I think the vast majority of people understand that skin tone can vary among PoC. People living in Levant can range from dark to light… since it is in a region between Europe, Asia, and Africa.
You are really insistent on the fact Jesus could have possibly been light-skinned. I think the bigger question should be: why do you fear a dark-skinned Jesus?
“The truth is, I’ve yet to find an explanation for the Bible’s war stories that I find completely satisfying. If we…choose the simplest solution to the problem, we might conclude that the ancient Israelites invented a deity to justify their conquests and keep their people in line. As such, then, the Bible isn’t a holy book with human fingerprints; it’s an entirely human construction, responsible for more vice than virtue.
There are days when that’s what I believe, days when I mumble through the hymns and creeds at church because I’m not convinced they say anything true. And then there are days when the Bible pulls me back with a numinous force I can only regard as divine, days when Hagar and Deborah and Rahab reach out from the page, grab me by the face, and say, ‘Pay attention. This is for you.’”
– Rachel Held Evans, Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
As you’ve doubtlessly noticed, a lot of my magic is largely based in what could be called Folk Catholicism which refers any of of the varieties of ethnic expressions of Catholicism
as practiced in Catholic communities, typically in developing nations.
Practices identified by outside observers as “folk Catholicism” vary
from place to place and sometimes contradict the official teachings and
practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Below is suggested reading for those interested in exploring this multi-faceted aspect of Western religiosity.
Books:
Badone, Ellen, ed. Religious Orthodoxy and Popular Faith in European Society
Bartlett, Robert. Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things? Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation
Christian, William A., Jr. Apparitions in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain.
Graziano, Frank.Cultures of Devotion: Folk Saints of Spanish America
Ingham, John.
Mary, Michael, and Lucifer: Folk Catholicism in Central Mexico
Nutini, Hugo. Todos Santos in Rural Tlaxcala: A Syncretic, Expressive, and Symbolic Analysis of the Cult of the Dead
Articles:
Romero, Nelide. et. al.
From Disease to Holiness: Religious-based health remedies of Italian folk medicine
Sisun, Antonio.
Afflictive Apparitions: The Folk Catholic Imaginary in Philippine Cinema Turner, Paul. Religious Conversion and Folk Catholicism
Religious Literature:
Fitzgerald, Fr. Maurus.
Catholic Book of Prayers
Various. The Raccolta: Or Collection of Indulgenced Prayers
I’m getting Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things? soon-ish. I’ll try to do a book review once I’m done with it.
The blog All the Saints You Should Know is also a great source for folk Catholicism stuff (though I will warm you that it has a strong focus on the dead). The reading list there is how I heard of Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things?
Hello today I wanted to show how the Bible is not against LGBTQ+ individuals, we will be looking at the “clobber” passages within the old and new testaments:
The Story of Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19)-
God sends two angels disguised as men into the City of Sodom where the men of Sodom threatened to rape them. The angels blind the men, and God destroys the city. For centuries, this story was interpreted as God’s judgment on same-sex relations, but the only form of same-sex behavior described is a threatened gang rape.
gang rape is obviously evil and is not in anyway talking about homosexuality, it was also a practice at the time used to humiliate a person. But the recap of Sodom & Gomorrah found in Ezekial 16:49 highlights the real point of the story:
“Now, this was the sin of your sister, Sodom. She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned, they did not help the poor and needy.”
In other words, everyone using this story as evidence of the sin of homosexuality, might be missing the point entirely.
When God calls homosexuality an abomination (Leviticus 18:22) (Leviticus 20:13)-
This is by far the most used verse to condemn and use as an excuse to hurt people that are LGBTQ.
The translations of this verse found in most English
Bibles are not supported by the Hebrew text.
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (KJV)”
Correct translation:
“And with a male, thou shalt not lie down in a woman’s bed; it is an abomination.”
This is the correct translation of Leviticus 18:22. It can be seen that, rather than forbidding male homosexuality, it simply forbids two males to lie down in a woman’s bed, for whatever reason. Culturally, a woman’s bed was her own. Other than the woman herself, only her husband was permitted in her bed, and there were even restrictions on when he was allowed in there. Any other use of her bed would have been considered defilement. Other verses in the Law will help clarify the acceptable use of the woman’s bed (Lev. 15).
Romans 10:4 says that Christ is the end of the law.
“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” — 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
“We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.” — 1 Timothy 1:9-10
“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” — Romans 1:26-27
During the time in which the New Testament was written, the Roman conquerors of the region frequently and openly engaged in homosexual acts between themselves and boys. Such acts were also common between Roman men and their male slaves. These acts of non-consensual sex were considered normal and socially acceptable. They were, however, morally repulsive to Paul, as today they would be to everyone, gay and straight.
This is the societal context in which Paul wrote of homosexual acts, and it is this context that Christians must acknowledge when seeking to understand and interpret the three New Testament clobber passages. Yes, Paul condemned the same-sex sexual activity he saw around him—because it was coercive, without constraint, and between older men and boys. As a moral man, Paul was revolted by these acts, as, certainly, he would have been by the same acts had they been heterosexual in nature.
The Bible’s clobber passages were written about same-sex acts between heterosexual persons, and do not address the subject of homosexual acts between a committed gay couple, because the concept of a person being homosexual did not exist at the time the Bible was written.
We can be confident that Paul was not writing to, or about, gay people, because he simply could not have been, any more than he could have written about smartphones, iPads, or televisions. We do not know what Paul might write or say today about gay people. All we know is that in the New Testament he wrote about promiscuous, predatory, non-consensual same-sex acts between people whom he understood to be heterosexual.
Here are a few quotes from out Lord Jesus Christ:
Luke 6:31:
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Mark 12:31: The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”
These are just a few, I hope that this might change some minds and give hope to LGBTQ+ people.
I struggle believing in God/Jesus after learning more about other ancient religions. How Christians came in and essentially erased them to be the ultimate religion. How people were literally burned at the stake and hung and tortured for not believing in Christ or in the faith.
I grew up with God and Jesus. So I still feel drawn to Christianity. I miss it. And with the new wave of Christians coming in who are doing new interpretations of it, I want to re-join and explore the path. But I can’t just…invest? When it feels like there were gods that existed before Christ was discovered and the bible came to be. It feels like it’s invalidating the existence of God and Jesus’ being.
This is a person struggle and idk how to deal/overcome it.
This started off as a comment, but I wanted to say too much, so here, have a reblog!:
Hey, I feel you. I am in the same place, for the most part. It feels strange continuing to go to church and talking about Jesus as if I haven’t learned all this. I feel more spiritually alive now than ever, but also more disconnected from my religious social circle than ever. And I am a social creature: I need that connection sometimes. I think what has helped me the most in bringing some sense of continuity between the two (my current understanding/spiritual path vs. my need for those connections and community, in particular) is “The Pagan Christ,” by Tom Harpur. In it, he uses comparative mythology/religion to show how the Christ story is connected to even older myths, and how it is meant to be symbolic, BUT ALSO how that doesn’t necessarily mean it is any less relevant. He shows how you can reinterpret the Bible in a more pagan and symbolic framework, through which it’s been easier to invest in the conversation of Jesus without feeling like I’m totally putting up a front (though I haven’t admitted to anyone that I use the craft as a spiritual/meditative practice yet; it might get me some odd looks!! 🤣). His final points in the book are how this practice:
Makes the Bible come alive
Inspires fresh hope for a cosmic faith
Clarifies the ancient symbols
Underlines the dangers of literalism
Emphasizes our responsibility for our own evolution
Highlights nature’s guiding role
Explains what the Jesus story really means to us
Gives our rituals more potency
Enhances belief in life after death
It’s been just one part of my HUGE stack of reading I’ve been doing as my spiritual development, but it may be the most influential for me. It has certainly smoothed the transition from being a Christian to whatever flavor of pagan I am. I hope it helps! Here’s what to look for if you want to look into it:
So what you’re saying is, is that’s the coolest book written ever? Heck yeah, I’m going to have to check that beauty out. It sounds like it could be totally helpful and enlightening to read.
As for your previous comment: I am a social creature as well. I crave community in my faith, others I can share my path with and discuss teachings/readings with. But also, I love and miss the way Christianity made me feel, which was secure and hopeful. It is hard to find people with the same views or interpretations, though differing views sometimes are also healthy and helpful!
There is a church in the town that I moved to which has a lovely group of church ladies that I like – they have bible studies, I have attended one and it was interesting! So might start with that again.
You can sort of do that. Drink, pray, call upon, celebrate, eat to the existence of belief. All while saying “And I believe God and Christ exist more than belief.” Additionally, you don’t have to worship a specific set of deities to be a witch. Coming from someone who was raised a witch, we love our catholic and Christian witches. We do. You don’t have to worship what you don’t want to. And attending church does not mean you agree with and defend the genocide. (2/?)
There is no hard, set answer for you. But overall? Do what makes you happy. Do what makes you feel safe. You miss Christianity, you are permitted to go back to it. And if anyone in the witch community hates you for it? They do not truly understand witchcraft. Being Christian does mean you aren’t Pagan or Wiccan, but you don’t need either of those to practice witchcraft. Witchcraft is its own thing. I don’t know if this helped, but I hope it did. Good luck:) (3/3)
Oh! Sorry, one last thing: If you read the first book of Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan, it gives a good idea of how to deal with all this. A character, Sam, is Muslim. She was raised Muslim. She wears a headscarf, and is very very happy with her arranged marriage (that she consented to, and I believe participated in the planning of.) But she has a parent that is a Norse god. She has to deal with Odin and Thor existing next to Allah. She gives lovely pieces and words on the subject.
This provides a perspective I never thought of before! Especially the “Will drink to the existence of his belief”. Very new but a concept that I rather like. I guess I have always done that without even thinking, with the Theoi and Roman gods. While I do not hold the belief in them I recognize others do believe in them! If that wording makes any bit of sense lol.
It is a small fear that others will start to look down at me if I incorporate God and Jesus into my practice as I know that some do not view Christianity in a good light, however I have my own interpretations of the Bible and the Lord that are much less filled with biogtry. Though that also brings on a hot debate.
I really like your perspective though, thank you for sharing ~
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