--- Clarissa Fostel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I would construe it as such, and it is actually how I feel.  Certain
> standards of human life and dignity exist beyond the laws and practices of a
> given tradition.  Darn shame that Jefferson didn't practice what he preached,
> though; wasn't he a notorious slaveholder?

Well here is where the historical context comes into play. One of the
justifications of slavery was something like the "Sin of Ham", one of the sons
of Noah. By some convoluted means, there was a rationale that Africans were
decended from the cursed Ham and therefore separate from "men".

Thus you get people who on the one hand are very philanthropic to whites but
also hold slaves.

Someone will have to clarify what I said because I can only vaguely recall the
reference to the "Sin of Ham".

Deb

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