Religious jewelry is trendy--thus saith the Chicago Tribune.  And it wouldn't be an article about fashion & religion without someone calling attention to how commodification inevitably gives rise to a degraded mass culture:

"The irony of people wearing fashionable religious jewelry is it's become a commodity and it represents the commoditization of religion," [Professor] Gunn says. "Is it just a coincidence that we have the rise of the mega-mall church and the commoditization of religious symbols as a token of one's mystery or depth? I don't think that's a coincidence. I think it's a part of the way capitalism has seeped into every aspect of our lives."

This observation raises a key issue:  do we really need professors if the best they can do is offer cheap and easy cultural critiques?  Personally, I'd be a bit disappointed if I dropped 30K a year for a religion degree only to find a sexed-up version of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.