post for 2/20

                This week we discussed Baily’s article “Turned White as Snow”. This article discusses the Isiah passage that says “Though your sins be but crimson, they shall be turned white as snow.  Baily argues that this has become racialized, but was never really meant as a racial suggestion. Baily also argues that it has been used as a racially motivated text, where white is the symbol pf purity, and thus being white skinned is also a symbol of purity. This article brings up a few interesting points for me.

                The first point is that red symbolizes life in many cultures, while white symbolizes death. It would be interesting to read this passage coming from a culture that viewed red as god, and white as bad or deathly. Some of these cultures include Native American cultures, as well as Chinese cultures. We have already discussed how these cultures read the Bible in different ways than the dominate white culture, but it would be interesting to understand some different readings of this specific verse.

                The next point is white is the color of light. As in, whenever the phenomenon of light is represented on paper there is white. Jesus Christ is known as the light of the world, so maybe white in liturgical settings represents the phenomena of light.  Also, white is literally the absence of color. When we see white it is because there is no pigmentation for our eyes to see. Therefore, white, perhaps represents the idea that Jesus washes anew and it like sinners are blank slates.

                Next, another idea Baily discusses is the idea of liturgical colors.  He points out that lent and advent are darker colors, usually purple, while Easter and Christmas are white. He also points out that the liturgical color for hope week is a lighter color. He argues that it is all because of white supremacists. However, this confuses me a bit because no one identifies as purple or pink. I do not understand how this is racially motivated. Purple is also the color of royalty and wealth, so I do not believe that this is racially motivated. I believe the purple is more to symbolize Jesus’ seat and closeness to God.

                We read a very interesting article this week about translating the original Hebrew into English. Baily argues that the Isiah passage that says that sins will be turned will as snow is not a blessing, rather a curse.  This comes from the context of Isiah, as well as properly translating the Hebrew word IM to if rather than though. When we do this, we see that Isiah is more of a curse than a blessing. Baily also argues that it was not intended to be racially motivated but was made racial by white supremacists. I believe that it is important to educate people about this concern. It is very interesting to think about, I never knew that this was an issue, or the context from Isiah.