Listen to someone learned....
'My question is much simpler: Why would Mel Gibson make a movie about people in the ancient Middle East and cast it with so many white people? To
look at the central actors in this film, you'd think Jesus did his work near Manchester, New Hampshire instead of the Holy Land. The answer to that
question lies within the United States, the prime market for this film. There are millions of Christians in America, some 25% of whom would
characterize themselves as evangelical. It stands to reason that this film would do very well here, especially given the controversy that has
surrounded the content.
The whiteness of the cast, however, speaks to a decidedly un-Christian truth that lies near the heart of this republic. Simply put, nailing a
white Jesus Christ to the cross on film will generate a far more emotional response from the American viewing public than the crucifixion of a savior
who actually looks like he is from the Middle East.
First, let's dispense with the idea that the white people who were cast to play the most emotive characters - Jesus, Judas, and Mary Magdalene -
have anything to do with historical accuracy. In truth, the region where Jesus was born was, and remains, populated by brown-skinned people. The
fact of Christ's non-whiteness is borne out in the historical record, and in biblical scripture. Right off the bat, the Book of Matthew describes
Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod. Egypt is in Africa, and is populated by brown-skinned people. For my money, this
would be the last place on earth I would go to hide a white baby from an angry King."
The earliest renditions of Jesus, painted by the first Christians called Essenes in the catacombs of Rome, depict a person with brown skin. During
the time of Roman Emperor Justinian II, a gold coin featuring an image of Jesus was minted. This coin, which today can be seen in the British Museum,
depicts a man with demonstrably non-white features and tightly curled hair. Finally, there is the Book of Revelations, which bears out the crafting
of the Essenes and the Roman coin-makers by describing Jesus as having hair like wool, feet the color of burnt brass, and who resembled jasper and
sardine stones. Jasper and sardine stones are both brown, as is burnt brass.
www.truthout.org...
What? What? Yeah, I didn't think you'd say anything.
[Edited on 27-2-2004 by Colonel]