In an era enveloped in large-scale violence and militarism, the popular Oriental Trading Company, Inc. has unleashed a controversial product line designed for young children that combines military paraphernalia with the Christian faith.

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In an era enveloped in large-scale violence and militarism, the popular Oriental Trading Company, Inc. has unleashed a controversial product line designed for young children that combines military paraphernalia with the Christian faith. 

Although the company has been selling the “Soldier of God” items for close to a year, it has met with no official complaint, say several call-center representatives located in the company’s Omaha, Nebraska office. According to several call center representatives who relied on dates in the company system, the product line entitled “Soldier of God” made their debut in the “Fun and Faith” catalogue, published and distributed in 2006.   In its new catalogue, released to customers during the first quarter of 2007, the Oriental Trading Company has expanded that line. 

Timothy Harris, executive director for a homeless advocacy newspaper called Real Change, was one of the first on the Internet to comment on the disturbing nature of the “Soldier of God” product line. “Has the recruit shortage come to this?” he asks in his blog.  “There's something about stamping God and crucifixes all over little kiddy war toys that just doesn't sit right. God's Army is getting younger all the time.”

As the nation’s largest direct marketer of party supplies, novelties, toys, children’s arts and crafts, school supplies, home décor and giftware, the Oriental Trading Company is no small contender.  It has 18 million customers on file and mails 300 million catalogs annually.  The Oriental Trading Company, named one of the fastest growing companies three consecutive years in a row by The Omaha Chamber of Commerce, was also ranked one of the top 50 internet sites by Internet Retailer, and one of the top 50 largest direct marketers by Catalog Age.   This means that exposure to these products is very widespread, and while the Oriental Trading Company would not comment on the motivation for offering the “Soldier of God” product line, some suggest that the product line breaks a taboo by militarizing faith. 

The concept that many Christians have of being a soldier of God is not usually a violent one.  There is a strong metaphorical connection between being a Christian and being a spiritual warrior in the same way that jihad (literally meaning “struggle”) for Muslims is more often a non-violent spiritual fight within oneself to be a better person and to affect the world positively.  In the Chabad-Lubavitch sect of orthodox Judaism, a program for kids exists called Tzivos Hashem, or “God's Army”, and is used to encourage children to develop the discipline of doing good deeds.   These terms are concepts that should not, under most circumstances, inspire fear.  Yet there are some Christians who feel that the Oriental Trading company has implied otherwise by directly linking the religious slogan to the innately violent military culture. 

According to some consumers, the fact that weaponry and ammunition are largely absent from the product line does little to diminish the underlying message.  The company has painted their “Soldier of God” product line with a brush of militarism regardless of the fact that this line has little physical weaponry or ammunition.  The exception is a sword brandished by a crusader-knight in the “Foam Soldier of God Photo Frame Magnet Craft Kit”. The kit also comes with a red crucifix. 

Rabbi Jack Moline of the Agudas Achim congregation in Virginia frequently does business with the Oriental Trading Company.  He notes that it is a fine company with an excellent reputation for producing low-cost bulk items for pre-existing markets.  In regard to the demand that exists for the “Soldier of God” product line, Rabbi Moline says, “Oriental Trading did not create this market; they are responding to it.  Therefore, I am less concerned about Oriental Trading than I am about the market they seek to tap.”

When asked what comments he has about the product line, he responds, “I think that if I were a Christian, I would be horrified.  The symbol of the cross has sacred meaning and generally represents the antithesis of war.  Marketing it as a child's plaything is troubling.”

Although Rabbi Moline does not believe that companies should be expected to be more righteous than the traditions that they seek to exploit, he wishes the “Soldier of God” products were not part of their catalog and would encourage them to discontinue it.           

He continues, “At this time of conflict, the encouragement of kids to wage God's battle against the unconverted plays not so much into militarization as it does into intolerance and bigotry.  If Christians are God's soldiers, then who are non-Christians?”   

He feels that a child taught that camouflage means "God's soldiers" may come to associate military service personnel with a particular religion.  “That image would be hard to scour from the learning slate,” he says.           

Janet, a child development specialist in the San Francisco Bay area who asked to be identified by first name only, says, “These products try to make war seem acceptable, and that God agrees with it.  Christian children who are religious will be more likely to believe it.”  A previous customer of the company, Janet thinks these products are ill-conceived.  “It never benefits children to indoctrinate them for war.   It encourages them to form adversarial relationships with people who are perceived as being different.”

The majority of the 31 items in the “Soldier of God” product line are decorated with military camouflage colors.  The products are stamped with crosses or crusader crests, as well as the slogan “Soldier of God” amidst stars and stripes.  Items include a crusader shield, military-style dog tag necklaces, combat stretch bands for the wrists, canteens, baseball hats and temporary face tattoos.  According to the company catalogue, the dog tag necklaces are a best seller.

Several Christians who were interviewed for this article suggest that the “Soldier of God” product line lacks context and that without an appropriate setting in which to envision product use, the Oriental Trading Company is indirectly supporting extremist Christian ideology, which is a segment of the population usually not acknowledged by mainstream media. 

“I am quite bothered by how this line of products diminishes the beauty and purity of faith in God,” says Valerie Shriley, communications director for a civil liberties organization in Minnesota.  She would like to see the company remove any links between God and the military in their products.  She explains, “Being a soldier of God is being one who struggles toward righteousness, stands for justice and strives to be a better contributor to what is good in this world.  The job of a soldier in the military is a sometimes filthy, immoral, murderous and unjust position.  Many soldiers commit crimes and do not follow God's laws.  Linking God to the military is morally degrading.”

Cheryl, a 38-year-old Christian in California who also requested to be identified by her first name only, was also offended by the product line and says that she wouldn’t buy any of the items for the children in her family.  She observes, “To me it looks like the company is using Christianity to aid the war movement.  I don’t like it.”

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.”               

Authors Bio:
Corey Habbas writes non-fiction, fiction and poetry for both adults and children. Her writing has been featured in Skipping Stones, Newtopia Magazine, Azizah Magazine, Learning Through History Magazine, Kid Magazine Writers, Poetry Super Highway, TimbookTu, WriteLit.com, The Poetry Victims and various anthologies. In 2004, Corey won Second Prize out of 750 contestants in the national Children's Writer Sports and Recreation Contest. Corey holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Systems from California State University of Redlands.