Author: STM | 11/24/2020 9:46:49 PM
"The Story of the Ugly Brown Man"
Merriam-Webster’s Definition of “Racism”, “Race” and “Ethnic”
Definition of RACISM
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 a : a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles
b : a political or social system founded on racism
3 : racial prejudice or discrimination
Definition of RACE
2 a : a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock
b : a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics.”
Definition of ETHNIC - Adjective
of or relating to races or large groups of people who have the same customs, religion, origin, etc.
In Summary:
A person that is different than another person by; Race, Interests, Habits, Characteristics (Looks different, Sounds Different, Has a Different Language), Customs, Religion, and more…
The problem occurs when one group of people treat a different group of people less than they would treat themselves or “Their” group of people.
Racism is an ugly, pervasive attitude that affects our society. One of the reasons humans are racist is; we tend to like other people that are like us. Other people that; Look like us, talk like us and like the same customs and stuff we like. That is not inherently wrong, until we pervert the difference between ourselves and another human being. When we take advantage of other humans that are different than us.
The problem occurs when we favor ourselves or people like us over others who are “Different” than us. Again, we congregate with other humans like us, we feel comfortable this way. By our human nature we like others who are like us in where we live, we work and even where we worship.
Another huge reason racism is prevalent is; we judge other people by the outward color of their skin. The reverse, and part of the cure could be summed up by the saying, “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover.”
With human nature, If left up to the human condition alone, we only think about ourselves. Selfish, pitiful humans. Getting what we can Get while stepping on or over others. It is the age of the “Hollow People.” Looking good on the outside, but rotten on the inside. Treating others less than human to get ahead in life.
Part of the cure is to cast aside what we see on the “Outside” of a person and consider the character of the person. We really are not that different. The outside and genetic DNA material makes us different from one human to another is only a difference of .1%. That means, any two humans on the planet are 99.9% the same in their genetic makeup. If we all realized how trivial our differences really are.
The real key for racisms’ cure is not the science of our indifferences or “The person” delivering a solution, but the Right Message and a Change of Heart in a human being.
Let’s consider excerpts from Martin Luther King’s, “I have a dream speech”.
August 28, 1963
“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.”
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
“With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
“This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
We will be free at last, when we self-govern our actions to our neighbor by a change of heart. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” But, as long as we don’t do this on our own accord, the one way we have established equality is thru governmental regulations.
We have established governmental rules to govern our actions. Here is the Federal Government’s version of “Equality”;
“As of 2011, the federal government's equal employment opportunity policy reads:
The United States Government does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability and genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factor. — USAJOBS, the official job site of the U.S. Federal Government [usajobs.gov]”
Where is the Equality message today coming from for people to listen to? The Government, the Church and revolutionaries who promote chaos.
The Real solution to In-Equality, Racism, doesn’t come from; government, doesn’t come from revolutions and chaos, doesn’t come from the “Woke” Church, and doesn’t come from the “The Blame Game” of blaming a certain group of skin colored humans.
The answer to racism Really comes in changing the heart, from the words of the “Ugly”, Brown Man
There was a man that came and taught a different way of living. Not the hypocritical, selfish “Self Focused Life Message”, that people lived by and wanted at that time. He taught a change of heart and how we are to treat our Neighbor.
People at that time wanted to be “Saved” from the hypocritical church and the corrupt government. It was the age of what they could get. This man came and people believed He would come in might and relieve them from the oppressive government and he was to cater to their needs, their vision of a conqueror, their savior.
The same applies to this day and age. Money, Power and Politics, what can I get to get ahead.
The people of that day thought he was coming in power and might, (To save them from an oppressive tyrannical political government they were living in) just like other conquering rulers. To save them.
What did the conquering, burden relieving person look like to Them and look to Us now?
To understand the True answer to Racism, you need to understand how the True Savior looked.
Here are three choices;
Choice A:
Beliefnet.com
Choice B:
Choice C:
Credit: Popular Mechanics
In “Today’s standards” we look toward “Beautiful People”, charismatic people to lead us, save us. Those who attract crowds with the revolution message. People of great promises and charisma to take care of us, to give us what we want. People who promise us that they, or the government will take care of us.
He did not.
He was not “Beautiful”, wasn’t charismatic, wasn’t politically connected and didn’t have a conquering army to stage a coup of the existing government. What a huge let down for most, one day a hero, “the next,” a beaten, hung up to die, killed by a political execution by the government in power. Their hero was disgraced, disfigured and gone.
Why does what He looked like make a difference to answer the problem of Racism?
If we place Him in the region he actually came from, an Arab Jesus is the closest picture of what He looked like. The“Ugly Brown” man. Choice C. As the story goes, even Judas was paid to differentiate Jesus from the rest of the group He was with. He didn’t sport a Halo, look like a super model. He looked like anybody else in the group.
Today, we have reinvented the picture of the true change for our lives, the true life changing guiding message in our own image. Not only has society reinvented the life message, we have reinvented the messenger also.
The reality is, the true messenger for life, Jesus, was an ugly brown man. He brought and started a Message Avalanche that has changed the world. Which truly followed, solves the problem of racism. The color of his skin did not define Him, His message did. This “ugly” brown man was from the middle east region and was never going to get the award for the best looking person in “Hollywood”, win the crowd over by his looks.
One of the reinventions of how he looked is;
A beautiful, white skinned man with flowing brown hair, the epitome of a Hollywood movie star. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. You would of not recognized this “Ugly Brown Man” man out of the crowd. He was a plain man.
And, that was the point, it wasn’t about the man and his appearance to “Win” people over by his charisma, it was about His salvation message for the human race and how we are to treat others around us. “Our Neighbor.”
The people at that time, the majority missed the message. A lot of people miss the message today.
Here is why he looked like Choice C;
See also the article;
“Why Jesus’ Skin Color Matters”
Christena Cleveland| March 18, 2016
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/april/why-jesus-skin-color-matters.html
“While Christ the Lord transcends skin color and racial divisions, white Jesus has real consequences. In all likelihood, if you close your eyes and picture Jesus, you’ll imagine a white man. Without conscious intention or awareness, many of us have become disciples of a white Jesus. Not only is white Jesus inaccurate, he also can inhibit our ability to honor the image of God in people who aren’t white.
Jesus of Nazareth likely had a darker complexion than we imagine, not unlike the olive skin common among Middle Easterners today. Princeton biblical scholar James Charlesworth goes so far as to say Jesus was “most likely dark brown and sun-tanned.”
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_appearance_of_Jesus
“In fact, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Ambrose actually considered lack of physical attractiveness in Jesus as fulfilling the Messianic prophecy "Suffering Servant" narrative of Isaiah 53
Although not literally the face of Jesus,[62] the result of the study determined that Jesus's skin would have been more olive-colored than white,[55] and that he would have most likely looked like a typical Galilean Semite of his day. Among the points made was that the Bible records that Jesus's disciple Judas had to point him out to those arresting him. The implied argument is that if Jesus's physical appearance had differed markedly from his disciples, then he would have been relatively easy to identify.[64] James H. Charlesworth states Jesus' face was "most likely dark brown and sun-tanned", and his stature "may have been between five feet five [1.65 m] and five feet seven [1.70 m]".
Bible ESV Version
Isaiah 53: 2,3
“…he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
Christian Standard Bible
“…He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should look at him, no appearance that we should look at him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.”
Jesus was not physically attractive
The Sun;
“Christ to meet you Scientist shocks the internet with depiction of what Jesus really would have looked like”
“A British scientist believes he has come up with a far more accurate representation of what Jesus actually could have looked like”
By GEORGE HARRISON AND HAYLEY RICHARDSON
8th January 2017, 11:18 am
Updated: 8th January 2017, 1:03 pm
The scientist's depiction of Jesus features dark skin, dark eyes and short hair
Credit: Popular Mechanics
“For those accustomed to traditional Sunday school portraits of Jesus, the sculpture of the dark and swarthy Middle Eastern man that emerges from Neave’s laboratory is a reminder of the roots of their faith. “The fact that he probably looked a great deal more like a darker-skinned Semite than westerners are used to seeing him pictured is a reminder of his universality,” says Charles D. Hackett, director of Episcopal studies at the Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. “And [it is] a reminder of our tendency to sinfully appropriate him in the service of our cultural values.””
“The Real Face Of Jesus” Advances in forensic science reveal the most famous face in history.
By Mike Fillon Dec 1, 2019
But a British scientist believes he has come up with a far more accurate
representation of what the Christian icon actually may have looked like, based on forensic anthropology.
Richard Neave, a retired medical artist from the University of Manchester, first released the image in 2015 - but the depiction has recently returned to prominence online.
And the result looks nothing like the golden-haired, fair-eyed, pale-skinned chap we recognize from traditional Sunday school portraits.
The scientist's depiction of Jesus features dark skin, dark eyes and short hair
Assisted by Israeli archaeologists, scientist Richard used methods similar to those utilized by the police to track down criminals: all in order to fashion a reconstruction of Jesus' face.
He began by acquiring Semite male skulls from near Jerusalem, where Jesus lived.
Neave and his team then used computerized tomography to create X-ray slices of the skulls to gather complex data about his facial structure, muscles and skin.
Using this information the researchers were able to build 3D reconstruction of Jesus’ face.
They then created a cast of the skull using layers of clay and modelled the nose, lips and eyelids to follow the shape determined by the underlying muscles.
The team used drawings found at various archaeological sites dated to the first century, before the Bible was compiled, to determine Jesus’ hair, eye and skin color.
Contrary to popular belief, they argue that God’s son could have had dark eyes and the short, curly hair appropriate for men at the time.
The average height of a Semite male at the time of Jesus was 5 ft. 1, weighing around 110 pounds.
Given Jesus worked outdoors as a carpenter until he was about 30, Neave and his team reckon he was more muscular and fit than Western portraits suggests, with a weather-beaten face which made him appear older.
Neave stressed that his recreation of Jesus, first published in Popular Mechanics in January 2015, is simply that of an adult man who lived in the same place and at the same time.
Though forensic portraits are not an exact science, Alison Galloway, professor of anthropology at the University of California in Santa Cruz, reckons Neave’s drawing is “probably a lot closer to the truth than the work of many great masters”.
Understanding who and what Jesus looked like, puts in context that He was a “Normal” looking man of the time, His message was another story. He was a plain looking person that we should not idolize today because of our misconception of what He looked like. Knowing the reality of His looks gives us the true perspective of how we are to live our lives, and how we are to treat people around us.
We would not be able to pick Him out of a crowd today. In His day, the religious rulers that hated Jesus had to pay Judas to tell them who He was amongst the crowd. They captured Jesus not because He was the most striking ‘Hollywood Looking Type,” they arrested him because they hated His message and His message that interfered with their ‘Religious” power establishment.
His principles in our lives is what going to transform our culture by Loving each other as ourselves. Principles that treat others in truth.
The Cure for Racism is not an Outward, Ugly, Proposition of pointing fingers’ at people that have a different skin color, or solved by forced government dictates, but a beautiful message, true revolution in each of us, living out the principles of, “The Ugly Brown Man.”
The answer to racism does “Lie within Us”. It is not the worldly twisted viewpoint to “Look inside of each of us” for life’s answers of “Our Truth” or our own goodness. A human being will invent their own “Truth” and apply to themselves and how they treat others. Each person can invent their own ‘Goodness” and many have used it to justify the ultimate Racism, killing your neighbor in the spirit of “Self” promotion.
The true answer lies inside of each of us, is to remember our blood. He gave His blood for us.
Blood does not discriminate based on the outside color of our skin. A car crash victim who needs blood, does not say, “What skin color of the person did this blood come from, that will save my life.” We as human beings are all made out of a limited four blood types. We are all made the same, inside. We are no longer a racist when needing life saving blood.
Human blood is very important to understand why we are all, essentially the “Same”, one people. From the blood, the ultimate sacrifice of giving up ones life, giving up the body, the blood, comes the answer for life.
The ultimate blood sacrifice came from the “Ugly brown man.” He gave his blood to save you, save humans from the ultimate death, hell. We have redemption through His Blood. Look past the surface of your blindness and deceit of your heart and welcome Him into your life and soul and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, saved from yourself, this life of superficiality “Seeing” and “self-ishness.”
“Systemic Racism” is not the greatest sin. What about the changing of the heart to also cure Systemic Thievery, Systemic Murder, Systemic Lying, Systemic Envy, etc… Do not lean on your own understanding, which will lead to death. Do not trust your own ways of how you treat others.
Give up the “Blame Game” of pointing the blame at people with different color of skin than yourself, we can only blame ourselves for not living the life of Jesus, the true message of love towards ourselves and humans around us. We are not guilty of racism because we are born with a certain skin color. We are born guilty as sinners and need the true salvation of Jesus.
Do not look towards the Government, the Charismatic, the people in power, look to the true message of life and live a True Life “Modeled” after the message from the most Beautiful, Brown Man that came before us today.
I am That I am, for you.