McLaren and CTU

One of the classes I get to teach every so often at Colorado Tecnhical University is HIST 210 (World History and Culture) and we spend the first couple of classes detailing humanity’s transition from a hunting/gathering societal structure to one that is primarily based on agriculture. It’s the transition to agriculture that spawns off division of labor, towns and cities, social classes, and the accumulation of wealth. Regardless of the society that we look at- Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, India- this same societal pattern develops. As societies make the move to agriculture, all of these byproducts come with it. McLaren writes in The Story We Find Ourselves In that Cain and Abel is a story that reveals this conflict. Cain, the son who made the move to agriculture, kills Abel, who remains in his more primitive pastoral job of caring for the flocks (interestingly, God is pleased with Abel’s offering and not Cain’s). McLaren then writes on page 81 “eventually, the subsistence agriculturalists kill their pastoralist brothers. And eventually, the subsistence agriculturalists create surpluses, and they acquire greater and greater wealth, and primitive economies develop. And with economies come first towns and then cities. And with cities, people begin to feel more independent . . .”. I was fascinated by this writing because it is essence what we cover in our history and culture class, and you see it in every culture that develops. Truly, the story we find ourselves in.