Let's Buy Jesus!, Religion & Consumer Products Options

[Comptine]

I was shopping at Urban Outfitters and was browsing their non-clothing section. I look around and see a giant pink thing. Upon closer inspection, it was a giant, pink Jesus. The little place tag in front of the item said Eight Ball Jesus. So I shake it and flip it over. Sure enough, it was an eight ball. When I put it down, I felt as if I disrespected one of the most important religious figures in Christianity (I'm not religious). Also, when I browsed through the tees at Urban Outfitters a little later, I found a tee that proclaimed 'Jesus is My Homeboy!'

I've been noticing lately how much of our consumer products are geared towards religious people (Not just Christianity. There was an Eight Ball Buddha and a Jew Unit shirt). Starbucks even started to print phrases from the Bible on their coffee cups.

If you are religious, are you happy to see your religion on products or do you feel as if it's disrespectful? If you aren't religious, do you feel uncomfortable about the influence of religious views?

[yummy_delight]

^ And that contributes to this topic, HOW?

I think it depends on the product and what it's being used for. If someone is exploiting the likeness of Jesus for pure economic gain or for an illegitimate cause, then of course I'm offended by it. Personally, I'm not a fan of the "Jesus is My Homeboy" t-shirts. I think it brings Jesus down to our human level which isn't entirely accurate because He is holy and we're supposed to worship Him, not just chillax with Him. "Homeboy" gives more of a friendly and casual connotation; Jesus is supposed to be treated with the utmost respect, more like a father then just a friend. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's blasphemous, but I still don't think it's right. The biblical verses on the bottom of coffee cups and on clothing tags are alright because the stores/restaurants aren't using the verses as a selling point. If anything, the printing of the verses gets people interested in the Bible and, in some cases, gets them to read it, which isn't bad at all.