I have a problem with seeing Jesus

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analiffey

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One thing that is difficult for me, being new the the Catholic faith, is all the depictions of Jesus as being white.
My mom has a huge influence on me, and is constantly talking about how making art of White Jesus is wrong, and how it’s white privilege, how Jesus was brown and that we should be ashamed, etc.
Anyway, for a while I agreed with her, and made fun of bumper stickers depicting what I called “hippie” Jesus.
I realize that I was really really wrong.
I don’t think that Jesus would mind being depicted as white, do you? After all, “Some children see him lily white,” as the song goes…
with this whole thing comes difficulties. I would LOVE to put a picture of Jesus as my background on my laptop, or phone, but I’m afraid if my mom sees it, she’ll scold me. I live with her, and can’t really avoid her seeing stuff. What should I do if she DOES see it and scold me? What should I say?

btw, I don’t really know what topic I should put this in, so feel free to move it around
****also, disclaimer, my mom is a really good person, and I just think she’s hyper aware of racism. She freaks out if my siblings use new slang that she doesn’t understand, and looks it up to make sure that it isn’t racist, which is fine (a little excessive sometimes…)
 
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Why not compromise and find a darker than white depiction of Jesus for your laptop or phone. There are plenty of them out there if you look.
 
analiffey said:
One thing that is difficult for me, being new the the Catholic faith, is all the depictions of Jesus as being white.
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That isn’t even close to true.

He is typically portrayed in the race of the artist.

Got to Mexico, you se Jesus with hispanic features, in Korea he’ll look Korean, and so forth.
 
I’ve seen picture of Jesus that range from blonde and blue eyed to the darkest of blacks and shades between as well as Asian, American Indian and more. Do a google search for images of Jesus and pick one you like.

Every culture envisions Jesus looking like themselves…it’s a natural thing to do even if not accurate. It’s just the way we relate!
 
Jesus has been depicted to represent many different cultures and identities.

Here is a past thread:
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Picture of Jesus - Untruth Non-Catholic Religions
Nope. And I don’t have a problem with Jesus portrayed this way either. [image] [image]
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Just remember Jesus outward appearance is not important but as others have said there are plenty of darker images of him.
 
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I love Daniel Mitsui’s artwork. This scene is of Joseph being told to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt, I think. It’s Japanese, but tasteful and beautiful, and that’s what matters.

Not Jesus, but I really love his St. Michael:

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analiffey said:
One thing that is difficult for me, being new the the Catholic faith, is all the depictions of Jesus as being white.
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We’ve had several threads on this before, and if you would prefer to look at a Jesus of color, such as a swarthy-complexioned Jewish Jesus or Hispanic/ Mestizo Jesus or African Jesus, you can find all sorts of depictions of them in art. You do not have to select a lily-white Jesus image. Choose a Jesus that speaks to you.

Here are some nice African Jesuses.

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An Ethiopian and a Korean depiction of the Last Supper:

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I am from the U.S. so most depictions of him here are white

that’s good to know:) makes me feel more graceful
 
This. My wife has a beautiful image of the Madonna and Child from Japan. Guess what? They are depicted as Japanese. Why is this ever a oroblem.?
 
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