Why is every statue I see at churches of white people? Didn't God ever want anything to do with black people?
Also, what does the Bible say about black people? Do they ever get mentioned?
Syndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.worldView original on lemmy.world
15 replies
Most of those statues were made in times where nearly all people in central europe have never seen a non-white person in their lives. So their imagination was rather limited...
The Ethiopian Eunch is one of the first coverts to Christianity in the Book of Acts.
If you look to the ancient churches you might get a different vibe: Tewahedo, Coptic, Syriac and churches of the east.
The Black Madonna is big one too. Those novel US adult Jesus fanclubs are best avoided, things got really fucking weird after John Calvin in the western Latin tradition.
Jesus was colored. Just sayin.
So why do churches insist on whitewashing him?
Racism.
I wonder why. Didn't the bible tell us to "love one each other"?
even though god himself dislikes gaysAmerican exceptionalism. Specifically, white fascist American exceptionalism.
You do know the world isn't America, yeah?
Most statues are either going to be Jesus, Mary or a Saint. Jesus and Mary are generally shown to be white due to most churches being built in times where their congregation were 99.9% white. Pretty much no Saint is non-white in their named churches. If you go to church in India or some parts of Africa it's different. And the bible doesnt really mention race outside of Jews.
What religion? I was forced to attend a number southern baptist churches when growing up. None of them had any statues that I can recall.
Do you know who the statues are meant to represent?
In reality? Humans invented god.
Biblically, he would probably want something to do with black people. Why else would he create them? But the bible is vague and contradictory, it can be interpreted that he created some people specifically to serve others, or that certain people are not his chosen people, or that they are incapable or unwilling to hear what god has to say.
Probably. The bible describes stories and characters in the middle east, including parts of Egypt and Africa. The bible does not explicitly state their skin color, though it is likely that characters from Kush, Ethiopia, etc would be black.
Catholic.
I know, but my parents keep dragging me to churches.
There are verses supporting slavery.
I am not familiar enough with Catholicism to know. A quick search returned results about black Madonnas, which are apparently somewhat common in Catholic and Orthodox churches.
I wish I could help you. My parents would hit me if I didn't want to get ready for church in the morning. I am in my 30s now and traumatized by the abuse they still normalize to this day.
Yes. And rape, and genocide. Biblical god is completely immoral. Most believers ignore the parts of the bible they don't like, or they pretend there is some magical context where an all-powerful and loving god would ever need to hurt anybody.
I'm not sure why your question was downvoted. The grammar may have confused people, or maybe they perceived the question as racist somehow.
Probably the second option.
I tried searching this and only found black Mary statues. Is this what you're refering about? If yes, well, it's not that common. 99% of churches you go to have only white people statues.
Oh. I think this line is confusing me:
But you mean to say you haven't seen statues of black people in any churches you've been in? That aligns with my experience.
History is long and complicated, but racism is a big factor. Some white people can only relate to other white people. They may not feel comfortable worshipping a Jesus who is too dark-skinned, they would rather depict him the way they most want him to be as opposed to what is most likely.
Jeez, I miswrote my line. I meant to ask why were they all white.