Cain and Abel: a story of Hatred

Cain and Abel. A story that many aren’t exactly familiar with, at least not in my generation. It tells the story of the first murder, of a brother murdering another out of spite and jealousy. This story, I think, details the thought process of disenfranchisement, and in extreme cases, the outburst of resentment into physical force. It’s hard for me to write about this subject, as it only really comes to me in depressing times, filled with hatred at an uncaring world.

Abel kept flocks of sheep, and Cain worked the soil in the original biblical story. Time went on, and one day they made offerings to God. Abel brought a lamb, but Cain brought “the fruits of the soil” as an offering. Each made an offering of what they gained from their labor. One would think that an understanding God would accept both offerings, as they were both honest sacrifices of their hard work.

But “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not loook with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” Quoting directly from the original text. Doesn’t it make sense? Wouldn’t you be angry if you offered up everything you could to someone, but he turned it down because “it wasn’t enough”?

It would be bad enough if it were just a deal between people. But Cain is sacrificing his labor to God – the one who created him and the world around him. If God created Cain knowing his limits; that God would only ever get “fruits of the soil” from this man, then why did he refuse his offering?

The parallel between Cain and the disenfranchised of today is one that I feel when watching people have normal conversations. All so happy, attractive, social – they are normal, and I am not. They can talk to eachother like normal human beings. They probably didn’t sit behind a bench during recess. This is where the hatred comes from. Whether because of a spiritual God or the physical cross-product of chaos and circumstance that we are all born into, ultimately, we are formed out of the same continuous reality that everyone else exists in. Naturally, some are better, and some are worse. When reality, or God, decide that what one person has is better than what another has (by circumstance, choice, or the circumstance of making a lucky good choice), this inequality fosters resentment.

Who commits mass shootings, most of the time? Social outcasts, people low on the social ladder, or with some disabilities that otherwise marginalize them. Why? Because they are taking vengeance against society, against the circumstances of their reality, and against every normal person that dared to live a normal life while they suffered the pain of being outcast and left to fester in their hate. Why should normal people get the luxury of enjoying a life better than the miserable suffering they experience every day, sometimes even at their hands? Why shouldn’t they put an end to their meaningless distractions? They have no right to them – they were given them by the people around them, or by being born lucky. God gave Abel his gifts, and while God continues to spit on Cain, Abel does nothing, because he’s just busy with his flock. Why should Cain care about Abel? Is he his brother’s keeper?