Religion becoming pop-culture

I think that this idea of religion becoming pop-culture should be compared to religion in politics. I do not think that politics and religion should be so closely intertwined, and think that some people have taken their religious beliefs to a point where they are not "practicing what they preach", but instead competing against other people with hostility and are lacking compassion, a virtue that most religions teach.
Pop-culture and religion are also becoming too closely related. Apperal with "Mary is my homegirl" and "Jesus is my homeboy" seems degrading to the relationship one is suppose to have with whichever higher power they believe in, but in this case it is God in the Christian faith. Most religions teach a close-knit and personal relationship with their diety, but referring to them as "Homeboy" is taking it too far.
The visual rhetoric of this shirt makes Jesus or Mary reachable and personable to people in a humorous way. Calling them "homeboy" is saying that they are a cool, hip friend of yours. I dont see much middle ground in this argmuent, like Paul Mitchell. It could be argued that they're just t-shirts and images and it shouldn't be taken that seriously. However, I grew up with a religious background, and see that religion is a serious commitment. How can such a spirtual relationship and deep commitment be simplified down to a statement as simple as "Jesus is my homeboy"? I think it would be more influential and a little less commercial to have an image of Jesus on the cross, bloody and tortured. This would should the seriousness of believing in a religion. I've seen this appeal to the masses method used a lot lately. I once visited a church that hooked prospective church-goers with entertaining games, like "Who can finish this can of Spam the quickest". Seriously, what does this teach about religion?
Mitchell said "What disturbs me is that the Christian love them too (referring to the t-shirts). This is alientating Christians and calling them gullible. Some Christians and forms of Christianity could be trying to appeal to teengers and young kids to make them see that you can have a real relationship with Jesus, like you do with your friends. It could be argued that this is the hook to lead people onto a deeper relationship, where God is put first in ones life.
If this shirt only contained the text the impact would be less controversial. The image makes the argument more of a parody. If the letters were Gothic styled instead of bubbled, the t-shirt may be viewed as more serious and less commerical. Although, i still dont think the text can effect the content to anything truly serious.
The image's role makes Jesus and Mary seem like just another ordinary person. I do see the image as a parody. All the images are all too over-used, like the halo above his head. The positioning of his hands look holy, like he's trying to offer something wonderful to someone, and in this case it's him, which seems selfish when he is suppose to be selfless.
I wish this didn't sound so stereotypical, but a black t-shirt would makes me think of a punk-rocker wearing this shirt because he/she thinks it's funny. Black would connotate sin, and white forgiveness in the religious sense, but i dont think the shirts would stand for that. It would seem more ironic saying that religion is black and white, when it's really not. A yellow shirts may be more bubbly and i can picture more Christians wearing it to be cutesy.