Southern California church nativity scene depicts bloody Trayvon Martin instead of baby Jesus

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Fox-AP

CLAREMONT, Calif. – A Southern California church nativity scene is featuring a bloody Trayvon Martin in place of the infant Jesus in an effort to stir a community conversation about gun violence.

The Los Angeles Times reports Sunday (http://lat.ms/1bw7Qnq ) that the nativity scene on the lawn of the Claremont United Methodist Church was created by congregant and artist John Zachary. Martin is shown in a hoodie, slumped over and bleeding.

But critics on Facebook have blasted the depiction as sacrilege.

FULL short story at link.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/29/southern-california-church-nativity-scene-depicts-bloody-trayvon-martin-instead/

[NYC_SKP]

1. Here's a picture...

[dipsydoodle]

2. Nativity schemes conventionally have a baby.

Michael Angelo's Pieta I might have understood.

[Chakab]

3. Here's the reaction from the RW:

[Aristus]

4. Seems appropriate.

An innocent, unarmed young brown-skinned man callously murdered by a power-crazed, violence-prone insecure entity who received the blessings of the law for doing so. The murder victim was then mocked and disparaged without mercy.

[RC]

5. +10

[JI7]

6. i agree, usually i don't care for these things but when you look at what the original message is

isn't this kind of following that ?

is it because he is black ?

[Iggo]

8. ^^^^

[QuestForSense]

7. I like it and I like it because it's relevant.

And artistic. But sacrilege? Why oh why is this young man's life not held sacred?

[calimary]

9. Totally agree. I like it because it forces people to think.

The original event was cold, harsh reality time, the way I learned it. And I think it's a valuable thing to point this out.

According to legend - Jesus and his earthly parents were quite literally HOMELESS that night. They weren't rich. Joseph was a working stiff. Mary was presumably a stay-at-home mom. Commoners, all, and not blessed with any privilege or status. They had very little money. Some three decades later, at the end of the story, Jesus Himself wound up a murder victim taunted and jeered by a bunch of bloodthirsty yahoos, with the "authorities" disinterested, uncaring, and politically motivated.

I sure see relevance here. A LOT of it.

[Igel]

16. And from a different perspective

Jesus had been God and emptied himself out of being God. People liked that the Pope referred to the kenosis; it's where you get part of your post.

Jesus was sinless. Under the OT law he had nothing that would invite a death penalty.

His life is a symbol of what we should be--it's a call for self-improvement, not a weapon to use against others--unless you think Puritan tithemen, the WCTU, and their ilk. Perfect in love, tolerance, and mercy, but also righteousness and justice. When faced with persecution for God, he accepted it gracefully, right up until he was called to give up his life as part of that persecution. Then he finally also yielded gracefully.

He voluntarily gave up his life so that others wouldn't suffer the penalty of their sins. If we hadn't sinned, then he wouldn't have had a purpose in dying. The Jews at the time that preferred bar-Abbas, the Romans who gave the orders and carried out the punishment may have been those immediately responsible. But ultimately every sinner is guilty.

That's traditional Xian thought. Compare it with Trayvon.

Trayvon wasn't God. He wasn't sinless. He wasn't perfect. Few people want to be like him. When faced with persecution he didn't just accept it with sympathy for those wronging him. He didn't voluntarily give up his life. He didn't give up his life because of your sins, so that you could be saved. He's not a symbol of perfection.

Trayvon was a kid who died a wrongful death, in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person, made into a martyr not to righteousness but to unrighteousness. He died not because of his virtue; he died because of another's sinfulness. There is no salvation narrative to be spun from this. The only similarity with Jesus, besides the trivial "he wasn't blond and blue-eyed", is that he was a victim. He is primarily a symbol of others' imperfections.

[calimary]

17. You're proof-positive. It makes people THINK.

Yanks 'em out of their comfy "usual-ness" and conventions and forces 'em to THINK. Forces a different way of thinking of something so familiar it's widely believed to be about two-thousand years old. Seems to me that's a good thing. Broadens and widens and expands the mind, and we can all use some of that every day - not just on holidays.

[nomorenomore08]

10. Because he was black. I hate to say it, but it's more or less the truth.

Sadly, some human lives are "held sacred" far less than others.

[cohee100]

11. Gun violence?

It seems to me that the shooting of Travon Martin should stimulate a more far-reaching dialog about our culture than "gun violence".

[awoke_in_2003]

12. My initial reaction was to condemn this...

but I kind of see where they are coming from.

[smiley]

13. I can relate to the artist's intententions

This is one of my most recent screen prints. Also created to stir dialogue, but I'm sure it is sacrilege to many.
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[Capt. Obvious]

14. Harder to steal than baby jesus

[Sunlei]

15. That could be everyones/ anyones son in that nativity scene

Had 2 family friends lose their sons to gun violence in the past couple years. Way to many bozos with guns in America. Way to many businesses willing to sell guns to anyone with cash. We should be taxing the crap out of arms and ammo to cover the costs to society.