Jacob Chanikuzhy

“Learn from the nature. Deer don’t mate with antelope; gray wolves don’t mate with red wolves. We weaken the species and introduce diseases by mixing what should remain separate.” Such are the arguments made by those who vehemently oppose any kind of intermarriages between people of different race, caste and religion. However, some others just don’t agree with them. For example, Malcolm X, one of the most influential Afro Americans in history, has this to say about intermarriages: “I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being – neither white, black, brown, or red. When you are dealing with humanity as a family, there is no question of integration or intermarriage. It is just one human being marrying another human being.” “It is easier said than done,” would be the immediate response of many of the veterans in married life. However, the nature always does not give us good lessons as presumed by the opponents of mixed marriages. In the nature we find mating even between two different species. For example, seals sometimes force sex upon penguins; lion and tiger, if caged together, may engage in sex. After all, two persons of different cast and creed are not two different species! Many know that a life-long marriage is not an easy thing. They think that the hazards and difficulties of married life are multiplied when people are from different backgrounds. So, many advise against intermarriages.

Mixed marriages appear also in the first chapters of the Sacred Scriptures. Genesis 6:1-2 speak of sons of God marrying daughters of men. At first it looks like a marriage between two different species and some even interpret it so. According to their interpretation, the sons of God are the angels in heaven. The Bible says, “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair…” Here “seeing” was the problem. The angels were so fascinated by the beauty of the girls on the earth that they took human body and left heaven to marry their dream girls. This interpretation highlights the dangers of falling prey to the temptations of sight. Gratifying the eyes can be very costly. The angels forfeited their spiritual states and heavenly joys just to appease their carnal desires incited by the eyes.

It is possible to consider the “sons of God” as the blessed progeny of Seth, the third son of Adam and the “daughters of men” as the descendants of accursed Cain. It seems to be a case of genuine intermarriage, marital relations between different races. When two races meet together both have the possibility of influencing the other. Nevertheless, when the wicked race of Cain was joined to the righteous line of Seth in marriage, it is their wickedness that prevailed over the righteousness. Thus the entire generation got corrupt through intermarriage.
In ancient times, kings ruled by divine right. They considered themselves as the representatives of gods. These beautiful, wealthy and mighty kings and princes were admired by ordinary people as the sons of god. They took advantage of the popular respect and brought many beautiful girls to their palace. This licentious life style of the kings and rulers of the nation with several wives and maids has depleted the moral standards of the common people and they all plunged into the abyss of immorality.

Whoever be the sons of God – holy angels, righteous Sethites, or mighty kings – their intermarriage with daughters of men proved disastrous to all of them as this marital union produced a generation immersed in corruption, immorality, and violence. For them, monogamy was a byword for archaism; marital fidelity was just a relic of a bygone era. What God saw very good was the sight of Adam with Eve, one man with one woman, very similar to each other, both bearing the same image and likeness of God. But, gradually when human beings began to see many women and saw that it was good to have several of them, there was a clash of vision, a clash between the vision of God and vision of man about marriage. When man was unable to change his corrupt vision and life, God decides to destroy the human beings along with the beasts, birds and plants through the flood. Thus, the biblical story of flood also highlights the pitfalls of mixed marriage which was always a threat to the worship of Yahweh in the history of Israel. Besides, the Bible establishes a link between marital fidelity and fidelity to God.