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Who can forget when the former Fox News host Megyn KellyĀ declaredĀ in 2013 that Jesus, like Santa Claus, āwas a White man, too,ā and āthatās a verifiable fact,ā a remark she later said was meant in jest.
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First, while the classic Nordic Jesus remains a popular image today in some churches, a movement toĀ replace the White Jesus has long taken root in America. In many Christian circles āĀ progressiveĀ mainline churches,Ā churches of colorĀ shaped by āliberation theology,ā and amongĀ Biblical scholarsĀ ā conspicuous displays of the White Jesus are considered outdated, and to some,Ā offensive.Ā In a rapidly diversifying multicultural America, more Christians want to see a Jesus thatĀ looks like them.
But in some parts of the country, the White Jesus never left. TheĀ spread of White Christian nationalism has flooded social media feeds withĀ imagesĀ of the traditional White Jesus, sometimes adorned with a red MAGA hat. Former President Trump is selling a āGod Bless the USA Bibleā with passages from the Constitution and Bill of Rights ā a linking of patriotism with Christianity that reinforces a White image of Jesus that is central to Christian nationalism.
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BlumĀ says the image of a White Jesus has been used to justify slavery, lynching, laws against interracial marriage and hostility toward immigrants deemed not White enough. When Congress passed a law inĀ the early 20thĀ centuryĀ to restrict immigration from Asia, Southern and Eastern Europe, White politicians evoked the White Jesus, he says.
āOne of the arguments was, āWell, Jesus was White,ā āā Blum says. āSo the theme was, we want America to be profoundly Christian or at least Jesus based, so we should only allow White people in this country.ā
The MAGA movement uses the image of a White Jesus to weaponize political battles, he says, pointing to signs at the January 6 insurrection displaying a White Jesus, sometimes wearing a red MAGA hat. To Blum, some Christian conservatives see a White MAGA Jesus as āan anti-woke symbol.ā
Thatās an entirely different criterion, though. I honestly donāt even know how to respond to this non-sequitur.
You mean to say these āenemiesā would have doubted that Jesus existed because they heard that there is some historical debate on the matter, and that there may not be any good evidence to support the claim, looked into it, agreed, and found it to be an interesting topic to debate on the Internet? That seems really unlikely to me.
Look at it this way: if I told you that a guy I know claims that his buddy Frank, who died ten years ago, had made certain religious and political statements, which I agree with, and you found those statements to be blasphemous and offensive, would you argue back with āwell, uh, how do we know this Frank guy even existed? Huh?!ā Or would you take his existence as a fairly trivial given, and argue against the actual statements he allegedly made?
Itās honestly bizarre to me that anybody would imagine this āenemiesā argument has any weight at all. Thatās not how people work.
I donāt mean no first-hand in-depth account, thatās some serious goal-post moving. If anybody even remotely describable as a historic Jesus existed, that dude made waves. He would have been a public figure, of great interest, and some contemporary would have probably at least written down something about him that would have survived to the historical record.
Is it? When has that happened? I think the first step towards finding something that exists is observing it, or observing its tangible effects that cannot be explained in other, simpler ways.
Again, why would they? Would you, honestly, in their place?