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archives | newquaker.comMonday, December 01, 2003
As I was writing about AFC's plastic Shield of Strength dog tags, MSNBC was reporting an Associated Press story on the goofy battle of icons going on between Egypt's Coptic minority and the Muslim majority. [See MSNBC, November 29, 2003; archived on Religion News Blog.] The Coptic Christians are sporting the ichythus (fish) symbol; the Muslims in turn respond with a symbol of a shark eating an ichythus. These icons are appearing as jewelry, tatoos, and stuck on automobiles. At some point the Egyptians may catch up with the silly symbol wars in the US, where the ichythus is opposed by such icons as: the capitalist fish, mermaid fish, pagan fish with fishing pole, fish as a nuclear bomb, fish with a hook in its mouth, a "whatever" fish, an "angel" fish with wings and harp, a fish 'n chips fish, a Darwin fish having its way with an ichythus, a Darwin fish with feet (evolving), and a Truth fish eating a Darwin fish. There are other, lesser known fish symbols out there. It's possible that the Egyptians can catch up with us—but first they will have to beat us in the T-shirt symbol wars.
posted by Merle Harton, Jr. 10:50 PM
Sunday, November 30, 2003
Phylacteries for the warring Gentiles? I have a concern about the growing popularity of the "Shield of Strength" currently in vogue among US soldiers in service in the Middle East. The Washington Times reported in a news story yesterday that more that 100,000 of these medallions are worn by military personnel and their families. The Shield of Strength is a silver-like dog tag with the US flag and a version of Joshua 1:9 inscribed on one side ("I will be strong and courageous. I will not be terrified, or discouraged; for the Lord my God is with me wherever I go."). On the reverse is a prayer of salvation. The plastic medallion is manufactured by Athletes for Christ (AFC), a small business in Beaumont, Texas, that makes 18 different "Shields of Strength" dog tags, described as a "high quality military style dog tag."
Joshua is a favorite Old Testament book from which to quote anything military. After all, it tells vividly how God takes his people, whom he has set aside for his purpose, to recover by bloody force a country covetously ensnared in an ugly commitment to false gods. If only the quotes being used on AFC's "Shield of Strength" were accurate. The actual text of the quote is: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." This is the sequel to God's command to his people in Deuteronomy 31:6: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." But see also the language at 2 Chronicles 32:7. The verse that AFC quotes is not a new translation at all—you won't find it anywhere in 21 widely known translations—for what AFC has done is to change the grammatical mood of the verse from the imperative to the indicative, changing its meaning entirely in the process.
AFC sells its version on its website for $4.99, but you can get a much more costly version at Hip Hop Ice in an Iced Out Platinum Tone Charm with 30" Hip Hop Link Chain Necklace, the same one worn by Christian hip-hop artist DMX, for $29.99. Oddly, it's also sold as the "Psalm Dog Tag" at hiphopcloset.com for $40: same verse version, also by AFC. If you just like the verse, you can get a shorter version of the real thing in a song by Michael W. Smith, "Be Strong and Courageous" (Project album, 1983; Live Set album, 1987).
This goes beyond several devotional uses of scripture for improving one's faith. It certainly goes beyond the orthodox Jews' use of phylacteries (or tephillin), the two small black leather boxes—one worn on the forehead, the other on the upper left arm—containing verses from the Pentateuch for the purposes of prayer and meditation. It goes beyond their use of the mezuzah on the front doorpost as a blessing and remembrance of God's unity. It goes beyond the Christian use of prayer beads and the adoration of icons. It goes beyond the popular WWJD bracelet, etc. It even goes far beyond the fish symbol—the ichythus, used by the primitive Christian church as a symbol of identification—to something resembling the pagan's reliance on lucky amulets and protective charms. Irony aside, it was Maimonides who said that those who misuse the mezuzah "turn it into an amulet for their selfish interest, believing in their foolish hearts that it can be made to serve the preservation of transitory worldly goods" [Misheh Torah, quoted in JewishEncylopedia.com].
My point is that trinkets such as AFC's plastic dog tags really belie our need to maintain or announce community, a purpose certainly served by the ichythus, but do nothing to ensure or even improve our faith. If anything, they manage to set up worthless, unnecessay stumbling blocks to faith, and should not be encouraged at all. Before looking upon the "Shield of Strength" as a harmless amusement, we would do well to remember Paul's words to Timothy, a reminder that we do not need any inscribed medallions between us and the Lord: "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" [1 Tim 2:5].
posted by Merle Harton, Jr. 1:04 AM
© Merle Harton, Jr. All rights reserved. Biblical references are NIV® unless otherwise noted.
