[abigail2]

LOL! I had to chuckle, with all the criticism of the film, the blacks don't like it because Jesus, is not black!!

[abigail2]

Some sick people will take any excuse to inflict harm on people. (Charles Manson thought the Beatles told him, in one of their albums, to start a race war.) It's beyond the reasonable expectation to stifle and censor messages of good intention just because some crackpot might construe it as the go-ahead to kill everyone.

I'm learning so much from hearing the reactions about this film, and I haven't even seen it yet! It's great!!

[redgolum]

Laugh all you want, but there is a good number of people who believe Jesus is Black.

Of course, I know that some will be mad that Jesus was not depicted with blond hair and blue eyes. Just goes to show that no one has the market cornered on bigotry.

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[4CJ]

But more importantly, know that with this movie you are given an opportunity for self-reflection and a chance to reconsider your relationship with Christ and again become one with him, no matter your color.

We are all descendents of the same man and wife, and He gave His life for all of us - no matter the color of our skin, or of His.

[Quester]

Now to the more interesting observations. How will blacks react to "The Passion"? My answer to this will sound absolutely insane to some – particularly to white readers, who know that all too many blacks are crazy but don't know quite how crazy – but bear with me, because a sizable sector of the American black population will react in the way I am predicting. One main complaint amongst some blacks will be that this movie does not represent black people because in their minds, Jesus was black.

Don't believe me? Then take it from Malik Z. Shabazz, national chairman of the New Black Panther Party. Shabazz believes "The Passion" is "harmful and racist" because of "one very basic inaccuracy which has been long-promoted in order to bolster white supremacy." That basic inaccuracy, according to Shabazz? "Jesus was not a European white man. Jesus Christ was a black man." Shabazz even complains about the lack of black actors in the film. His motto seems to be: "History be damned – where are the black actors, and where's Jesus' afro!"

This is hardly a scarce notion amongst black Americans. Believe me. I live in the black community. Many believe this! Some of my own relatives even believe this! Therefore, many blacks believe that Christianity is the white man's religion and that Islam is the true religion of black folks!

As a black conservative, I feel that I must respond that what is presented here is so much hyperbole.

Certainly I wouldn't denty that there are those within the black community who hold that Jesus was black, but such a view is one that is only held by a tiny minority, even within the black community.

Look where the author goes for evidence of his claim ... ' ... the chairman of the New Black Panther Party ?

Well, ... what did you think he was gonna say ?

Most American blacks understand that Jesus was a Semite, i.e. akin to the Jews and the Arabs. As such, He was probably darker than He is, typically, depicted, but He was not black, either.

More to the point ... most black Americans understand that who Jesus was is not really about what race He may have been, ... but, rather, ... it is about what He did, in a spiritual sense, ... for the whole of the human race.

[NCC-1701]

Why does this ALWAYS come up? Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem in what is now Isreal. Isreal was, and is populated by mostly by Jews. He was a Jew Himself. The people of Isreal have very definite facial features. I have visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem and at no time did I see an Isreali bear the features commonly associated with blacks. Not even close. They are also closer to Mediteranean people than blacks. I used to think that Jesus was white, due to the images i constantly saw growing up. Then I started thinking otherwise. Anyone who watched news from Isreal will be hard-pressed to see a black Isreali. Jesus, as a person was not white and he was not black. People need to understand that and get over this pointless argument. I did and others can to.

[dangus]

Now, you've got the historians complaining that a man of Jesus' day would likely be quite short. And of course he's Jewish. And now he's black.

Hmmm... A short, black, Jew... Too bad Sammy Davis, Jr. isn't around anymore.

[Warlord David]

I agree with the star trek fan in comment #14, NCC-1701.

Jesus was not black or white. And don't tell me the movie is!

Jesus was more likely olive-brown in real life or close to it. That according to the anthropoiogy of that time period.

[Tax-chick]

I like to think Jesus would look a little like Omar Sharif (a Middle Eastern Christian :-), with a beard. Mohammed might have looked a bit like his descendant, King Hussein of Jordan.

Middle Easterners are not black (Hamitic - Arabs will shoot you for saying so) nor white (Japhetic - Indo-European). Arabs and Jews are all descended from Shem, Noah's firstborn. Pretty good lineage!

[NZerFromHK]

You have reminded me of the rather earlier days of telling folks of the gospel of Jesus Christ in East Asia (esp Hong Kong and Taiwan) in the 1980s when I was a child. Even in those times Jesus was considered by many Asians as a Westerner and pastors and missionaries had to emphasise that Christianity is not "Western" in origin - Jesus and His disciples are not "white people".

Of course the gospel has since taken root among many younger generation Asians and the question of whether Christianity is exclusively "Western" is now a moot issue.

[AuntB]

Jesse Lee Bump!

[Romish_Papist]

The idiots who ask "Where's the black Jesus?" are fooling themselves. If anything, Jesus would be neither black nor white but mid-eastern in appearance.

[supercat]

Jesus was Jewish. While there may be some room for debate about the exact skin tones of Jews around AD 30, I see no reason to believe that Jesus' skin tone would have been significantly different from other Jews around him.

Therefore, if Jesus was Black, so too would have been the people in the Jewish mob. If Mel Gibson had made his movie with an angry Black mob lynching one of their own after a White government official decides to bow to the demands of their Rent-A-Mob, would that really have been the message today's Black leaders would have wanted to see in the film?

[FourtySeven]

And I thought I'd seen it all when it comes to criticism of this movie. Sheesh.

[swampfox98]

This article really hits home as to why Christian blacks vote for Democrats, whose legislation and voting pattern goes against Christian teaching. Their thinking has been so twisted by politicians, their ministers and black leaders they almost border on being illiterate.

[Nateman]

One of the lost 7 wonders on the ancient world was a statue of Zeus. That statue then served as the
face that was used to portray Jesus in Byzantine artwork. We have pretty much stuck with that face
since then ,even though Byzantine finally fell to the Moslem Turks in 1453.