Sam Harris

Is it true that some Jewish groups acyually think that the American Indians and Australian aboriginal people are descendants of the lost tribes of Israel?

PantheistAnonymous - 07 April 2008 11:50 PM

Is it true that some Jewish groups acyually think that the American Indians and Australian aboriginal people are descendants of the lost tribes of Israel?

(Andrew):  Sure.  Claiming knowledge about, or better yet, membership in, one of the lost tribes is a favorite hobby of some Jews and non-Jews.  And the beauty of it is that no one can prove them wrong. 
Mormons claim Native Americans are from the lost tribes…and themselves to be descendants of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
Rastifarians think they’re the remnants of the lost tribes.
The truth is likely that the “lost” tribes simply incorporated into other cultures.

John Ogwyn’s tract “The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy” claimed that the English-speaking peoples were descended from the lost tribes. His pseudotheory was really a premise for predicting righteous vengeance on these nations for allegedly turning away from God. I saw the tract sitting around my grandmother’s house when I was about 12, read most of it, and suspected even at that age that its historical claims had no basis. That was my first exposure to such extreme beliefs.

PantheistAnonymous - 07 April 2008 11:50 PM

Is it true that some Jewish groups acyually think that the American Indians and Australian aboriginal people are descendants of the lost tribes of Israel?

From what I understand, the Mormons believe that the native Americans are descendents of the Lost Tribes of Israel.  Apparently their darker skin is God’s punishment for their wickedness. 

A couple of years ago scientists did some kinds of tests and concluded that there was no way Native Americans could be related to the Jewish people.  The Mormons were all up in arms.  Once again, millions of people were happy to sacrifice truth at the altar of irrationality, dogma and tradition.