NationStates Jolt Archive

Being an Atheist I really don't have an opinion, but I can't help but be curious what the Believers and Christians here think. (I am sincere and mean no disrespect either.)

No objections here. Case closed.

Considering his occupation and where he lived, I would hope that Jesus was a dark brown colour or at least had a healthy tan.

No objections here. Case closed.I'm with you.

I picked "I don't assign human features to deities". I wouldn't expect to be able to describe a God as a human or measure it by human standards.

Jesus definitely would not have been a pasty white guy and I have no issues with saying he was black.

God should not be assigned a gender (and in most theological writing - at least of the Christian faith, it is no longer customary to refer to God with a gender).

Considering his occupation and where he lived, I would hope that Jesus was a dark brown colour or at least had a healthy tan.

But he probably wasn't 'black'. I don't know if you can call that an objection to the idea though.

Yeah, what Monkeypimp said.

Incidentally, has anyone seen the film Dogma? Alanis Morrissette plays the Supreme Being pretty well, methinks. :D

Jesus was jewish.

id say jesus was probably of the JEWISH disposition. i think that means white.

By any chance, would this topic happen to be spawned from the movie Dogma?

Aside from that...I have atheist leanings, but the Catholic part of me has no issue assigning race or gender to Jesus and God.

jesus was jewish. i believe at the time the jews were ethnically semetic as well as culturally. if you think arabs and berbers and other north africans/middle easterners are black, then so was he, if not then he probably wasn't

jesus was jewish. i believe at the time the jews were ethnically semetic as well as culturally. if you think arabs and berbers and other north africans/middle easterners are black, then so was he, if not then he probably wasn't

thas what i meant. and middle easterners r caucausian i believe.

Assuming God really exists, I would imagine it would be more of a spirit, without a physical form. Might be able to take the form of a man, or a women, or of a cow, or whatever, but its natural form would be...well formless.

And Jesus...well I doubt he was black. Israel just seems to be to far to the north to have a real african population. He would look Arabic if anything.

jesus was jewish. i believe at the time the jews were ethnically semetic as well as culturally. if you think arabs and berbers and other north africans/middle easterners are black, then so was he, if not then he probably wasn't

thas what i meant. and middle easterners r caucausian i believe.Arabs look like Mexicans.

I know a grand total of 2 jewish guys, one has quite dark skin and the other looks like your average white guy.

this is totally straight out of dogma.

this is totally straight out of dogma.

know him? brother owes me 10 bucks!

Yes, but are they ETHNIC Jews? Their families may of converted a few generations back, and they could have no direct genetic relation with the Palestine Jews of Jesus's day.

Middle-easterners are Arabs, as far as I know, and that is as far as I know, it's own race.

this is totally straight out of dogma.

know him? brother owes me 10 bucks!

heh. good movie. chris rock was hilarious.

Middle-easterners are Arabs, as far as I know, and that is as far as I know, it's own race.I think they are a mix of whites, blacks, and asains.

They are still thier own race. They aren't white. They aren't asian. They aren't black. They aren't latino. Not native american either.

Does an atheist get an opinion here? :twisted:


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i'm an agnostic...

but when i was a christian i didn't give a shit. i usually called god an it though. i figured that perhaps they considered it disrespectful to call it as such in the bible.

this is totally straight out of dogma.

know him? brother owes me 10 bucks!Well, that's close to what he said in the film. In the commentary on the dvd, Smith gives full credit to Chris Rock for that line. Says it was pure Rock.

Middle-easterners are Arabs, as far as I know, and that is as far as I know, it's own race.I think they are a mix of whites, blacks, and asains.

The Middle East isn't all "Arab"; theres always been a couple of races running around and beating the crap out of eachother. The Turks and Iranians are not Arab: the former being descended from Turcomans, who came out of Central Asia, and the latter being of Aryan descent (Hitler was a whackjob and didn't know what he was talking about). The Arabs themselves are a race seperate from the European, Asian, and African races. The original Jewish people (if the Bible is right in this respect) were at that time seperate from the Arab race, instead being descended from people who take 40 years to travel a few hundred miles.

Being an Atheist I really don't have an opinion, but I can't help but be curious what the Believers and Christians here think. (I am sincere and mean no disrespect either.)

I think God is above concepts of gender.

As for Jesus being black...well, I admit that there might be a slighy possibility. But then too...I doubt it. Something about the whole "being a Galilean" thing just makes that sound like it wouldn't work.

:? Aiera

i have heard both of these before and i always wonder why a human has to put something they don't understand into a form that they can then try to understand. it is not like women or blacks are going to be favored if he /she is one of those choices.We tend to oversimplfiy things to a point that we become ridiculious about it. let's leave him as JUST a god and learn to live with that instead of putting in our own petty descriptions.

Middle-easterners are Arabs, as far as I know, and that is as far as I know, it's own race.I think they are a mix of whites, blacks, and asains.

The Middle East isn't all "Arab"; theres always been a couple of races running around and beating the crap out of eachother. The Turks and Iranians are not Arab: the former being descended from Turcomans, who came out of Central Asia, and the latter being of Aryan descent (Hitler was a whackjob and didn't know what he was talking about). The Arabs themselves are a race seperate from the European, Asian, and African races. The original Jewish people (if the Bible is right in this respect) were at that time seperate from the Arab race, instead being descended from people who take 40 years to travel a few hundred miles.

That's about right, remember, the Arabs didn't really start expanding into Judea until after Islam formed. Jesus was most likely Semitic, an actual genetic race. Though he could have had mixtures from any number of the local races including the Greeks who had been in control of the area in the period after Alexander the Great, the Persians (another race distinct from Arabs), or even the more recently arrived Romans. However, given the propensity of the Jews at the time to only mary within the Semitic tribes, it's more than likely he was almost pure Semitic.

How can some magical mythical space being have a gender? Does (s)he have giant genitalia-in-the-sky?

I always refer to God as God, and never give God such names as Father, I even say God instead of Father in prayers.

Jesus wasn't black, he was an Arab-type looking person.

Jesus would have been white, with a tan....

I always refer to God as God, and never give God such names as Father, I even say God instead of Father in prayers.

Jesus wasn't black, he was an Arab-type looking person.

I always thought he was Jewish (INRI).

Though, you can find god though many paths cuz He's/She's/It's just so awsome. He, she, black, okay, whatever. Kind of limiting to put a face of infinity IMHO.

I always thought he was Jewish (INRI).

Yeah, but I was just giving an idea of the type of people that lived there and what they look like.

im the only one who voted for the first option! :D

im the only one who voted for the first option! :D

Looks like it.

The general consensus is that yes....Jesus at the time of his life would have been a short, curly-haired, dark-skinned (not midnite black, but a dusky brown) individual..similar to any middle eastern semitic peoples. Jesus was portrayed the way he was to give credence to white Chrisitan European belief structures...in place of his curly black hair, he had long straight brown hair...instead of dusky brown, he had almost pale white, instead of being short he was portrayed as tall, giving an image of standing over as some watchful persona..

Portraying Jesus as black would have been just as inaccurate as being portrayed as white..

Considering his occupation and where he lived, I would hope that Jesus was a dark brown colour or at least had a healthy tan.

Agreed. I am sick of stupid ppl portraying him as white

and then in The DaVinci Code there was some talk about the Hebrew God having a female counterpart (Shekinah). But one of my friends said that was fiction so w/e

Being an Atheist I really don't have an opinion, but I can't help but be curious what the Believers and Christians here think. (I am sincere and mean no disrespect either.)

Speaking simply as a Christian -- does it not say God made us in His image? Therefore, might God not look like anyone and everyone, depending on how the viewer sees Him?

(note: I only use Him in its correct "we have no idea so the default is male" use in English, and because it is traditional given the dominance of the male in the Christian church. I've no problem with thinking of God as female, but I tend to believe God is gender-neutral.)

You would have to completely ignore that Jesus is Jewish. I suppose if you don't mind that then it would be to say that George Washington was Chinese and 2+2 = 763.6 (even if you don't believe in math!)

Of course, if you were educated in a public school anything is possible.

Being gnostic, I hold that God is a hermaphrodite if anything.
Neither male nor female. But men and women have different aspects of God's character and likeness.
I also hold that he is composed of something akin to pure energy.

You would have to completely ignore that Jesus is Jewish. I suppose if you don't mind that then it would be to say that George Washington was Chinese and 2+2 = 763.6 (even if you don't believe in math!)

Of course, if you were educated in a public school anything is possible.

Are you basing your picture in your head of "Jew" as the people currently in Israel, or the Semitic people from whom Jesus came?

Of course, if you were educated in private school, you must be a snooty narrowminded elitist.

You know what would be cool? If we were all clear and we could see each other's disgusting insides. Who could think about race when you see some fat guy's hot dog being routed through his lower intestine :P

Jesus was dark skinned as were most Jews then. God most probebly is a fabrication and even if a deity exists it is most certainly not anthropomorphic.

I once attended a Baptist church that, while retaining all the very interesting trappings of evangelicalisim (dancing, speaking in tounges, etc.), still was very forward thinking. They were hosting an art display in their basement from local artists depicting different concepts of divinity. While many of these artworks portrayed Jesus, as would be expected, they portrayed him differently from the standard blond haired, blue eyed white man that many Christians can identify on sight. There were depictions of Jesus as everything from an eskimo man to an asian woman and all points inbetwee. Additionally, there were many other representations of divinity, both abstract and from other religious views. The pastor made it his duty to learn all he could about every depiction of religious viewpoint represented and would give tours describing the beliefs and motivations behind the artwork. He was very non-judgemental and openly appreciative about the different representations of Jesus as well as the alternate religious views. He didn't once say anything negative or condescending regarding another faith as he described it and, in fact, went out of his way to provide interesting facts to make the religions more immediate. For a Baptist preacherman, he was incredibly well adjusted and sincere in his desire for spiritual understanding.

----....---

Of course, if you were educated in private school, you must be a snooty narrowminded elitist.

Phew! Lucky for me I went to public school since according to you all private school students are 'narrow-minded'. You are so insightful to categorize all of them as such.

The Middle East isn't all "Arab"; theres always been a couple of races running around and beating the crap out of eachother. The Turks and Iranians are not Arab: the former being descended from Turcomans, who came out of Central Asia, and the latter being of Aryan descent (Hitler was a whackjob and didn't know what he was talking about). The Arabs themselves are a race seperate from the European, Asian, and African races. The original Jewish people (if the Bible is right in this respect) were at that time seperate from the Arab race, instead being descended from people who take 40 years to travel a few hundred miles.

Hitler was obviously not as much of a wackjob as you since you obviously cant even tell the difference between Race and culture. LOL!

((bump))

I think people get insulted by this because they aren't use to it. It's kind of like accepting something that isn't the norm. It's just ignorance, unadulterated ignorance.

Isn't this still classifying them in your own image?

Well, man made god in the image of man after all.

Just feel like stirring things up... let's pretend for a moment that jesus was not semetic (as history would suggest) but caucasian instead... but then again etheopians ARE caucasian and very dark... seriously though just living in the desert and walking around all the time, he probably would have had a healthy tan at the very least....

In Jesus' day there were no such thing as 'black' people. The concept of race is a fairly modern concept and one that we hopefully will soon be able to abandon to the trashheap of history. The question is really moot. Jesus was a Nazarene, a Jew, and a subject of the Roman Empire. Those are the only political/cultural labels that really mean anything to his historical context. It's like asking 'do you think Caesar was a member of the Democratic Party?' You can ask the question and talk about it, but it's ridiculous.
:wink:

How dare people even think of the fact, im not sexest or racist but its been a almosy known fact that God is a male and Jesus is white and people should not make up rumours to change those facts. People only make those comments for attention and fame or to annoy the Church.

According to the Discovery Channel Jesus was closer to being a black man than to being white. And considering where he was from I can believe it. Now, calling God a woman, I don't have a problem with it, I just don't think makes very much sense. After all it doesn't match up with anything written in the Bible.

How dare people even think of the fact, im not sexest or racist but its been a almosy known fact that God is a male and Jesus is white and people should not make up rumours to change those facts. People only make those comments for attention and fame or to annoy the Church.

First of all, learn how to spell. I already consider you to be ignorant because of your comment but you don't need to add any more feul to the fire. Secondly, it does make you racist and sexist. Who do you think wrote the Bible. It was men you moron! They put their own spin on historical events.