Switch Blayde

The Jews never considered Jesus their king. Or even the Messiah who was predicted to come.

I suspect, after all this time, they simply consider him the annoying salesman who always shows up on your door, hawking what they continually insist they're not interested in. Some of those people you just can't get rid of! ;)

Vincent Berg 🚫

@awnlee jawking

There was a recent topic started by a reader who specifically wanted stories containing Jewish characters.

If you'll recall, the question wasn't about story tags, but was in the story "Recommendations" forum, where such questions should be directed.

Individual readers should be able to recall favored Jewish characters (like Ben Hur ;) ), while a database search should turn up the few remaining Hebrew stories (stories about, not those written in that language). After all, Judaism is a religion, not a racial type.

Mushroom 🚫

@awnlee jawking

There was a recent topic started by a reader who specifically wanted stories containing Jewish characters.

This was my first thought also.

I myself posted some of my stories in there, because I had done that. Of course I have written stories about almost every race or major grouping there is.

Remus2 🚫

@PotomacBob

There has been genetic studies performed that show jews are a race not just a religion.
https://einsteinmed.org/labs/harry-ostrer/people/harry-ostrer.aspx

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Remus2

There has been genetic studies performed that show jews are a race not just a religion.

There is the Cohen Modal Haplotype, commonly called the "Cohen Gene". This was a key factor of determining if the Lemba people of South Africa were Jewish or not.

They had long claimed they were Jews, and most of their practices and religion follow the faith, almost unheard of in that region.

They were long dismissed, but in the 1990's and later, DNA evidence indeed confirmed many common DNA profiles, that are pretty much exclusive to the Jewish community. Including a huge number with the Cohen Modal Haplotype.

However, then you have the other issue. That is all tracked through Y-chromosomes, and to be "Jewish", it tracks through the matrilineal line. While some (mostly in the US) do accept them as being "Jewish", most Orthodox groups still reject their claim.

Replies:   Remus2
Remus2 🚫

@Mushroom

However, then you have the other issue. That is all tracked through Y-chromosomes, and to be "Jewish", it tracks through the matrilineal line. While some (mostly in the US) do accept them as being "Jewish", most Orthodox groups still reject their claim.

That mentality caused a lot of grief for my mother. She was born to a Jewish family in Germany in the early 30's. None of the US orthodox groups in the US accepted her.

Replies:   helmut_meukel  Mushroom
helmut_meukel 🚫

@Remus2

That mentality caused a lot of grief for my mother. She was born to a Jewish family in Germany in the early 30's. None of the US orthodox groups in the US accepted her

IIRC, her mother had to be a non-jew married to her Jewish father. For the Nazi she was a Half-Jew but for the Orthodox she was no Jew at all.
The cause for the tracking through the matrilineal line is twofold:
- Prior to DNA tests you couldn't be certain if the Jewish "father" was actual the biological father.
- A child forced by rape on a Jewish mother was regarded to be a Jew, regardless of the Babylonian, Roman or other father. No shunning of mother or child.

HM.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@helmut_meukel

IIRC, her mother had to be a non-jew married to her Jewish father. For the Nazi she was a Half-Jew but for the Orthodox she was no Jew at all.

Not completely.

The child of a mother who had converted prior to the birth is recognized. But a conversion after or no conversion is not.

Replies:   helmut_meukel
helmut_meukel 🚫

@Mushroom

There was another problem with Jews who voluntarily converted to Chistianity back in the 1800's. Those were Jews only by heritage not by faith. The Nazis ignored their Christian Faith and treated them as Jews, while at least the Orthodox didn't recognize them as Jews, even those killed in the KZ's.

HM.

Mushroom 🚫

@Remus2

That mentality caused a lot of grief for my mother. She was born to a Jewish family in Germany in the early 30's. None of the US orthodox groups in the US accepted her.

In this, I am largely ambivalent, as I am not Jewish.

They track it how they choose, all you have to do is trace the line matrilineally.

Replies:   Remus2
Remus2 🚫

@Mushroom

Her siblings, parents, whole family were killed by the Nazis. The latter didn't care about any conversion. Only the fact that it was a Jewish family on record.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Remus2

Her siblings, parents, whole family were killed by the Nazis. The latter didn't care about any conversion. Only the fact that it was a Jewish family on record.

Were they of an Orthodox branch?

This is nothing special or unusual, and if she had converted to that form of Orthodox worship it would not have been an issue.

To me, not much different than most Catholic services only offer Communion to other Catholics, and not those Christians of other denominations.

In this, I actually largely stand back as I said, and let their own faith determine what they believe. I have no right to interfere with it.

Replies:   Remus2  Vincent Berg
Remus2 🚫
Updated:

@Mushroom

I have no right to interfere with it.

That thought process got a few million Jews a death sentence. They may not come for you 'yet' but sooner or later, it's your time in the mill.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Remus2

That thought process got a few million Jews a death sentence. They may not come for you 'yet' but sooner or later, it's your time in the mill.

There is a huge difference between recognizing somebody as a member of their own group without the process they have, and genocide.

For anybody not recognized by one of the Orthodox churches, all they have to do is convert. They do not go out and hint those down who are not Orthodox.

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Mushroom

I have no right to interfere with it.

You have no right to interfere, but every right to disapprove! One's a legal stipulation, the other's merely a personal opinion, carrying no legal weight whatsoever.

Replies:   Mushroom
Mushroom 🚫

@Vincent Berg

You have no right to interfere, but every right to disapprove! One's a legal stipulation, the other's merely a personal opinion, carrying no legal weight whatsoever.

Oh-ho! Now this is interesting.

TO give me the right to disapprove, that means I of course am also giving the same right in return. For them to then disapprove of the choices I myself make.

Like say living outside of marriage, entering in a relationship with somebody of another faith, or even if I support abortion. You see, that is a two way street. And for me to start approving or disapproving of their beliefs, then invites them to behave the same way towards me.

To be otherwise is to be a hypocrite. You can not condemn others, and also shut yourself off from being condemned.

Replies:   irvmull
irvmull 🚫
Updated:

@Mushroom

"To be otherwise is to be a hypocrite. You can not condemn others, and also shut yourself off from being condemned."

Of course you can. I say that people who believe the earth is flat are foolish. They may try to condemn my silly belief in roundness, but do I care? No. I don't.

Besides, you have misused (and misspelled) hypocrit.

"Hypocrisy: the condition of a person pretending to be something he is not, especially in the area of morals or religion; a false presentation of belief or feeling." freedictionary.com

You may disagree with someone's opinion, but that in no way means that the person is pretending to believe in one thing and doing the opposite.

Now, if the "flat earth" guy was also selling "around the world cruises"... that would be hypocritical.

Uther Pendragon 🚫

@PotomacBob

While genetics usually are involved in race. the concept is a social one. Are Koreans and Japanese the same race? They are in the USA; they definitely are not in either Korea or Japan.
Pure Black and mixed Black-white are the two major races in Haiti; they are the same race in the USA.
Are Jews a race? Are Sephardim and Ashkenazi the same race?
Are people from Lombardy the same race as Sardinians?

Replies:   Mushroom  LupusDei
Mushroom 🚫

@Uther Pendragon

While genetics usually are involved in race. the concept is a social one. Are Koreans and Japanese the same race?

Genetically, they are. Researchers have known for decades that the "Pre-Japanese" Jomon period and Yayoi came from Korea. And in their isolation formed a new culture different from the one they originally came from.

However, culturally they are very different in many ways. In this, most tend to instead of "race" use the word "culture". Genetically, they are of the same "race", but culturally very different.

LupusDei 🚫
Updated:

@Uther Pendragon

Exactly. Ethnic conflict is oftentimes elevated to perceived racial inequality even where it makes no logical (or even clear visual) sense, at least for uninvolved observers.

For example, let's contemplate are Russians "white" people?

Not for those believing to be "true Arians" (with may include German, Nordic and Baltic nazi, who may or may not recognize others mentioned, and in addition even certain Slavic, including Russian and Ukrainian elements), for them all Slavic people, but at very least Muscovite Russians are considered tainted by Mongol-tatar blood and therefore Asian and not true "White" people. It was common propaganda trope of Nazi Germany to depict all enemies in the east as Asian. And while it is true that Russia has in fact assimilated (with varied success, counting extinct languages in dozens if not hundreds) quite a lot of mongoloid people, especially by territory orginally inhabited, the more broad assertions make no sense. The blond-est nation in the world currently is Belarus (and yes, it's in the very name, literally White-Russia).

And for a Russian (or more broadly elsewhere in the (ex-) Soviet Union space north of black Sea) a "Caucasian" isn't actually considered "white" as it is in colloquial usage a narrow term (and near-slur) describing a specific phenotype lumping together a bucket of (often mutually hostile) ethnicities from the actual Caucasus Mountains region -- who are broadly regarded to be aggressive, impulsive and born criminals (as it's often emphasized in Russian official criminal news that the suspect is of "caucasian appearance" -- exactly in this much narrower and unquestionably racist meaning), and thereby feared and discriminated against.

Replies:   awnlee_jawking
awnlee_jawking 🚫

@LupusDei

The blond-est nation in the world currently is Belarus

Top ten by percentage of natural blondes (allegedly:

1.Finland 58% , 2.Sweden 54%, 3.Norway 48%, 4.Estonia 48%, 5.Denmark 43%, 6.Latvia 43% 7.Netherlands 41%, 8.Germany 41%, 9.Lithuania 38%, 10.Belarus 35%

AJ

Dominions Son 🚫

@awnlee_jawking

op ten by percentage of natural blondes (allegedly:

Yeah, but what about peroxide consumption? :)

Replies:   awnlee jawking
awnlee jawking 🚫

@Dominions Son

Yeah, but what about peroxide consumption? :)

I seem to recall the USA and UK being particularly rich in fake blondes :-(

AJ

Replies:   Remus2
Remus2 🚫

@awnlee jawking

A good majority of which are in Texas.

LupusDei 🚫
Updated:

@awnlee_jawking

Top ten by percentage of natural blondes (allegedly:

1.Finland 58% , 2.Sweden 54%, 3.Norway 48%, 4.Estonia 48%, 5.Denmark 43%, 6.Latvia 43% 7.Netherlands 41%, 8.Germany 41%, 9.Lithuania 38%, 10.Belarus 35%

It's actually not something easily measurable, I believe, and depends on a lot of assumptions in any case.

For example, I am blond? Not a question I know how to answer. I consider myself black-blond. Until school I had slightly wavy golden blond hair, and worn them quite long (and was frequently mis-gendered, for lot of pain of my sister -- because people knew we're supposed to be brother and sister... and she was older, bigger more muscular and had darker and shorter hair). Well, I had to cut hair short for most of school, and eventually I grew bigger than sis too (although at 6'2" I'm very average locally, even a lot of girls are taller, especially younger generation) and with maturity my hair turned dark, almost black, anodized bronze black, but not a gram heavier. And it still bleach in sunlight easily, so my (once again long) hair has natural gold halo and sometimes streaks. I'm definitely blond by hair type, but not by color.

Your stats do make intuitive sense, so I'm tending to believe yours may as well be more accurate, by whatever exact method applied. What I referenced was some kind of heat-map thing of supposedly blond-iness I saw somewhere some years back, with had a distinct max glow over eastern Latvia, southern Lithuania and good part of Belarus, and, frankly, didn't look quite right, but I ran with it.

helmut_meukel 🚫

@awnlee_jawking

1.Finland 58% , 2.Sweden 54%, 3.Norway 48%, 4.Estonia 48%, 5.Denmark 43%, 6.Latvia 43% 7.Netherlands 41%, 8.Germany 41%, 9.Lithuania 38%, 10.Belarus 35%

I doubt this is correct.
Finns and Estonians are closely related ethnicities.
Their blondes may come from centuries of belonging to Germanic empires, first the Varangians, later the Swedes.

It's similar to blondes in northern Italy, which can be traced back to the Lombards aka Langobards.

HM.

Replies:   awnlee jawking  LupusDei
awnlee jawking 🚫

@helmut_meukel

Finns and Estonians are closely related ethnicities.

I believe the figures I found are based on nationality, which can be quite different from ethnicity.

AJ

LupusDei 🚫
Updated:

@helmut_meukel

Finns and Estonians are closely related ethnicities.

Their blondes may come from centuries of belonging to Germanic empires, first the Varangians, later the Swedes.

Nope, although that's not necessarily wrong either, it's not how it works in the region.

And that statistics actually sounds believable, as Finns are arguably more of a "pure breed" than modern Estonians, (and being "pure breed" in the region means to be blond or at least blue-eyed, as all five major ethnic groups mixing there predominantly are such by default) while there was very recent significant, predominantly RussianRussian-speaking, Moscow's sponsored immigration pressure in Estonia during Soviet occupation that's still a major problem and source of tension.

Btw, while Finns and Estonians share language, but are they generally that much related is open to interpretation. There's a school of thought that counts them as Baltic people adopted finno-ugric language from the natives of the land they occupied, probably as recently as only 5-7 century AD. The predominant migration pattern in the region had been north-west since the ice melted.

As to northern Italy, I'm not going down that rabbit hole for proof right now, but I have read that quasi-religious beliefs and practices associated with Baltic people had been present there at some point, so, the blondes may be from that source. Although it isn't necessarily either, as that used to be huge religious system spanning much of the continent at some point, and not necessarily ethnically constrained.

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