By Chris Cosci

For many people, religion plays a very significant role in their lives. Some people show their devotion by displaying religious objects throughout their home, whether it be religious symbols, framed quotes or artwork. For Catholics, there is even an online store, Catholic Shopper, that sells a large variety of items, including photo albums, picture frames and tote bags, that feature religious symbols and icons.

I do not find anything wrong with people displaying their religious beliefs. However, there is a fine line between tasteful symbolism and outright tackiness. Catholic Shopper has stumbled over the line with one of their products.

They sell a series of inspirational sports figurines. Each one consists of a scene of hand-painted resin statues on a wooden base depicting a sporting activity, including baseball, golf and martial arts, being performed by three people: two kids and Jesus.

According to the site, these figurines are supposed to help reinforce the idea of Jesus as a friend in our everyday activities. In each scenario, Jesus is seen participating in the activity along with the two children. While participating, he wears his trademark robe and open-toed sandals (which can't be comfortable for kicking a soccer ball around), with the exception of hockey and skiing, where he is gracefully clad in ice skates and skis, respectively.

I'm sure the concept looked good on paper, but it is somewhat disconcerting to see Jesus shooting a basketball and doing ballet. Even more disturbing is the football figurine, which depicts one kid passing the ball to Jesus while the other kid tackles him. Yet, that one still pales in comparison to the golf figurine, where Jesus is shown helping a young girl out with her golf swing in a position usually reserved for bad romantic comedies.

Who knows? Maybe in his younger days, Jesus was quite the athlete. Perhaps, when he wasn't busy performing miracles, he met up with the apostles for a rousing game of stickball.

Nonetheless, these figurines do little more than provide an unsettling portrayal of Jesus participating in athletic activities. I'm sure that a skilled artist could produce a spiritual representation of people playing sports, feeling surrounded by the presence of Jesus. Instead, these figurines are like mock sculptures with as much artistic integrity as a velvet Elvis, or a painting of dogs playing poker.

Amazingly, these figurines have created a stir among a small group of people. The problem, though, has nothing to do with the near-blasphemous renditions of Jesus. People have complained that all of the figurines feature Caucasian children. While the manufacturer works on introducing diversity to their world of sports, I think it would be a good opportunity to start working on including other religions as well. Why not feature wrestling with Buddha or skydiving with Muhammad?

Don't get me wrong. I fully support encouraging children to embrace religion. There are so many ways that we can deliver thoughtful and inspiring messages to them. I just don't think showing Jesus on skis is the way to go.