Marketing Jesus

From staff and wire reports

"Jesus is my homeboy" T-shirts. Belts engraved with the Ten Commandments. A national coffee chain with religious quotes on its disposable cups.

God's only begotten son has become a pop icon.

With everyone from teenagers to celebrities sporting it, Christianity-related paraphernalia is clearly good for business. But religious leaders across the country are wondering if that kind of business is good for Christianity.

"Using religion to increase profit in the marketplace, to promote nationalism or to serve a political agenda is certainly not new," said the Rev. Scott Moon, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau.

Moon said he knows one pastor who has collected "tacky Jesus" merchandise for decades.

"With the current blurring of distinctions, with diminishing respect and with the suspicion of authority which characterizes our world, it is not surprising that some blatant use and abuse of religion is taking place," Moon said.

Companies like Urban Outfitters and Teenage Millionaire have made a bundle selling T-shirts with sayings like "Jesus is my homeboy" or "Mary is my homegirl." Next spring, Starbucks plans to feature a quotation on its cups from Rick Warren, the best-selling author and pastor, which includes the line, "You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense."

"The way in which religion allows itself to be reshaped by the larger culture, including markets, allows it to prosper and do well, but it also clearly changes its core values," said Charles Ess, a professor of religion at Drury University in Springfield, Mo. "The oldest Christians sold all their goods and shared them in common. They didn't shop and launch marketing campaigns."

Then again, Christianity seems to have done quite well by mixing worship and commerce.

"Religion is like yeast in dough," said Michael Novak, a theologian at the American Enterprise Institute. "It's in every part of life, so for it to show up everywhere is only natural -- in commerce, politics, sports, labor unions and so on and so forth."

In any case, if religion is good for Starbucks, is Starbucks good for religion? Being associated with a $5 soy mocha latte may spread the word, but at what cost to the image of a heartfelt faith?

"Sometimes it's so vulgar that it's not particularly good for religion," Novak said. "But if religion is in everything, it has to be in the vulgar stuff, too."

The Rev. Paul Kabo, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau, shared similar thoughts.

"In a country which permits freedom of speech and freedom of religion, a person would expect to see a huge variety of religious expression from Christianity as well as from other religions of this world," said Kabo. "And truly that is the case in our country. It would be great if these two freedoms were embraced by every country of the world."

Kabo said that underneath opposition to that form of spreading Christianity "seems to be a belief that Christianity ought to be sequestered or isolated from all arenas of life except the inside of churches or prayer chapels.

"Such a thought must be an aberration of the separation of church and state dialogue. Remember, if a faith position does not affect one's everyday life, it is not so much a faith position as a hobby," Kabo said.

The New York Times and features editor Callie Clark Miller contributed to this report.