How would you react if you woke up one day and suddenly realized your father was a black man? For years you had always seen your father in all those pictures and he looked very similar to you. For the first time in your life you have to begin identifying with a man that doesn’t match the impression in your memory of what the protector and provider use to look like. Would you find that disturbing?
President Obama don’t look like a Jesus
For millions of Christians in the America the image of the president of the United States not looking like Jesus has been almost as startling as learning their father was a man of a different race. It was as if the pastor at their church had taken down that portrait of Jesus as a white European and replaced it with a picture of an Ethiopian or Arab man, which is probably closer to what the historical Jesus resembled.
Where’s the mane of hair and beard?
There have been many discussions about the discomfort that white people in America have with President Obama because he resembles poor inner city black youth who are prominently featured in media for the crimes they commit. While I certainly accept there is a guilt-by-association identity component for many Americans, the fact that Obama doesn’t look like one of our Aryan cartoon super heroes or, for the Christian evangelical, the messiah, has an equally important role in cultivating a deep seated animosity and suspicion toward the president.
Doesn’t the Bible tell me Jesus was white?
From Sunday school to adulthood, most Catholic and Protestant church members are shown an image of the savior as a white man. If
Image of Jesus from 6th Century Rome.
the son of God is a white man so must his father be. Whether we like it or not, most people associate their Head of State as being the supreme protector of the land. The President, Prime Minister, King or Queen is
- Anointed
- Father
- Good Shepherd
- Lamb of God
- Messiah
- Prophet
- Savior
White Jesus is American Inspiration
We are conditioned to find comfort in the image of Jesus talking to children, calling for repentance, and refusing to acquiesce to the demands of the government – Pontius Pilate. Jesus has been the nominal role model for millions of people in America. Jesus is the white man that stood for justice, liberty and equality for all. Jesus, for a large swath of citizens, was the inspiration for the constitution of the United States. Had Jesus wanted women to vote and black slaves to be free, they would have included it in the original document.
Surely, if Jesus wouldn’t have had long hair in the style if the day, he would have had a red neck.
I am the bread of life
Really? Do you want a white hood to complete your ensemble?
We have entered an unprecedented level of obstructionism against the proposed policies and appointments of the President not because he is a radical socialist but because he doesn’t look like the leader of a new movement shown to us in Sunday School. The development of the United States government was in many respects like the Jesus movement that lead to the Christian church. The followers of Jesus came from a variety of races and cultures. They were rejecting the old order and embracing a new philosophy that espoused equality and ever lasting life. After securing independence from Britain, citizens from different faiths and countries coalesced to create a government that cited equality as a foundation and the promise of an abundant life.
Founding Fathers looked like Jesus
The good shepherd gazes at his followers.Salvation was brought to us by the image a white man with long hair. The authors of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the constitution were white men with long hair. How is it that a man that looks nothing like Jesus or Thomas Jefferson could be the new protector of the new governmental covenant? This conflict has brought widespread conflict and suspicion not only for President Obama but on the United States government as well.
Revelations
The election of President Obama is the beginning of the apocalypse. It signifies to the descendants of white Europeans, who so closely resembled the popular image of Christ, that their reign of America as heaven on earth is coming to an end. However, the fire and brimstone prophesied in Revelations is not coming to the United States. The collapse is happening to the carefully constructed government and social institutions that the white European immigrants in America devised to keep themselves in power.
So the first angel poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image – Rev. 16:2, NRSV