1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,840
What's going on everybody welcome to the sheep get sheared podcast home of people

2
00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:09,200
politics and popular culture I'm your host Austin Creed I want to welcome you

3
00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:15,660
to the show so you know it's the Christmas season and I even went to

4
00:00:15,660 --> 00:00:21,760
church this morning it was a very interesting time and the more I look at

5
00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,480
Christmas and more I see the commercials on TV which honestly they're quite

6
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,680
pleasant I gotta tell you the truth I enjoy them something about the Christmas

7
00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:38,440
spirit that I just thoroughly enjoy but you know a lot of people like the idea

8
00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,640
and concept of something but they don't understand where it actually comes from

9
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:47,400
for example Christmas is not what you think it is I was like I'd sit here and

10
00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:55,720
tell you that's not true but it is Christmas is a pagan holiday that was

11
00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:01,880
largely co-opted by the Catholic Church into what it is now and then you sprinkle

12
00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,720
a little bit of corporate greed and capitalism in there and you got what

13
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:10,040
modern-day Christmas has become now I'm not saying not to hate I'm not saying

14
00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,600
that because I don't like Christmas I love Christmas but I want you to realize

15
00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:21,320
that Christmas is largely built off of the facade that is just meant to make

16
00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:25,720
you feel good it's largely based off of the holiday

17
00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,600
Yule and a lot of other ones as well and it's also based off of Roman holiday as

18
00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:38,040
well which I forget the name of but my friends I bring this up because it begs

19
00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:43,600
an even larger question that I was thinking about earlier and I heard this

20
00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:50,040
recently that really got me thinking the question was is Jesus black or was Jesus

21
00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:56,080
black you know I never thought about it before and I know some people are

22
00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,040
immediately thrown off by that they don't like it whatever I know that wasn't

23
00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:06,560
my response my response was huh well I mean based on the demographics of the

24
00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:11,560
Middle East Palestine what the Romans called Palestine and what we today also

25
00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:19,800
refer to as Palestine and Judea would make sense Jesus was a Galilean man who

26
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:27,720
grew up in Nazareth born to Jewish parents but you know what it wasn't so

27
00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:32,560
much the race factor that got me thinking what was why do people care so

28
00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,780
much about what Jesus looked like why do they care so much what he looked like

29
00:02:35,780 --> 00:02:41,280
why do they care so much about his appearance his place of origin why do

30
00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:47,220
these things matter to us why do we not care more about what he stood for what

31
00:02:47,220 --> 00:02:53,360
his what he gave birth to which is the modern Christianity which is both helped

32
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,720
the world a lot of ways and has also hurt the world in a lot of ways

33
00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:03,000
well Christianity is still the biggest religion in the world and I don't

34
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:08,560
understand why people care so much about Jesus's race I don't care if Jesus is

35
00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:15,160
black I believe him to be a Jewish man his lineage is traced in the New

36
00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:21,160
Testament from Abraham all the way through Isaac Jacob Judah and all the

37
00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:27,600
way through King David King Solomon all the way through the kingdom King Josiah

38
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:34,600
all the way eventually to Mary and Joseph which I get it Jesus was not

39
00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:40,960
Joseph's biological son according to the text but that's not my point my point is

40
00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:47,080
Jesus is supposed to be these the focal point of Christmas according to the

41
00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:52,920
Christian viewpoint which I think is largely beautiful because when you

42
00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:58,600
combine non-traditional elements like the Yule and the Roman holiday I'm

43
00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,080
forgetting the blint in the name of I'm sorry I've been blanking on and I had it

44
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:07,440
before the show but you see it's all about people coming together I like what

45
00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:12,440
things represent I believe that to be more important so when I look out I'm

46
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,520
actually sitting in the park right now and normally I would have done my show

47
00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:21,160
from my dorm room in college but I'm still back hanging out with the family

48
00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:27,320
back in a little off the beaten path and I'm just sitting in a park right now and

49
00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,040
I'm looking at kids playing on the jungle gyms I'm looking at dogs running

50
00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:36,280
in the park looking at dads on a weekend trying to teach the kids about

51
00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:41,240
sports you know it's holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas that are

52
00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:46,120
supposed to bring people together supposed to put us to help us put aside

53
00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:51,320
the politics the religion the stuff that drives us apart every day of the week

54
00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:55,160
because they're gonna think about it it's this divide-and-conquer mentality

55
00:04:55,160 --> 00:05:00,440
that helps the government helps the media helps the corporations just exploit

56
00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:05,800
us every step that we can go every step of the way they want to exploit us make

57
00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,760
a bag off us and then leave us at each other's throats while they run away to

58
00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:14,560
this laugh all the way to their Swiss bank accounts now I don't say I have to

59
00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,600
make you hate them I say that so that you have compassion for your fellow man

60
00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,200
because they're really not all that different than you even if you are a

61
00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:28,080
staunch conservative or a raging liberal progressive and you hate the other side

62
00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,540
with visceral hatred you hate them you don't like their viewpoints don't like

63
00:05:31,540 --> 00:05:34,880
what they stand for you don't have the candidates they vote for you gotta

64
00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,440
realize that at events like this because they might be people like that in your

65
00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,240
family maybe you know someone in your family who is completely opposite of the

66
00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,960
political spectrum they're different religion than you whatever it may be

67
00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:51,320
there this is a time of year that's supposed to bring people together so when

68
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:56,420
people bring up the question of was Jesus black again the day maybe he was

69
00:05:56,420 --> 00:06:00,840
maybe he wasn't according to the text and the New Testament the disciples who

70
00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:07,440
wrote about their master their teacher their rabbi Jesus of Nazareth they

71
00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:12,400
described him as someone who wasn't really all that notable when it comes to

72
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:19,080
his physical features so he most likely was a Galilean man he was a Jew which

73
00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:23,760
means he was probably olive skinned maybe he looked darker so by today's

74
00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,840
standards maybe he would be considered black or maybe because he was born in the

75
00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:32,680
Middle East people Middle Eastern descent are largely considered Caucasian

76
00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:38,480
however people from North Africa often migrated into Middle East and vice versa

77
00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:44,800
so at the end of the day the question is it's a pregnant question but it's not

78
00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,560
because the question itself is interesting it's because of what it

79
00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,200
implies it implies that again we're trying to divide people based upon race

80
00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:58,760
based upon sex based upon religion based upon class orientation you name it

81
00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:04,360
everything under the Sun and again this is why I encourage you this Christmas

82
00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,120
season to then they believe what you want to believe I'm not saying that it's

83
00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:13,000
impossible Jesus was black for all I know he was it doesn't matter to me

84
00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:18,040
let's not focus on what divides us you look at them the movies they usually

85
00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:24,320
show him as a Caucasian man maybe he was maybe he wasn't that's not the point the

86
00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:30,440
point is you should take this time to appreciate what you have value the

87
00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,640
family that you talk to because a lot of you don't talk to family at all by the

88
00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,360
way a lot of people don't have a lot of people there they're alone there's

89
00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:42,600
difference between being alone and being lonely being alone means you can be

90
00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,920
around people who you want you just choose not to kind of like me more

91
00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:50,960
antisocial because I largely believe people to be terrible not you personally

92
00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:55,720
but people in general I think when I exploit you use you throw you a siren

93
00:07:55,720 --> 00:08:00,200
that done with you I don't believe people to be good innately there are

94
00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,480
good people out there but most people I think are terrible quite frankly which

95
00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:10,720
is why I choose to be more antisocial so wrong with the story my friends is

96
00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:15,320
appreciate the people you have because you might not there are people out there

97
00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:19,200
who are genuinely lonely like they don't have anybody there they're just

98
00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:24,880
stranded and they feel disenfranchised alone there are real people like that out

99
00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,440
here and so during this season when the weather gets a little colder you spend

100
00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,400
a little more time indoors when most people spend enough time indoors as it

101
00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:41,600
is already but nonetheless let's get back to the real point of the show the

102
00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,840
show is I want to ask you do you think Jesus was black they think he was white

103
00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:51,140
I think he was just all of skinned you know like Middle Eastern Galileans

104
00:08:51,140 --> 00:08:57,680
Nazarenes and Jews tend to be today the end of day my friends do you care about

105
00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:03,240
a subject like that do you think it's important do you think that it's largely

106
00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:07,520
just another way for people to be divided over something that's supposed to

107
00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:13,880
bring us together whether it's religion like in Christianity or whether it's the

108
00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,960
holiday spirit of Christmas and Thanksgiving they're supposed to bring

109
00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:22,280
us together show us that despite our differences whether it be politically

110
00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:26,040
whether it be religiously whether be culturally that we can put those aside

111
00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:31,680
and we can appreciate each other we can throw aside the things that divide us

112
00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:37,440
and we can be unified in our celebration of a holiday that we all care about but

113
00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,480
you know that's all too hard today a lot of people want to be divided because

114
00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,120
we're programmed to be that way we're told that we should care more about our

115
00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,280
differences than about things that bring us together well I totally disagree with

116
00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,600
that totally disagree I think you should be more focused upon things that you can

117
00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,400
control and things that bind you together to people because there's enough

118
00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,160
things that are driving apart there's enough evil in the world there's enough

119
00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:05,640
things in the world that are morally ambiguous at best and instead you should

120
00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:11,200
focus on things that bring you together during this type of holiday season don't

121
00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,440
let all the odds about joy and happiness and whatnot push you away from the idea

122
00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,360
of being happiness and joyful not because of the things you buy but because

123
00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,120
of the person you're becoming and the things that you believe in let those

124
00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,560
things inspire you this Christmas season don't get focused on whether Jesus was

125
00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:30,960
white black or whether Christianity is good at all or whether you believe that

126
00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,960
Jesus was who he said he was all those things they're important in their own

127
00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:40,800
way but let's not lose the general focus of caring about our fellow humanity

128
00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:46,160
and just look at the garbage going on and with what Hamas is doing to Israel

129
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,480
it's it makes me sick frankly and I'm not gonna get into it in detail because

130
00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,840
then this will hijack the entire show but I bring that up as just an example of

131
00:10:54,840 --> 00:11:03,160
one of the ways the world is really sad really gross and really disgusting to

132
00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:08,200
look at and so in horrible frankly and so that's why we need to put aside

133
00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:11,640
there's enough horrible distasteful things in the world but we need to focus

134
00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:17,440
on what brings us together what unites us as people as just human beings in

135
00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:21,960
general you know I'm looking over at this practice right now but they're

136
00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:27,200
throwing football around the kids what their parents coaches I'm not sure but

137
00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:33,240
I'm walking I'm watching I'm watching them and it's very it's refreshing that

138
00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:37,560
things like this still happen no the world might be crumbling in certain

139
00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:43,680
places but there's still this sense of no father teaching son about how we throw

140
00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:47,800
a pigskin around there's beauty in this something my heart looking at this right

141
00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:56,040
now so my friends look whether Jesus was white and black Jewish whatever it

142
00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,280
doesn't matter what matters is this holiday season and finding a way to love

143
00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,360
your neighbor because there's a way too many reasons out there to hate your

144
00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,840
neighbor let's find a way to love our neighbor and let not let the government

145
00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:14,640
jesters the corporations drive us apart and make a profit off it so enjoy this

146
00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:18,840
holiday season I'll do more I'll do more episodes like this as Christmas

147
00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:24,480
approaches but I really wanted to set the mood for this new season I really

148
00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,160
want you to look inward and look at the ways in your life that you might be

149
00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:33,520
pushing people away or that you might have inherent biases within you that are

150
00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:37,560
keeping other people away that you might be able to benefit from or they can

151
00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:42,680
benefit from you my friends God bless you God bless your families God bless

152
00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,960
America let's get out there and let's bring people together let's attempt to

153
00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:58,760
do that more this holiday season I'm out of here peace