Oriental Trading has captured the true essence of American Christian consumerism by combining the mushy-gushy gospel with the marketing of cheap products slapped with some cheesy “Christian” expression on it. Introducing the Jesus Loves You Snow Much Playing Cards.
Christ Alone Wyoming 
I guess the issue here is with the irreverence for Jesus’s holy name… or is it the fact that people are using it to profit? I personally wouldn’t kick around a soccer ball with a trite expression about our holy Lord on it (or let my kids do it). And we don’t want kids to think Jesus condones their behavior while they are yet unregenerate. (The “mushy-gushy” gospel?) But is it inconsistent to have an M&M holding God’s holy Word, the Bible? Presumably no one profits from the M&M? I don’t know… Some of these “Christian” marketing gimmicks are just inane, but I’d rather have my kids brushing their teeth with a toothbrush that had a Bible verse reference on it, instead of the word “Crest” or “Colgate.” http://reformationnation.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/the-two-views-of-a-christian-toothbrush/
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Are you referring to the blue M&M holding a green non-descript book that is never identified as a Bible and by which no profit is gained but is simply used as an avatar for blogging?
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Oh, okay, my mistake. I think I see now. I thought the M&M’s were caricatures of false teachers. Like the seeker-sensitive candy was supposed to look like Rick Warren with his wanna-be-hip goatee and ubiquitous coffee cup, and the one associated with the “Word of Faith” had the white shoes like a TBN preacher, and the emergent candy was supposed to be a caricature of… (I don’t know my emergent leaders too well – Driscoll? Bell? Who’s that cursing pastor guy?)
And so I thought the blue M&M was supposed to represent a teacher of correct doctrine. My monitor does not have good color, so the book doesn’t look green to me – I thought it was supposed to be a Bible.
But the candies are just personal signatures? I get it now. Uh-oh, I think one of the signs of being emergent was thinking that things represent other things. I definitely did not mean to be emergent.
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MA:
No problem. You can see a bigger picture of the Blue M&M here.
The other M&M’s are representative of those philosophies that you mentioned (Word of Faith, Seeker-Friendly, Emergent) but not of one person in particular.
It seems that lately gnats are being strained here and instead of approaching me privately (e.g. e-mail), I have been receiving rebukes in the public domain for the use of the M&Ms. Consequently this only gives our detractors fodder for their arguments against us when we begin “infighting.”
My hope is that in the future, whenever someone disagrees with something one of us puts on here, they contact us personally with their concerns and not in the public arena.
Respectfully,
– The Pilgrim
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