Some respondents said that the Oriental Trading Company was not explicitly enabling Christian extremism with the “Soldier of God” product line, and others believed that the company had succeeded in bringing extremist paraphernalia to the Christian mainstream.
One call center representative at the company mentioned that the “Soldier of God” product line is very popular in the Southern States.
Pastor Gene Ostendorf, who leads one United Church of Christ congregation in the southern state of Missouri, explains, “I have in the past and continue to have great difficulty with such products that image God and followers of God with such militaristic understandings.”
The pastor points out that, even with regard to the The New Century Hymnal used by his church great care was taken to remove all militaristic, triumphal language from the hymns. He continues that even the long-time favorite “Onward Christian Soldiers” was eliminated from the hymnal altogether.
“In our expression of the Christian faith, we do not seek to promote a sense of soldiers being triumphant against the enemy but rather as ambassadors, representatives of a God who seeks justice, peace and genuine respect among all of God’s people,” says Pastor Ostendorf.
Bart Charlow, Executive Director of Silicon Valley Conference for Community and Justice (SVCCJ), an organization that works to eliminate racism, discrimination by promoting interfaith education, conflict prevention, crime-victim advocacy and youth leadership, says that although he thinks that American Muslims are in danger of being victimized by a national environment that lends itself to an escalation towards genocide, the “Soldier of God” product line is not likely to be a causing factor.
“These products by themselves, don’t fuel a genocidal end. What I would be concerned with is how these products will be used,” says Charlow.He believes that offering the product line is an unintelligent business move. “Products like these are very polarizing. Some people may like them and buy them and others may stop buying from the company altogether.” And he observes, “These kinds of products are certainly not going to be comforting to Jews, Muslims or any group that was forcibly colonized within the last couple of hundred years.”
The military and crusade themes in the “Soldier of God” product line carry historical baggage that is very offensive to many non-Christians, especially Jews and Muslims. The current war against Iraq is largely seen as the new Crusade. These products may also ignite sensitivities in Jews who were heavily persecuted during the crusades and who have endured a history of anti-Semitism and genocide.
There are no Jewish or Muslim retailers in the nation who combine militarism with faith and then target those products to children.
Noor Saadeh, who co-owns NoorArt, one of the largest and most well know Muslim retailers of toys, educational products and books, says, “I find it incongruous that any religious retailer promotes war-like objects or anything that does not promote peace and mercy among all people.” Saadeh hopes that Muslims, Jews and Christians reach out to one another and work together on shared issues to bring peace to the world, while respecting each other's differences. “Leave the war-based toys to Mattel and others,” she says.
Companies walk a fine line in a sensitive pluralistic environment. Often products that may sell well to some, consumers may be at the expense of others. The internal debate companies wage within themselves centers on the question: “If we can produce it and if we can profit from it, should we?”
“We have special duties toward our children,” says Gulten Ilhan, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louise Community College. “If we teach our children war, they will grow up to fight, but if we give them peace they will learn to share it.”
Ilhan believes that with freedom comes responsibility. The Oriental Trading Company is free to produce and sell these products, she says, but the product line is irresponsible.
The Oriental Trading Company offers holiday items for Christmas and Hanukkah, but nothing specifically for Eid and Ramadan, even though there are an estimated 5 to 7 million Muslims in the United States. According to the U.S. State Department, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States and may surpass the Jewish population by 2010.
The overwhelming response from Muslims who were surveyed is that they would consider making purchases from this company as long as the company would demilitarize the “Soldier of God” product line, and offer items specifically for the Muslim holidays along with Christian and Jewish holidays. Ramadan and Eid products, crafts and decorations would be especially welcome, Muslim respondents said.
One Muslim respondent asked, “Can you imagine what the response would have been if a Muslim toy company in America offered a Jihad military product line? The whole nation would be up in arms about it.”
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