a 30-year old man from kentucky underwent some radical plastic surgery in order to physically resemble jesus christ. according to the lexington daily tribune, mark emery has already been following jesus’ footsteps in many different ways for several years, becoming a carpenter himself, as well as studying ancient jewish law and religious texts. he went so far as to spend more than $215,000 on two years worth of plastic surgery to change his physical appearance to resemble jesus. after undergoing a total of 21 surgical interventions, he claims to be “almost satisfied” with the results. “some people buy fancy cars or fancy mansions… i use my money to show my love for jesus by getting surgery to look more like him,” says mr. emery. “i try to live by his example and to be as much like him as i can. for me, acting like jesus wasn’t enough, i really wanted to be like him and look like him.” the young man used various images and icons in order to determine the actual appearance of christ before beginning his various surgeries. many critics have already arisen in the social media, both denouncing or mocking mr. emery’s attempt to resemble jesus christ. hundreds of people, including various religious leaders, have made some religiously oriented critics, denouncing as “blasphemy” or “heresy” his desire to physically imitate the appearance of christ. “christians love jesus and try to act like him, not look like him. shame on you. that’s ridiculous and anti-christian” wrote pastor john hagee on his twitter account. many critics have also described mr. emery’s surgery as “ridiculous” since the physical appearance of jesus christ remains unclear and is still subject to a lot of debate. a special on pbs special put together a large study to determine what jesus must have looked like, and this is the result they obtained. the bible itself gives no physical description of jesus in the sense of describing his skin tone, hair style, or facial traits. many theories have been elaborated by scholars over the years, some of them incredibly far-fetched, claiming that jesus could have been west african, egyptian or half-roman among others, but none of these claims were backed on any proof. it is generally accepted among historians, that jesus was not of european descent, as he is usually depicted on icons and crucifixes. he would instead have resembled a modern-day arab, turk or other middle eastern man, having a slightly darker skin color. despite all these critics, mr. emery says that he is really happy with the results of his surgery, claiming that he now feels closer to jesus than he had ever felt in his life.
months after being denied media credentials for the texas house, the conservative organization texas scorecard — a product of empower texans, a tea party-aligned political advocacy group with one of the state’s best-funded political action committees — has filed a first amendment lawsuit arguing that its rejection from the lower chamber constitutes “unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.” before the legislative session kicked off in january, two employees of texas scorecard, brandon waltens and destin sensky, applied for media credentials in both chambers of the legislature. in the senate, their credentials were granted; in the house, they were denied. the two chambers follow similar rules about who is allowed special journalistic access to the floor, and both prohibit lobbyists. but the chambers’ political atmospheres are different. house administration chair charlie geren, a fort worth republican who has sparred with empower texans and its pac in the past, told the group in a january rejection letter that it was ineligible for media credentials because “the organization you are employed by, texas scorecard, has a close association with a general-purpose political committee (gpac) and that the organization’s website prominently displays advocacy on policy matters before the legislature.” as evidence of the group’s affiliation with the pac, geren cited the organizations' shared address — but by the time geren’s letter was issued, the lawsuit claims, they no longer shared that address. empower texans pac has backed primary opponents to geren and has given lt. gov. dan patrick, who leads the texas senate, more than $850,000 in the last five years. in the lawsuit, filed this week in federal court in austin, the organization alleges that its history with geren — who, the complaint says, “has routinely and openly expressed hostility” to the group “on account of their publications” — led him to engage in “bad faith viewpoint discrimination.” it asks a federal judge to force geren to issue media credentials to the two employees. reached on the floor of the texas house on wednesday morning, geren said he had no comment on the lawsuit. empower texans, which operates under several names, is a unique blend of political action committee, advocacy group and news outlet. during the session, it produces a biweekly newspaper and a weekday morning newsletter, as well as a weekly podcast and video broadcast. but the organization also directly advocates for specific votes on specific measures — releasing regular “vote notices” that call on elected officials to back its priorities — and ranks lawmakers on an a-f scale as either “pro-” or “anti-taxpayer.” although they do not have media credentials in the texas house, waltens and sensky — like anyone else — can sit in the public second-floor gallery. only journalists, lawmakers, staff and special guests are permitted on the chambers’ floors, where they enjoy easier access to elected officials. the lawsuit alleges that “by denying plaintiffs access to the hall of the house equal to that afforded to other media representatives, [geren] is violating plaintiffs’ rights to free speech and freedom of the press.” the complaint claims that “no employee of empower texans is required to register as a lobbyist and the organization does not employ or contract with any person who is required to register as a lobbyist.” the organization has presented itself as a journalism outlet before. in 2017, geren pulled a press pass that had been issued for another employee of the group, cary cheshire  waltens and sensky are common fixtures at the press table in the texas senate, where their coverage sometimes reflects the conservative bent of their organization. they have also reported on goings-on in the texas house.