Offensive or artsy?

How many people in the US know who this guy is? Or that the red cross and white background is England's flag (most think it's the Union Jack). Hell, when you said the name Rooney, I first thought of

 

I'm with Hoops. I think it rocks.

And I didn't see Jesus...I saw the flag. And I think it's cool as hell. I'd hang it in my cubicle.

 

Maybe I need to turn in my card down at the local church because I have no idea how anybody decided that picture/pose had anything to do with Jesus. Any time somebody put their arms out like that -  waking up in the morning and stretchign, for example —  that implies something about the crucifixion? I don't get it.  I'm not sure why people turn everything in the wrold into an afront on our beliefs. My mind is sufficiently boggled.
That said, I think it's probably a little over the top, but not offensive.  I vote artsy.

 

Sure, but if someone made an anti-gay poster you'd be going ballistic.

BTW, I don't have a problem with the poster.

 

This isn't an anti-Jesus poster. This isn't anti-anything. This is a pro-England World Cup Team poster.

 

Probably when you've got a dozen crucifixes hanging all over your house, and you really thought the world might end on 6-6-06, you're a little bit more wired in to seeing jeebus's image on everything you encounter. Just regular things like, oh, a <a href="http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/art/j2k5-17.jpg">tortilla shell</a> ... or <a href="http://www.spiritdaily.org/Sign_Wonders/clearw1.jpg">a building in Florida</a> (here's <a href="http://www.visionsofjesuschrist.com/weeping13.htm">more</a>) ... or <a href="http://media.livingwithstyle.com/files/5/0/1/7/1026jesus-tree.jpg">on a tree</a> ... or <a href="http://cellar.org/2002/jesustree.jpg">on another tree</a> ... or <a href="http://images.ibsys.com/2002/0129/1210752_200X150.jpg">yet another tree</a>. Or Wayne Rooney. Or Johnny Damon, for that matter.

Some people are just weird.

 

Another with Hoops. That rocks. Dude already got his haircut, and he's primed.

 

just don't make him look like Mohammed.

 

I'm a Christian and the ad really doesn't bother me.
Without even reading the story I saw the picture bounce up and immediately thought, "well, there's a fan who loves his team." Then I read further and saw it was an English World Cup player and thought even better of it.
I never had any real reason to think it was offensive to Jesus or Christians. It is, at the very least, a very striking and vibrant ad.
I suppose in some way I could see how a person might think it had something to do with Jesus, but at the same time sometimes it seems as if people are offended because they want to be or they're just looking for a reason to be offended.
That's just one opinion and it doesn't count for much, I suppose.

 

Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu betcha.

 

Agreed. The Red Cross reminded me of the English flag, not a crucifix. I'm certainly no religious expert, but I think it is definitely more of a defining force in England/Ireland. A similar ad in the US wouldnt cause such a ruckus, I would think.