What's going on everybody welcome to the sheep get sheared podcast home of people
politics and popular culture I'm your host Austin Creed I want to welcome you
to the show so you know it's the Christmas season and I even went to
church this morning it was a very interesting time and the more I look at
Christmas and more I see the commercials on TV which honestly they're quite
pleasant I gotta tell you the truth I enjoy them something about the Christmas
spirit that I just thoroughly enjoy but you know a lot of people like the idea
and concept of something but they don't understand where it actually comes from
for example Christmas is not what you think it is I was like I'd sit here and
tell you that's not true but it is Christmas is a pagan holiday that was
largely co-opted by the Catholic Church into what it is now and then you sprinkle
a little bit of corporate greed and capitalism in there and you got what
modern-day Christmas has become now I'm not saying not to hate I'm not saying
that because I don't like Christmas I love Christmas but I want you to realize
that Christmas is largely built off of the facade that is just meant to make
you feel good it's largely based off of the holiday
Yule and a lot of other ones as well and it's also based off of Roman holiday as
well which I forget the name of but my friends I bring this up because it begs
an even larger question that I was thinking about earlier and I heard this
recently that really got me thinking the question was is Jesus black or was Jesus
black you know I never thought about it before and I know some people are
immediately thrown off by that they don't like it whatever I know that wasn't
my response my response was huh well I mean based on the demographics of the
Middle East Palestine what the Romans called Palestine and what we today also
refer to as Palestine and Judea would make sense Jesus was a Galilean man who
grew up in Nazareth born to Jewish parents but you know what it wasn't so
much the race factor that got me thinking what was why do people care so
much about what Jesus looked like why do they care so much what he looked like
why do they care so much about his appearance his place of origin why do
these things matter to us why do we not care more about what he stood for what
his what he gave birth to which is the modern Christianity which is both helped
the world a lot of ways and has also hurt the world in a lot of ways
well Christianity is still the biggest religion in the world and I don't
understand why people care so much about Jesus's race I don't care if Jesus is
black I believe him to be a Jewish man his lineage is traced in the New
Testament from Abraham all the way through Isaac Jacob Judah and all the
way through King David King Solomon all the way through the kingdom King Josiah
all the way eventually to Mary and Joseph which I get it Jesus was not
Joseph's biological son according to the text but that's not my point my point is
Jesus is supposed to be these the focal point of Christmas according to the
Christian viewpoint which I think is largely beautiful because when you
combine non-traditional elements like the Yule and the Roman holiday I'm
forgetting the blint in the name of I'm sorry I've been blanking on and I had it
before the show but you see it's all about people coming together I like what
things represent I believe that to be more important so when I look out I'm
actually sitting in the park right now and normally I would have done my show
from my dorm room in college but I'm still back hanging out with the family
back in a little off the beaten path and I'm just sitting in a park right now and
I'm looking at kids playing on the jungle gyms I'm looking at dogs running
in the park looking at dads on a weekend trying to teach the kids about
sports you know it's holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas that are
supposed to bring people together supposed to put us to help us put aside
the politics the religion the stuff that drives us apart every day of the week
because they're gonna think about it it's this divide-and-conquer mentality
that helps the government helps the media helps the corporations just exploit
us every step that we can go every step of the way they want to exploit us make
a bag off us and then leave us at each other's throats while they run away to
this laugh all the way to their Swiss bank accounts now I don't say I have to
make you hate them I say that so that you have compassion for your fellow man
because they're really not all that different than you even if you are a
staunch conservative or a raging liberal progressive and you hate the other side
with visceral hatred you hate them you don't like their viewpoints don't like
what they stand for you don't have the candidates they vote for you gotta
realize that at events like this because they might be people like that in your
family maybe you know someone in your family who is completely opposite of the
political spectrum they're different religion than you whatever it may be
there this is a time of year that's supposed to bring people together so when
people bring up the question of was Jesus black again the day maybe he was
maybe he wasn't according to the text and the New Testament the disciples who
wrote about their master their teacher their rabbi Jesus of Nazareth they
described him as someone who wasn't really all that notable when it comes to
his physical features so he most likely was a Galilean man he was a Jew which
means he was probably olive skinned maybe he looked darker so by today's
standards maybe he would be considered black or maybe because he was born in the
Middle East people Middle Eastern descent are largely considered Caucasian
however people from North Africa often migrated into Middle East and vice versa
so at the end of the day the question is it's a pregnant question but it's not
because the question itself is interesting it's because of what it
implies it implies that again we're trying to divide people based upon race
based upon sex based upon religion based upon class orientation you name it
everything under the Sun and again this is why I encourage you this Christmas
season to then they believe what you want to believe I'm not saying that it's
impossible Jesus was black for all I know he was it doesn't matter to me
let's not focus on what divides us you look at them the movies they usually
show him as a Caucasian man maybe he was maybe he wasn't that's not the point the
point is you should take this time to appreciate what you have value the
family that you talk to because a lot of you don't talk to family at all by the
way a lot of people don't have a lot of people there they're alone there's
difference between being alone and being lonely being alone means you can be
around people who you want you just choose not to kind of like me more
antisocial because I largely believe people to be terrible not you personally
but people in general I think when I exploit you use you throw you a siren
that done with you I don't believe people to be good innately there are
good people out there but most people I think are terrible quite frankly which
is why I choose to be more antisocial so wrong with the story my friends is
appreciate the people you have because you might not there are people out there
who are genuinely lonely like they don't have anybody there they're just
stranded and they feel disenfranchised alone there are real people like that out
here and so during this season when the weather gets a little colder you spend
a little more time indoors when most people spend enough time indoors as it
is already but nonetheless let's get back to the real point of the show the
show is I want to ask you do you think Jesus was black they think he was white
I think he was just all of skinned you know like Middle Eastern Galileans
Nazarenes and Jews tend to be today the end of day my friends do you care about
a subject like that do you think it's important do you think that it's largely
just another way for people to be divided over something that's supposed to
bring us together whether it's religion like in Christianity or whether it's the
holiday spirit of Christmas and Thanksgiving they're supposed to bring
us together show us that despite our differences whether it be politically
whether it be religiously whether be culturally that we can put those aside
and we can appreciate each other we can throw aside the things that divide us
and we can be unified in our celebration of a holiday that we all care about but
you know that's all too hard today a lot of people want to be divided because
we're programmed to be that way we're told that we should care more about our
differences than about things that bring us together well I totally disagree with
that totally disagree I think you should be more focused upon things that you can
control and things that bind you together to people because there's enough
things that are driving apart there's enough evil in the world there's enough
things in the world that are morally ambiguous at best and instead you should
focus on things that bring you together during this type of holiday season don't
let all the odds about joy and happiness and whatnot push you away from the idea
of being happiness and joyful not because of the things you buy but because
of the person you're becoming and the things that you believe in let those
things inspire you this Christmas season don't get focused on whether Jesus was
white black or whether Christianity is good at all or whether you believe that
Jesus was who he said he was all those things they're important in their own
way but let's not lose the general focus of caring about our fellow humanity
and just look at the garbage going on and with what Hamas is doing to Israel
it's it makes me sick frankly and I'm not gonna get into it in detail because
then this will hijack the entire show but I bring that up as just an example of
one of the ways the world is really sad really gross and really disgusting to
look at and so in horrible frankly and so that's why we need to put aside
there's enough horrible distasteful things in the world but we need to focus
on what brings us together what unites us as people as just human beings in
general you know I'm looking over at this practice right now but they're
throwing football around the kids what their parents coaches I'm not sure but
I'm walking I'm watching I'm watching them and it's very it's refreshing that
things like this still happen no the world might be crumbling in certain
places but there's still this sense of no father teaching son about how we throw
a pigskin around there's beauty in this something my heart looking at this right
now so my friends look whether Jesus was white and black Jewish whatever it
doesn't matter what matters is this holiday season and finding a way to love
your neighbor because there's a way too many reasons out there to hate your
neighbor let's find a way to love our neighbor and let not let the government
jesters the corporations drive us apart and make a profit off it so enjoy this
holiday season I'll do more I'll do more episodes like this as Christmas
approaches but I really wanted to set the mood for this new season I really
want you to look inward and look at the ways in your life that you might be
pushing people away or that you might have inherent biases within you that are
keeping other people away that you might be able to benefit from or they can
benefit from you my friends God bless you God bless your families God bless
America let's get out there and let's bring people together let's attempt to
do that more this holiday season I'm out of here peace