"Jesus Is my Homeboy"

1. I'm not a very religious person, so the t-shirts don't really bother me like they would bother a person that is Catholic or Christian. I think that the t-shirts are kind of funny because if people wear these shirts it shows that they are comfortable enough in their religion to wear these t-shirts. It shows that they aren't afraid of being criticized for wearing a t-shirt like that from religious people or by people who think that religious people are weird. I think that the first one is somewhat of a parody because the picture on it is not a picture of Jesus but rather of a "thug" because thugs the type of people pictured to say the word homeboy. I believe that their is a higher being but not necessarily Jesus, so these shirts don't really elicit any type of anger or happiness in me.
2. Paul Mitchell states that shirts such as the ones pictured on the blog are a mockery of the Christian faith. He believes that no Christian should wear this because they shouldn't feel the need to show off their faith on t-shirt if they are comfortable enough in the religion. A quote that can refute his argument is "While nuns, priests, monks, and members of the ruling class in Anglicanism and Catholicism have always worn clothes that showed off their Christian status..." This quote shows that even church officials wear clothes that show off their religion and aren't upset with other church officials who wear them.
3. If the t-shirts only contained text, the rhetorical effect would change drastically. I think that both shirts would get the same amount of rise out of a religious person since there aren't any pictures. Pictures along with texts say a lot of things and have many hidden meanings. One shirt wouldn't offend someone as much as the other becuase there aren't any pictures.
4. Each shirt has a very different rhetorical message because of the picture that is on it. If I was a religious t-shirt I would wear the t-shirt on the left because it is an actual picture of Jesus and not of a "thug." The shirt on the left has a picture of Jesus with a halo, which can be interpreted as him being an angel. The color is black though, which is a kind of morbid color and he is not smiling which shows that he suffered pain for his people. He is holding the text as if it was the world. The text on the shirt on the left is also in all caps, which to me makes something look more important. The shirt on the right I think is more offensive to religious people because of the picture. The picture is of a "thug" and most Chrisitans would find this offensive because it is relating people being thugs to Jesus. The man in the picture is wearing sweatpants, a baseball cap, and a sweatshirt. All of these clothes are not things that people would wear to church. The text is above him and is all lowercase, so it doesnt' seem that important. The fact that the shirt is white is good, because the color white is associated with purity.