A zebra shows up at a church in Africa, and after the service he waits patiently to speak with the priest. Finally the last of the congregation has gone, and the zebra goes up to the priest.
"Father, I have a question. It's been bugging me for some time. Am I black with white stripes, or white with black stripes?"
The priest looks puzzled, and finally replies "Well now, I don't know. No one's ever asked me that. We should go ask the Bishop."
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So off they go, and when they get to the Bishop's church, the zebra doesn't even wait for the priest to explain why they're there. He just blurts out "Am I black with white stripes, or white with black stripes?"
The Bishop ponders, and then admits he doesn't know either. "We'll go to Rome," the Bishop says, "and ask one of the Cardinals."
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So they get to Rome, but the Cardinal is just as stumped as the priest and Bishop were, so the Cardinal says somberly "We must ask His Holiness, the Pope." They all troop in, and the priest says to the Pope "Holy Father, I bring one of God's creatures with a question that has been bothering him. None of us have been able to help." The Pope looks at the zebra and says "Go on, my son." So the zebra asks again: "Am I black with white stripes, or white with black stripes?" The Pope bows his head and says a quick prayer, and the next thing anyone knows, an unearthly voice booms out "You are what you are."
The Pope lifts his head and he's smiling. The zebra looks around and everyone's smiling but him. He asks the Pope "Why is everyone smiling?" The Pope says "because God gave you the answer; He said you were white with black stripes." The zebra is really frustrated now, and demands to know how the Pope got that answer out of what the Lord's said. The Pope replies: "Because if you were black with white stripes, He would have said 'You IS what you IS.'