Blog #10

1. After considering the arguments, how do you respond to the visual and textual rhetoric of these shirts? Does one shirt elicit a different reaction from you than the other? Do you see the images as a parody? How does your exposure, participation, or lack of participation in a spiritual faith influence your answer? Explain.

These shirts seem like a desperate, pathetic attempt for Christian teenagers to display their religious affiliation in a “trendy” way. Both of the shirts are lame and disrespect the sacred religion and other religions as well. Portraying a holly prophet in a sweatshirt with a peace-sign is not humorous and indeed offends many people. Being a devout Muslim, I am offended by these shirts because Jesus is also an important holly figure in the religion of Islam.

2. Use one of Paul Mitchell's quotes to refute his argument.

When Paul Mitchell is discussing the band “U2”, he states “wearing their t-shirt was an obvious way to make a Christian statement.” He is stating how he wanted to display his religious affiliation at a rock concert. This completely disagrees with his whole argument of outwardly communicating Christianity through love and not with material items.

3. If the t-shirts only contained the text, how would that impact the rhetorical effect? Would that change the way you react to the shirts?

If the t-shirts contained only text there would be less of a rhetorical effect leading to less of a controversy. The idea of portraying a prophet in a “humorous” way is offensive. In addition, the idea of being “trendy” and stating “Jesus is my homeboy”, which is the equivalent of calling Jesus a good friend, is not so controversial and should be generally accepted.

4. How do you interpret the rhetorical message about Jesus in each t-shirt? Consider how you interpreted the comics and ads in the beginning of the term as a model for how to respond to this question. For the shirt on the left consider halo, facial expression, color of the shirt, and positioning of Jesus in relationship to the text. For the shirt on the right, consider the attire and physical gestures. For both shirts, consider color scheming and font style.

The first t-shirt is displaying Jesus as somewhat of a teenager. The peace-sign and the open mouth suggest a young, playful gesture. In comparison to the other t-shirt, Jesus looks serious and more “realistic” in theory. The quotation “Jesus is my homeboy” ads “humor” to the t-shirt which contradicts the somber image behind it.