Christ, another meme!
[Note: From Poéfrika Archives of June 2007]
I did a little test and I used my children to do it. I had to. The result was astonishing, even if expected. My son is 9 and my daughter is 7, and here's how I conducted my test. If you can, please take part and report your findings on your blog, or in the comments section here:
Christ, another meme!
- Tell a child who's not older than twelve that you're going to show them two pictures, and that their job is to tell you which one of them is Jesus Christ.
- First show this image: IMAGE 1, then this one: IMAGE 2, and each time ask, "Is this Jesus Christ?"
- What did they say? Report your findings on your blog or here.
- Write a short note about whether it's the result you expected, and if not, what should we do as parents to make sure we get the result we expect?
- This is a sensitive issue, don't tag anyone. Hope for volunteers, instead.
18 voices:
Child #1 said yes on both; Child #2 had doubts on image 2, was it Jesus or was it a hippie or a long haired athlete with an inspirational message?
These weren't my kids but I suspect Child #1 (especially) had been trained for this kind of exercise - they are Catholic and mixed race, and I the issue has come up before for them. In my area, though, many children, including nonwhite children, would say Jesus was white, since powerful people usually are, etc.
It also depends on the exact way the question is asked - whether they assume they can pick only one, or can pick both.
What to do about it - talk about these things. I was not raised Christian and would have said Jesus was white because all the images I ever saw of him, were. In my later teens I started to see other representations of Jesus and realized, "oh, yes, he doesn't have to be white, may not have been." I would imagine that had we been Christian, the issue would have come up at church / Sunday School / home earlier on.
My kids are a little too young to try, but it's an interesting meme. I'll have to check back for the answers.
Prof,
My kids are mixed race too, and they go to a catholic school. But it was the first time they'd been faced with the issue.
I agree with you that it does depend also on the way it's asked. I tried not to influence my kids.
January,
If they're too young they may even wonder what the heck we're talking about, and if they're too old they know why we're asking, and they reply appropriately, so as not to hurt the feelings of the person asking.
I gave my daughter this test. She's nine. When I asked her about #1, she said no, that's not Jesus. My heart sank a little as I worried about her not accepting Jesus of another race. Then I showed her #2, and again she said, "that's not Jesus." I asked her why they weren't pictures of Jesus and she floored me, recalling from Sunday's sermon (the pastor was preaching on the 2nd Commandment--no idols), that we don't know what Jesus is like and that's a good thing because we'd worship a picture and not him...
Hi R. I don't have any children and don't know any, since I'm new to this country and too far from my own people.
Sage, that's why I believe that children sometimes have a better understanding of many things since their innocence haven't been corrupted by our world and that their parents and church can still mold their minds appropriately.
And I agree fully with what she said. I don't look at photo's of Jesus. I look past them as I believe he is in my heart and for that I don't need to see. We need to believe and trust Him, without putting a face to his name.
Ka
Hi! Thank you very much for your recent comment on my Poetry Thursday poem -- I really appreciate it. I was fascinated by this Christ test. I don't have kids, but it would be really interesting to hear a bunch of kids' responses. And adults' responses too! It is a sensitive issue and it's great for parents and teachers to be able to help children early on to be open minded and open hearted to color and form and ideas of spirituality. Very cool.
Sage,
"No idols" -- of course...and her reasoning is sound, too.
Clare,
Thanks for stopping by. I agree with you say "it's great for parents and teachers to be able to help children early on."
Kae-Lyne,
Of course we don't need paintings of Jesus, lest we start worshipping those paintings (I borrowed this from Sage's daughter).
This is really interesting. I don't have children of my own, nor do I have children I could readily borrow for this. Personally either could be, but I'm with sage's child's response - we don't know.... It is however interesting how quickly indoctrination sets in.
My grandchild (who took the test) is also mixed race, Philippino/Caucasian, and he chose the second picture, probably because he is familiar with it.
BTW, Jake is 5 years old, Mormon, and knows much about Jesus. Does the fact that he was historically Jewish make him Caucausian?
"Does the fact that he was historically Jewish make him Caucausian?"
Hey. Does the fact that Jesus was historically Jewish make him Caucasian? I do not think it does at all. Several pointers lead us to think he was probably Semitic. Not Asian in the large sense of the word Semitic (meaning descendants of Shem), but more middle-Eastern as we've come to use therm today. What pointers am I referring to?
Please check this post out.
"the term"
Yes, I agree. I never meant to say I thought he would look Caucasian. I have always assumed that he looked "Semitic" since he had a Middle Eastern heritage. And no, whatever he looked like has no relevance to his message. Mostly speculation in any case.
Thanks for the link!
FASCINATING. I just tested my boys. They both go to a Catholic school, though we don't attend church (I'm lapsed RC, my other half is an agnostic (quietly).
Okay, son number one, who is 7.5, said the first one 'could be'. When showed the second one he immediately said yes. I asked him why, he said that he was wearing a sash and JC always wears a sash.
Son number two is 5.5. He said a very forceful 'no' to the first picture. To the second photo he said 'yes, he's got a beard'. I pointed out the first one had a beard too..........when I asked him why the first one wasn't Jesus, he said he looked like someone dressed up as Jesus (it has to be said that my eldest went through a period of dressing up as Jesus a couple of years ago, he liked all the stories...this may have been what he was getting at.)
I then explained they were both JC.
I think the second JC is very like the classic Catholic icon that is up all over the walls in their school. To me, Jesus is middle eastern, I've pictured him that way for years.
Jo,
My findings are here: poefrika.blogspot.com/2007/06
Cheers
Post a Comment