Doubt
I have some questions here.
A picture of Jesus can remain on the wall at a south Louisiana courthouse because it is now just one among many portraits of legal icons, a federal judge ruled Sept. 7.
What’s a picture of Jesus? Is it a picture of a guy wearing, like, a sweatshirt with ‘Jesus’ across the front? Because if it’s not, how does anyone know it’s Jesus? It’s not as if there’s a stash of photographs of the guy somewhere you know. There’s not even a stash of sketches; there’s not even one sketch. There’s nothing. There’s also no physical description. Mark doesn’t tell us he was balding and short. John doesn’t tell us he had red hair and a squint. Nobody tells us anything. So what is a picture of Jesus?
The picture is now shown with 15 other people in legal history through the ages. They include Mohammed, who is shown holding the Koran, Charlemagne, Napoleon and King Louis IX of France.
Couple of things here. One, Mohammed has the same problem – nobody knows what he looked like, so what does it mean to have a picture of him along with a picture of Napoleon (who as we all know looked like Marlon Brando)? And two – uh – I hate to be the one to bring it up, but does no one remember what got shouted so much in February 2006? [whispers] We’re not allowed to make or have or display pictures of Mohammed. It’s forbidden – not just to Muslims, but by Muslims to all other people. Be very very careful down there in Slidell County, because you might get solemn visits from ambassadors from ‘Muslim countries’ who will want you to apologize and crawl around on the floor for awhile and throw seven or eight people in jail. So mind how you go.
The former judge who bought the picture said in a sworn statement that he had no idea that it had any religious significance. “To me at the time it appeared to be a depiction of a lawgiver,” retired Judge James R. Strain Jr. said. Lemelle, who noted several times during the hearing that the picture showed someone with a halo, said he wasn’t questioning Strain’s veracity. “But it’s a halo. You can tell him I said that,” he told Johnson.
Ah, a halo – so are they quite sure it’s not a picture of Moses, or Paul, or Constantine? And if they are quite sure – how did they get that way?
“District Judge Ivan Lemelle said he would have ordered the picture to be removed had it remained prominently on display by itself in the city courthouse lobby”
Jesus is indeed very lucky that he can remain on the wall of a courthouse along with the rest of his iconoclastic portrait legal apostles. He was nearly getting his marching orders – so he really has them to thank for saving his bacon.
The picture of Mohammed is kind of bewildering. Can they really be that out-of-touch or is it a terribly witty double-bluff?
I figured it was probably meant as a compliment, and that they just kind of forgot about the no pics thing. Sad for them.
Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of Christ pictures in court houses, why would anyone put a picture of Mohamed along side a picture of Jesus?they are not of equal status,it would be like putting up a picture of M.L.K.and to provide balance a picture of Atila the hun!
If they’re going to have portraits of such a wide variety of historic figures, why don’t they have pictures of the other prominent members of the Christ family? Like Mary F. Christ, who is reknowned for her struggle against the crucifixion penalty, or Elvira P. Christ, the heroine of the anti-torture campaign (not to mention Horatio Q. Christ, the cleverest accountant in Jerusalem).
Strange there is no description of J.C. as he must have been quite striking looking Italian or Nordic or Slavic or Ethiopian amongst all the Jews, as can be seen in all the vaious pictures produced since.
Of course, if he had existed, then he may well have not looked local. The Romans were occupying the area and if we go along with the ‘Brian’ hypothesis, the father could have been in the Roman army; they recruited from all over the Empire and then posted the recuits all over the Empire. And where the army went, the merchants, servants, families, other civilians followed.
Do I get a special place in hell for suggesting a human father?
If the father was divine, could I have a question answered, how old was Mary? I have seen it suggested that she was thirteen. If that is so, shouldn’t God be on some sort of register.
Hold on. Something miraculous is happening. Nothing miraculous is happening. No lightning. Nothing.
“What did Jesus look like? http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr
got Question.org tells me, Most of the images we have of Jesus today are probably not accurate. Jesus was a Jew, so He likely had dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. This is a far cry from the blond-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned Jesus in many modern pictures.
I read that way back then it was forbidden to have pictures of oneself.
Hey good point – and God is still around, too, so there should be pictures of him all over town, warning everyone that a known child-rapist is in your neighbourhood.
Can I just say, regarding the other ‘figures from legal history’ they picked – Napoleon??? Not exactly an upstanding champion of ‘freedom’ and democracy…
:-)
And of course we know what Jesus looks like (remember folks, he ain’t dead, so no past tense…), he’s got a myspace page. :-)
Well, several myspace sites, to be accurate, and they don’t all agree as to his exact age.
And as to Jesus being Jewish, you know, he really should have listened to his mother…
:-)