JESUS CHRIST, IT’S RYAN GOSLING !!!
[Why Do Christians Continue to Believe Jesus was White?]
Yesterday, I shopped at Costco. I was surprised to see a big display for Christian-themed art in the middle of the store. Jesus stuff. Crosses. Angels. Doves. Lambs. Lots of lambs. And, of course, some handsome movie star dude who looks just like Ryan Gosling.
This all got me to thinking about imagery and branding and the controversial topic of “woke” and “wokism. It’s been in the news a lot lately. Seems to me if anything needs an *UPDATE* and a *RE-BRANDING* and an *OVERHAUL*…..it’s Jesus. Somebody high up, and I do really mean high up, needs to change the logo. Oh, and the cross? Get rid of it! Who wears a torture device around their neck? It’s like jewelry in the shape of a guillotine or an electric chair.
Assuming he was real, JESUS was a hippie-looking guy from 2,000 years ago who pretty much behaved like a vagrant and preached all the time about feeding the poor, healing the sick, welcoming migrants, and promoting peace in the Middle East — you know, a SOCIALIST.
If Jesus showed up at the border right now, he’d be tackled, tazed, and tossed into Alligator Alcatraz.
Looking closely at this Jesus portrait (note: he’s the one on the left which seems appropriate politically-speaking) — a print you can actually rush out and buy right now at your local Costco for $199.00-plus tax — I do have a few questions. Maybe a believer can educate me here. I’ll read and listen. JOIN THE FACEBOOK DISCUSSION HERE
Whether Christians or not, virtually all real historians agree that the earliest image of Jesus was crafted sometime in the first century. But the familiar face we all know today really became sanctified much later on as the revised portrait painted by Leonardo Da Vinci sometime around 1500. Call that picture “the European Jesus.” In fairness, we can forgive the mistakes of earlier artists and their primitive technology because no one really knew what Jesus looked like back then. Google didn’t exist. And AI wasn’t around to invent something. Besides, who am I to criticize the great Da Vinci? That’s a little above my pay grade.
Fortunately, science has come a long way. Ethnic migrations, anthroposcopy, genetic data, comparison modeling, DNA, and our collective knowledge of human history -before, during, and after the era of Jesus Christ- have all contributed to a modernized, revised, VERY DIFFERENT version of what Jesus probably looked like than we’re accustomed to seeing. I won’t post all the examples here, because they’re so plentiful. What is known is Jesus resembled a much darker-skinned Hebrew peasant similar to the tribal people of his region during that time. In short, most experts agree Jesus possessed similarities in appearance and bone structure to contemporary Iraqi Jews, with honey/olive skin, dark brown eyes, and brown or black hair.
So, why does this matter? Should it matter?
My answer is — yes. It matters. It should matter. Especially now.
Continuing to perpetuate one of human civilization’s biggest lies is wrong. It’s reasonable to expect that organized religion, based on the faith of devotees, demands some alignment with the known facts. I would also expect religious teachings to be neutral on issues of race and ethnicity. In other words, let the colored cards fall where they may. Accordingly, the persistent pimping of a “European Jesus” for centuries and even today lies in stark contradiction to facts. The willful orchestrated spread of disinformation is solid grounds for doubting ANY of the rest of the story, and most of that old story is pretty crazy anyways. I mean, if Christians can’t get a few simple facts correct and acknowledge science and history and what the most important figure in the movement looked like, then why then would anyone take their word for it when it comes to talking snakes and kangaroos hopping out of an ark then swimming to Australia?
Call me “woke,” but this Jesus thing is more offensive than Aunt Jemima. Selling this preposterous portrait is an outdated adhesion to fantasy and myth smacks of not only naivete, but perhaps something more sinister. Keep on believing your guy was White, and looked like many of you and us. Fact is, he wasn’t and he didn’t. Go ahead and cater to ancient racial sensibilities which smacks of fear, prejudice, and self-delusion. Obviously, many religious people are quite comfortable living with a lie, rather than admitting the truth.
Of course, the real reason I’m looking at a White Jesus right now has nothing to do with Paul or John or Mathew or Daniel. The real reason is Christianity’s supreme disciple — Saint Benjamin. And this particular portrait will cost you two Benjamins. How many portraits do you think they’d sell if the REAL IMAGE of Jesus was on display? You think anybody would buy a picture of a guy who looks like a 30-year-old Yassir Arafat? So instead, pimp the Da Vinci code.
This charade is nothing new. It’s been going on for decades, centuries even. All the movie stars who played Jesus were White guys. All of European descent. Max von Syndow (Sweden), Willem Dafoe (USA), Richard Chamberlain (England), Jim Caviezel (USA), Robert Powell (England), and even Will Farrell (USA). Okay, skip Farrell. That was brutal. Anyway — Google it. Show me a Middle-Eastern Jesus. You can’t.
You really want us to take you seriously? No. Willful Christian ignorance, especially when grotesquely contorted by race, is *not* worthy of my respect.
Unfortunately, Christianity will never be re-branded. Millions would riot in the streets if they tried to alter Jesus. Changing the logo would probably start wars. So, this isn’t a great subject for “wokeness.” But it very well should be. And the fact that Christians worldwide continue to deceive themselves, spew lies, demonstrate appalling hypocrisy in the leaders they admire, subjugate science and education, and reinforce mass ignorance does reveal the folly of their fable.