Cain and Abel and Reading Between the Lines

In Genesis Chapter 4, we read that Eve had two sons, Abel and Cain. Abel was a keeper of flocks, Cain a farmer. They made offerings to God and God preferred Abel's.

3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

It matters not to me whether this ever actually happened or not. I have a love/hate relationship with the Bible. It does come with a warning of being a double-edged sword. To believe the Bible is literally true in its entirety has led to unspeakable behaviors throughout history. The literal belief in the Bible is one edge of a sword; the other edge is to read what has been passed down with a discerning eye, remembering that it has been tampered with, edited, and had parts deleted.

So, I look at this one instance and see it as a warning for all the generations that would follow. Agriculture would lead to disaster. It has led to civilization, slavery, capitalism, greed, alienation, and illness. It has allowed the earth's population to reach a point where only part of the people get enough - or more than enough - to eat, while others starve to death. Petrochemicals are used to produce big crops of food with fewer nutrients than food produced by organic methods. Topsoil runs off into rivers and the ocean, taking with it nitrites that warm waters and allow algae to bloom while killing off fish populations. 

Agriculture even gave birth to a hideous morality that states women and children will be servants of the father/husband/man. It codified marital unions and fidelity in order to have workers - family members - stick around on the farm. This was so important that to have sexual relationships outside of marriage was called "sin".

Perhaps Cain represented the path of agriculture that the human family could follow. Maybe Abel represented a pastoral, or more sustainable, a hunter-gatherer society. It has been shown that hunter-gatherer societies were/are more egalitarian and healthier in all respects.

Read between the lines. The warning was there all along.