Jesus Christ is a member of the Chelsea football team. At least, that’s what a considerable number of children who participated in a recent survey actually believe.
This probably comes as a surprise to Chelsea owner, billionaire Roman Abramovich, who would have spent whatever it took to sign up such a star name.
This extraordinary revelation about the footballing prowess of the Son of God was reported by The Independent when it published the results of a survey undertaken by the Brent Cross Shopping Center of London, England.
A total of some 1,000 children were asked multiple choice questions on a number of subjects. One such question was: “Who is Jesus Christ?” The optional answers were:
- A footballer for Chelsea
- The Son of God
- A TV presenter
- An X-Factor contestant
- An Astronaut
Amazingly, 20 percent of the children chose the first option.
Or, is it so amazing?
If one understands something about the demographics of London in general, and the area in which the shopping center is located in particular, it is part of a very mixed multicultural society.
While it is true that the United Kingdom still has a (nominally) Christian majority overall, that is not so true in certain areas. It is highly likely that a considerable number of the children surveyed — possibly 20 percent — were from different faiths. On the other hand, the U.K. is struggling even with so called Christians having a basic knowledge of Christianity.
However, even they are probably are aware that Jesus Christ, while he may have arisen from the dead once, is unlikely to have chosen Chelsea Football Club as the location for his second — or is it his third — coming.
There is a Jesus playing for the football club, Manchester City, but his name is Jesus Naves. Still, it could be confusing for some children to whom Jesus is simply Jesus.
Some might think that the confusion about Jesus Christ in these childrens’ minds was simply an aberration which can be explained away.
That is if you choose to ignore some of the other results of the same survey.
The fact that many children believe Jesus Christ plays for Chelsea wasn’t the only worrying finding.
According to the results, 25 percent of them think the shepherds found the infant Jesus with the assistance of Google Maps.
More than 50 percent think Christmas Day marks Santa Claus’s birthday.
So, believing that Jesus Christ plays for Chelsea doesn’t seem so outrageous after all.
