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Debate: What race is Santa? Jesus?
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| za heystarface |
Posted on 12/17/2013 10:23:19
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Admin
Posts: 6130
Joined: 20.11.10
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Hey guys! So American media has picked up this story and run with it. A Fox news host Megyn Kelly said on tv that Santa and Jesus are white and you can't just change their race.
That's sparked outrage and controversy. It seems America is always at the ready to be offended by something, and constantly has the need to turn things into a debate out racial acceptance.
So what is your take? Could Santa be any race or does he have to stay white? What about Jesus? What race is he, could he be another?
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| za heystarface |
Posted on 12/17/2013 10:42:15
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I am of the opinion that Santa should be the race of the child or the child's caregivers. I think every race needs positive role models so children of that race grow up knowing those are roles that can be filled. There is a social theory that says children will only believe they can fill roles that they see other people like them fill. So for instance, if a Mexican-American girl never sees a Mexican-American woman as President, there is very little chance that the girl will aspire to fill that role, that's the theory anyway. And I agree with it. And that's the reasoning behind my believing that Santa could be any color, and probably should be any color.
He is a man we let into our child's lives early on as a generous, mysterious figure who does the most amazing things just to put a smile on people's faces. He embodies the best of every one of us, so why not also embody our skin color?
Historically, Saint Nicholas was Greek from an area that is now Turkey, so he's Mediterranean, which is basically white - although concepts of "white" and such weren't around back then the way they are now - so I think his white status is more dependant on Coca Cola when they created the jolly, fat Santa we know now - which doesn't really reflect much about the true appearance of Saint Nicholas, so we shouldn't have to hold Santa to that Coca Cola level. I mean - they just used him to make money - the same way we use him now.
Finally, Santa is a myth, a legend, a story handed down from generation to generation. And like any myth that grows, it grows because there is a need in the community for unity, hope, inspiration, and as the need changes, so does the myth. I think we're living in a hyper-sensitive culture where race wars are verbal and no one can get their mind off of it, so I think painting a Santa with a different color is good for the discussions going on about race right now.
And as for Jesus, well I don't want this to be a debate about "is there a God or not" so assuming that Jesus was a real person that really existed, I believe that he was probably Middle Eastern, which is Caucasian, which we call white, though I'm sure many people wouldn't consider that "white" in the same way they consider white people in America "white." though I've read that there are some interpretations that mark him with fair skin and blue eyes. I just don't see how that's possible though considering that he was from, and other theories that he is part black. I think we'll never know for sure. This debate also reminds me of this meme:
So what's your take?
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| RazNinjaMike |
Posted on 12/17/2013 12:10:47
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Posts: 4586
Joined: 20.11.10
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I think he part of light Race. Meaning his race does not meet any of ours. Meaning he not part of any of our races.... O_o ....
Not saying he a creator or anything. Just saying he probably part of a different race altogether. Him and Morgan Freeman are only ones part of that race that we know .... "so far" ... |
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| SpartanJaz |
Posted on 12/17/2013 12:41:26
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Junior Member
Posts: 34
Joined: 13.08.12
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Jesus was most likely dark-skinned. To be white in Bethlehem would be rather odd, and I'm sure if he was white, somebody would have mentioned it in records. If they saw a white baby born, or a white man wandering around claiming to be from Bethlehem, somebody sure as hell would have written it down in their diary, in a military report, in a letter, at least somewhere.
Edited by SpartanJaz on 12/17/2013 12:42:54 |
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| Neo |
Posted on 12/17/2013 12:45:16
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Member
Posts: 149
Joined: 22.09.13
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I don't think we should just generalise that Santta and Jesus were and specific race or ethnicity because, 1. We don't know for sure and 2. We should have the liberity to see these things as we would more understand it. We cant just say hey Santa is white and everyone has to follow it and also the children have to have there own views and beliefs on what these people look like.
We can give a child a general idea on what the caregiver perspective is but when they are older they would be asking the same question being asked today. |
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| Caesar |
Posted on 12/17/2013 12:45:33
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Member
Posts: 179
Joined: 22.08.13
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Jesus would have been middle eastern, so he would have been dark skinned and had a beard.
Santa Claus, if based not on coca cola advertisements, but on the actual Saint Nicholas, would have been a Greek priest.
Santa Claus is merely an advertisement front by Coca Cola to sell in Christmas Time. He is a load of shit. Can't believe kids are fooled by that.
Telling kids there is no santa is like telling grown ups there is no god.
My name is Julius Augustus Octavianus Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin Brutus
I am DrkInferno in case you didn't know. booooooo (didn't change that) Actually the other way around. |
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| Neo |
Posted on 12/17/2013 12:49:28
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Posts: 149
Joined: 22.09.13
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Middle eastern people are not necessarily dark skinned or have facial hair. That is just generalising on a certain area in the world.
And telling children there is no such thing as Santa is like killing their creative spirit hence making them grow up with anger and being a hard hearted person. |
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| ninja |
Posted on 12/17/2013 12:57:25
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Super Admin
Posts: 4174
Joined: 15.11.10
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za heystarface wrote:
Finally, Santa is a myth
What.
My brain is open.
- Paul Erdős |
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| Caesar |
Posted on 12/17/2013 12:57:57
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Member
Posts: 179
Joined: 22.08.13
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Neo wrote:
Middle eastern people are not necessarily dark skinned or have facial hair. That is just generalising on a certain area in the world.
And telling children there is no such thing as Santa is like killing their creative spirit hence making them grow up with anger and being a hard hearted person.
Yeah I'm a horrible person, I'm no longer allowed to teach Sunday School for that reason. See I went to a Parochial (Church) School and I knew the bible pretty well to the point of constantly beating the pastor at Bible Trivia (he was actually trying when he realized that I knew my shit). So they asked me to teach Sunday School. I didn't want to. They made me. So I taught kids the bible for sometime, CHristmas time came and they were talking about Santa. Considering I didn't like them I basically told them that Santa wasn't real. That the whole be good and Santa gives you presents thing isn't real. They cried and such and I was told to never do that again. I don't feel bad that this form of social control was being overturned (as the children have to be good for something that isn't real). It makes you wonder what other lies we were told as children.
tl r I'm a dick
My name is Julius Augustus Octavianus Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin Brutus
I am DrkInferno in case you didn't know. booooooo (didn't change that) Actually the other way around. |
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| llamas |
Posted on 12/17/2013 13:03:25
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Wanker
Posts: 508
Joined: 05.09.12
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Jesus was a llama. A purple alpaca actually.
Edited by llamas on 12/17/2013 13:03:53 |
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| Neo |
Posted on 12/17/2013 13:11:21
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Member
Posts: 149
Joined: 22.09.13
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tlr I'm a dick[/quote]
Dude don't call yourself a Dick Lol. What you do that for? |
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| Caesar |
Posted on 12/17/2013 13:15:49
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Member
Posts: 179
Joined: 22.08.13
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Neo wrote:
tl r I'm a dick
Dude don't call yourself a Dick Lol. What you do that for?[/quote]
Considering that the vast majority of their parents were jerks and hypocrites. My parents were rather overprotective, I guess you could say it was my way of rebelling?
My name is Julius Augustus Octavianus Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin Brutus
I am DrkInferno in case you didn't know. booooooo (didn't change that) Actually the other way around. |
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| Neo |
Posted on 12/17/2013 13:20:06
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Posts: 149
Joined: 22.09.13
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Ahhh ok well I understand that to an extent. |
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| Caesar |
Posted on 12/17/2013 13:26:58
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Posts: 179
Joined: 22.08.13
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Neo wrote:
Ahhh ok well I understand that to an extent.
Besides, that was also when my obession with Josef Stalin and Leon Trotsky (Public Library had the info, not the school, I wonder why) was in swing, I felt like I was doing the right thing by breaking the parent's social control lol
My name is Julius Augustus Octavianus Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin Brutus
I am DrkInferno in case you didn't know. booooooo (didn't change that) Actually the other way around. |
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| Neo |
Posted on 12/17/2013 13:33:39
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Posts: 149
Joined: 22.09.13
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I don't really like the pedant social code for one because sometimes even when they think something will be fun in the end the children get hurt when you break the news that is the only reason I don't agree with this whole Santa thing. |
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| Vulture |
Posted on 12/17/2013 14:17:00
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Newbie
Posts: 0
Joined: 25.08.12
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Santa is just some made-up type of hero of a guy named St. Nicholas who used to give presents inside people's shoes for Christmas back in the days. That's when they started calling him Santa, lol.
 Proud to be in the Jajaja group! |
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| Dudeman |
Posted on 12/17/2013 14:26:53
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Super Admin
Posts: 1277
Joined: 03.01.12
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From a historical standpoint Saint Nicholas was a Greek, so probably looked like a slightly tan white guy.
Jesus was middle eastern, who was born near Jerusalem I believe. Idk, it's been awhile since I've read the Bible.
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| Vlexis XII |
Posted on 12/17/2013 14:58:06
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Posts: 1199
Joined: 16.07.13
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I view Santa as white, which is no doubt the product of the commercial American/western world white idea of Christmas. But I think Santa can be any race you want him to be. Or no race. Maybe he's an alien or something.
I view Jesus as being Middle Eastern. So, he could have some features we in the modern west think of as "white," but he could just as easily be not that way too. Could even be more African. Christmas has never been a religious holiday for me at all, so I don't associate it much with Jesus.
As for kids believing in Santa, I think it's fine. My mom always told me "Santa is real if you want him to be real," so she let me choose for myself and so I chose to believe in Santa for a long time. In some ways I still do-- not realistically obviously, but in a magic of Christmas type of way. Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year, and some of my happiest memories revolve around Christmas and Santa. I think it's fun to partake in the spirit of Christmas, and part of that is letting kids believe in Santa. It's fun--who cares if kids believe in the fictional man who watches your behavior and gives you presents accordingly?
I also believed Santa was 100% real for a long while when I was a little kid because my parents got me a cat on a Christmas morning and I couldn't understand how it got in our house, because obviously my parents didn't have it or I'd have seen it, so the only explanation was Santa. xD (It didn't occur to my childhood self that a friend of the family could have been taking care of it before Christmas, haha.)
Edited by Vlexis XII on 12/17/2013 15:00:44
I like owls. Do you like owls? (@v@)
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| Mist |
Posted on 12/17/2013 15:28:50
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Numpty
Posts: 1242
Joined: 22.07.13
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Whatever race the person wants is perfectly fine. I saw this on the news |
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| nygiants88 |
Posted on 12/17/2013 16:09:47
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Super Admin
Posts: 1707
Joined: 24.07.11
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What race is Santa? He is Tim Allen. So that means Santa is white.
What race is Jesus? Seeing as most pictures depict him as white, I see him as being white. If you were brought up seeing pictures of Jesus as being x race and color, you most likely will think of him as x race and color.
Disregard the part about Santa. He looks just like Tim Allen
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