Again I found myself reading the comments posted on one of my blogs when this little gem, posted by QueenOfDaJungle83, jumped out at me:
“if god was racist there would be nothing but white. blacks, spanish, chinese and any other race that is non white would not exist.”
I remember thinking uh oh… then waiting with a little bit more than trepidation as I fully expected the 21st century descendants of Nat Turner in the form of Califemme23, Maatra or one of their ilk to jump all over the poor woman and get all down her throat.
When that didn’t happen, I decided that this would be a good topic for a post.
Now, being that my objectivity as a journalist has constantly been called into question here at Newsone, I’ve decided to stay out of it.
So I won’t be offering up any personal opinions.
I will, however, present the following interpretations—some pop culture, some not—and read along eagerly as ya’ll make of them what you will.
- Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel (pictured above) was painted between 1508 and 1512 and is, for many, the definitive visual image of God.
- The “Black Jesus” episode of Good Times was seen as near blasphemy when it first aired back in 1974.
- China’s Jade Emperor unsurprisingly looks like a Chinese man. What’s interesting about this guy is that he spent aeons contemplating his own navel.
- Since it’s generally considered a sacrilege punishable by death to even depict the prophet Muhammad, you can imagine why nobody’s had the guts to attempt a rendition of Allah.
- In Things Fall Apart, writer Chinua Achebe explained the complicated Ibo system of monotheism where there is one main Creator, yet several personal gods or “chi”.
- Ha Wen Neyu or the Iroquois “Great Spirit” was one of the bigger deities on this hemisphere before Columbus.
- Buddha, like Christ, was an actual man that lived. He was born in Nepal, died in India, and his teachings have, among other things, helped Phil Jackson coach teams to 10 NBA championships.
- In director Kevin Smith’s Dogma, God was presented as a woman and female in the form of 90s pop star Alanis Morrisette.
- The bible itself offers us a Solomon—ancestor to Christ—who, by his own definition, is “black”. Note: this was written long before the term “black” had any racial connotations.
Atheists are invited to play along as well. I’ve noticed that just because ya’ll don’t believe in God hasn’t stopped you from having an opinion.
