Kerre Woodham: Jesus shirts are just plain filth

Photo / Brett Phibbs

Anyone who walks around wearing a T-shirt or sweatshirt that says "Jesus is a c***" is making a pretty provocative statement.

Eight shirts emblazoned with that message were seized from a Southland store this week after Internal Affairs asked police to intervene.

The clothing is spawned from a line of merchandise from a little-known metal band, Cradle of Filth. The band is made up of podgy white people and seems to exist simply to enrage parents and church groups.

Fans of the shirts - mainly young people from small towns who had no other way of gaining attention - said they thought the police seizures were ridiculous and that if they couldn't wear them on the street, they'd jolly well wear them at home.

That's right - save them for when the Mormons or the Jehovah's Witnesses come calling. That will ensure you never get a repeat visit.

I would hate to see us evoking fatwas on the chap selling the T-shirts or rioting over the insult. We're better than that.

But the right to free speech doesn't mean you abuse the privilege just to provoke a reaction. You may not believe in Jesus but there's no need to be rude.

Part of being a grown-up is not blurting out everything you think or every prejudice you have.

As for Jesus, from what I remember from RE classes, he'd have looked at the T-shirt wearer with those long-suffering eyes and forgiven them for their rudeness and foolishness.