the jesus shirt

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Yesterday I wore a T-shirt that I purchased at Goodwill for 50 cents. It’s small and purple, with a faded logo that says, “Polar Expedition: Where kids discover Jesus’ love is cool!” The “t” in “expedition” is white, whereas the other letters are blue, so it looks like—you guessed it—a cross. There is also a small picture of a Wallace-and-Gromit-style penguin wearing a red scarf.

Now, I am not a Christian. But while I have all the predictable beefs with organized religion, I also cannot say that Jesus’ love isn’t cool. If you listen to the gospel of Thomas or my friend Alanna, he sounds very cool, in fact. I don’t want to be one of those people who dismisses all Christians as Amy Grant-listening, George W.-loving sheep. So while I bought the shirt with ironic intentions, I wear it hesitantly. I don’t want people to think I’m an Amy Grant-listening, George W.-loving Bible-thumper. But I also don’t want them to think I have anything against Jesus, because I don’t. So if asked, I’m prepared to say that I like bad puns. Polar Expedition/Jesus is cool. (You probably got that the first time.)

Of course, I’ve never been asked. I work in an office with one other person, and my only daytime outing yesterday was to Feast from the East for lunch, where the bored-looking guy at the cash register just wanted to keep the line moving as quickly as possible.

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