To get pissed off at nativity sets?

[Cundtbake]

This is my second Christmas thread in a week sorry to everyone who isn't quite ready for it.

DS has decided he'd like us to have a nativity set after admiring one in a shop recently. I'm not particularly religious but his dads family is, and besides I have a fondness for nice little nativity sets.

But as I search online I'm getting increasingly pissed off at these white skinned blond haired sets. Do people really believe that this whole group of middle eastern people were ivory skinned with rosy cheeks and fair hair? Oh apart from perhaps a token black wise man.

Does it bother anybody else?

I've decided to just make my own.

I find christianity rather offensive.

Apologies I must have misread your post education

If you look at Christian art around the world, you will see that it's very common for the figures to look like the people who created the images. It's normal to want to relate to the people depicted. It's not a big deal

I was just going to post exactly that. I remember going to an exhibition of images of Jesus from round the world donkey's years back - there were Native American Jesuses and Indian Jesuses and African Jesuses and on and on. Also classic European Christian art (think all those paintings of the Nativity by famous artists hanging in various art galleries) dates from an era when even many educated Europeans wouldn't necessarily know much about the world beyond Europe or what non-Europeans looked like. Its only relatively recently that ordinary people in say Britain would be able to accurately visualise people from other cultures - photography, film, TV and affordable, good quality books and magazines are all quite recent inventions.

I find christianity rather offensive

MN threads touching on Christianity always leave me longing for a 'yawn' smiley.

Crumple No offence taken at all . i'm not sure a lot of the black Jesus art is actually made in Africa, I think a lot of them are made by black American artists, but i may be wrong.

Please don't derail my thread into a religious vs. atheist war! This always happens!

There have been lots of informative and interesting posts. Please let's keep it at a healthy discussion rather than a bun fight

toomany do you find all religion offensive of just Christianity?

Bigbluestars I find some interpretations of it offensive too. But I don't think you should glibly discount people's belief systems in one single, patently false statement presented as fact.

I am an atheist but I love a nativity set / scene. And carols. No idea why.

Have you decided what to get OP?

(Sorry Cundtbake. Cross-post! )

BitOutOfPractice I love carols too! I'm making my own out of polymer clay. It's actually turned into a really nice thing for DS and I to do together.

Oh that does sound nice. I would do that too if I had time except I don't have a creative bone in my body

What about using Sylvanian Families and making a modernish animal version?

Or an abstract one using Chess pieces? Although Jesus would have to be a pawn...

My DDs used to go to a Guides pack that was attached to the Salvation Army church. They had a silver band and so their carol concerts were the best ever!

As a raving atheist nativity sets make me feel a bit depressed (though I am not here to join in a religious/atheist war) however if I was going to have one, I'd be with you OP. The neutral wood ones seem like a nice solution and could be quite cool.

look at these! actually I'd have that in my house.

I've just roffled at the TKMaxx ones too.

Throughout Medieval Europe The Virgin was often depicted as black. You also find Black Madonna imagery in the Caribbean.

Anyway OP what about making some nativity figures? Also look on eBay for vintage nativity sets.

Bigblue. What do you find so offensive about Christianity? I agree that some of the trappings are ridiculous and many people who claim to be Christians are really not following Jesus' teachings.

But Jesus' message itself is a very beautiful thing. Treat others as you would like to be treated, I can't see anything remotely offensive about that.

It also does annoy me that every "Mary" in every nativity play I've ever seen (and I've seen a few) has been white with blonde hair. It's like whoever's in charge can only think "the prettiest little girl must be Mary" and "pretty = blonde".

CaptainJaneSafeway I sniggered a bit at the Three Wise Men on that set. It took a while to realise that the things on their fronts were the gifts!!

Yes they are laden with impressive... erm... endowments

And the one on the right looks particularly smug about it (well as smug as you can look with a block of wood for a head).

LOVE the baby jesus and the crib though!

It took me a while to figure out what the 'animals' were meant to be. I thought they were just random stools. As if the stable came complete with pouffes

Both my daughters have been Mary in the school nativity and they are both brunette. But yes, obviously they are the prettiest girls in their classes.

(Ok I admit it; I suspect they got the gig as a pity vote because I am disabled: DS got Joseph in his year too).

Cundtbake but I think the issue is more about Art History than religion. Western religious art is iconic because there is so much of it, and it is so widely-known - hence the mass marketers copying it to make cheap Nativity sets. Surely you don't expect the average manufacturing company to commission new designs for their figures at great expense when they can just copy from 1,000 years of paintings and statuary?
Christmas without Jesus ? It would make more sense then to celebrate Saturnalia or Kwanzaa.

Love the minimalist nativity set, Jane