{"id":8974,"date":"2013-02-12T09:53:31","date_gmt":"2013-02-12T15:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theamericanjesus.net\/?p=8974"},"modified":"2013-02-12T09:53:31","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T15:53:31","slug":"everybody-in-the-bible-was-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/everybody-in-the-bible-was-white\/","title":{"rendered":"Everybody In The Bible Was White?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m apparently a bit behind the curve on this as I had never heard of The Bible Series that is set to premiere on the History Channel<\/a> in just a few weeks.<\/p>\n

In case you\u2019re like me and you\u2019re out of the loop, here\u2019s the preview for it. If you have already seen it, I encourage you to watch it again, pay careful attention, and let me know if you notice anything.<\/p>\n

<\/iframe>\n<\/p>Did you catch it?<\/p>\nApparently according to this History Channel special, a network devoted to as much historical accuracy as possible, everyone in the Bible was white.<\/p>\nAnd Jesus was British.<\/p>\nOh, and it seems that most, if not all, of the \u201cbad guys\u201d in the Old Testament are, well, not white and British. Although, to be fair, maybe I\u2019m wrong on that. I\u2019m just assuming they\u2019re the \u201cbad guys\u201d because they\u2019re the ones killing the white guys who have already been established in the preview as the heroes of the various stories being told.<\/p>\nNow, I understand there\u2019s only so far we can go in the realm of historical accuracy when it comes to making movies. For example, creating a series like this spoken entirely in the original languages would be a tough sell for American, English speaking audiences (though Mel Gibson did manage to pull that one off).<\/p>\nAnd therein lies the problem with this series, but not just the series itself. Herein lies the problem with most of us.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not an accident that the Jesus in this History Channel special is white and speaks with a fine British accent. After all, it\u2019s not like there aren\u2019t plenty of actors of MIddle Eastern descent available to play these roles.\u00a0That was a decision made by the producers of this program because they need ratings, they need to sell ad space, and the best way to do that is to portray Jesus, and all the other BIble heroes, in a way that is comfortable for the audience.<\/p>\nIn other words, to put it bluntly, the producers decided that their audience was racist.<\/p>\nNow, before you think write me off for wild conspiratorial speculation or before you get upset at me for nitpicking a show millions of Christians are bound to watch and think is amazing for its \u201chistorical accuracy,\u201d I want you to consider something first.<\/p>\nThe images of Jesus in your church. The pictures hanging on the wall. The stained glass windows. The children\u2019s books used in Sunday School. The videos used in small groups.<\/p>\nWhat does that Jesus look like?<\/p>\nWithout having visited your church, I feel pretty safe in assuming that if your church is located in the United States (or the West in general) and your congregation is predominately white, then all the images of Jesus that occupy your church are also white.<\/p>\nThis may not be the sort of overt racism of the KKK. Obviously it\u2019s not. But it\u2019s still racism. It\u2019s racism domesticated, racism coated in a veneer of pseudo-innonence and naivet\u00e9.<\/p>\nMost of us are not dumb. If you talk to most people in churches today, they\u2019ll probably tell you that Jesus was Jewish or of Middle Eastern descent \u2013 even though all the images of him in their church portray him as a white guy.<\/p>\nWhy is that?<\/p>\nIt\u2019s the same reason we go to the churches we go to, live in the neighborhoods we live in, and shop or eat at the places we do. Not because we\u2019re ready to don hoods and burn crosses, but because there\u2019s something inside all of us \u2013 white, black, hispanic, asian, etc. \u2013 that fears that which is different. It\u2019s this fear of the other that spurs racism and, in turn, allows us to subconsciously convince ourselves that surrounding ourselves with only things and people, or images of Jesus, that look, act, talk, and think like us is an ok thing to do.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not.<\/p>\nDiversity is a gift given by our Creator. To ignore it, or worse, to try and dismantle it isn\u2019t just racist or bigoted, it\u2019s akin to idolatry. Why? Because in doing so we are attempting to remake the world in our own image, in the ways we see fit.<\/p>\nThis is why something like The Bible Series is so problematic. Not because it makes historical mistakes, but because it feeds this idolatrous fear of the other. Not overtly, but subtly, on a subconscious level. Which may be worse, because it domesticates our racism and idolatry by allowing us to justify it through the medium of entertainment and accessibility.<\/p>\nWhich is exactly what we do.<\/p>\nAnd then we populate our churches with images of this same white Jesus and white Bible heroes. Then we populate our churches with people who look just like these comfortable white heroes. Then we move into neighborhoods which are filled with more people who look like these white Bible heroes. And we eat and shop alongside people who look like these white BIble heroes.<\/p>\nAnd before you know it, we\u2019ve white washed the entire world.<\/p>\nWe\u2019ve remade the world in our image.<\/p>\nWe\u2019ve committed idolatry on an industrial scale.<\/p>\nAgain, you may think this is much ado about nothing. After all, it\u2019s just a TV show, right? Maybe, but I doubt it. Yeah, it\u2019s great when the Bible gets this sort of attention, but this sort of attention doesn\u2019t excuse the inherent racism involved and, in fact, negates any \u201cgood\u201d that may have otherwise been accomplished. Worse yet, in giving this sort of thing a free pass because it calls attention to the Bible we are implicitly supporting the sort of subliminal, but destructive racism it engenders. The truth of the matter is television, entertainment, mass media, they all have a profound influence on the ways we think and act whether we realize it or not.<\/p>\nBut just for the sake of argument, let\u2019s say this is just a TV show for the History Channel.<\/p>\nIf it is, and it\u2019s just an attempt to present the Bible in as historically accurate a way as possible for the purposes of entertainment and maybe just a bit of enlightenment, we\u2019re still left with one burning question.<\/p>\nIn this historical drama about the ancient Near East, why are all the \u201cgood guys\u201d white?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nGrace and peace,<\/p>\nZack Hunt<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m apparently a bit behind the curve on this as I had never heard of The Bible Series that is set to premiere on the History Channel in just a few weeks. In case you\u2019re like me and you\u2019re out of the loop, here\u2019s the preview for it. 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