What Jesus Looked Like: Thoughts on Profiling

Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem in the country of Israel, is a central figure not only to the Christian faith, but to the Christmas season. Hollywood has made millions from His story by commercializing Christmas as well as making movie after movie about His life. The church has also made countless pictures of Him, creating icons portraying what they believed Jesus looked like. There has been a common theme in almost all portrayals of Jesus by Hollywood or the Christian Church.

He was always white...

This picture (right) is what many believe Jesus really looked like. A group of Forensic Anthropologists came up with this image through a process of reconstruction using a Galilean Semite of His era's skull as a base. They then used computer scanning and software to determine muscle tone and face structure based on the skull shape and size. His hair, beard and skin color were determined from drawings found by archeologists which predate the Bible (you can read the whole article here).

What's interesting to me about this image, which seems a more accurate depiction of a man from Galilea, is how we would receive him today. Assuming that this is what Jesus really looked like (which is hard to dispute) and understanding what our world is like today, especially the USA, I have a feeling he would not be very welcome.

He wouldn't be able to get through TSA airport security without being randomly selected for a pat-down...

He would more than likely be pulled over by a cop if he was driving through a wealthy neighborhood...

He probably would be more closely monitored on video surveillance or by security at malls or other stores with these types of security measures...

He most likely would be the victim of racial profiling in a post 9-11 America, and would be deemed a "Terrorist" by more than a few individuals...

Actually, this depiction of Jesus looks eerily similar to many of FBI's known and most wanted terrorists. This makes me wonder, would there be an outcry from Christians all over the country if this was what everyone agreed Jesus looked like? With the religious intolerance between the world religions and the racial profiling that comes with it I think this is a volatile subject. For so long Jesus has been assumed to look like this:

This is American Jesus (above), but Jesus is not an American...

He lived in the Middle East, where Americas sworn enemy now resides...

Where much of the Crusade took place, where Christians killed muslims...

Where the pilots who crashed planes into the World Trade center came from...

So what do we do with this? We have evidence that our Lord and Savior looks more like those we assume will kill us at a moment's notice than the Caucasian blue eyed Jesus of Hollywood or the American Church.

If anything, it teaches us the importance of not judging on outward appearances. It also reminds us why so many seem to think that America, not Israel, is God's chosen people. Jesus looks just like us so of course we are the Chosen ones.

No, America is no better than anyone else, and neither is its church. We accuse all Muslims of being terrorsits and turn a blind eye to all the atrocities we committed against them (The Crusades, Abu Ghraib, Extraordinary Rendition, etc.). It all comes down to profiling.

We all do it, we all make rash generalizations about one another, but why?

Why not give people a chance to surprise you instead of judge them on their outward appearance?

Why not love instead of hate?

"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". - Martin Luther King Jr.