My husband and I were sitting in our living room with a few neighbors. He asked one couple, “Do you still have your Mini Cooper car?” But no, they had sold it a few years ago. It was the cutest car and it was fun to see them driving around in it. We always knew it was their car because it had a Coexist sticker on it.
So after our coffee event with our neighbors, my husband and I had a discussion about the Coexist sticker and what it meant. We took an in-depth look at the symbols and I felt a prompt to write about it.
AI will tell you that The Coexist image was created by Piotr Młodożeniec, a Polish graphic designer. He designed it for a ‘coexistence’ art competition that was held in Jerusalem. Wikipedia says that in around 2000 the bumper stickers emerged in partial response to the military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. A number of Rock bands have used them as symbols in their concert tours. The idea is to promote peace between religious ideologies and thereby between countries.
The designer of the Coexist symbolic word was certainly very creative and at first glance it seems to be a valid point. After all, the scriptures say in Romans 12:18, “ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” So getting along with our fellow man is very important. And the Bible affirms unity and cooperation. However there is a subtle theme embedded in this symbolic word, and as you unravel each separate symbol, you come up with a different message. It seems to be that the message is: Regardless of your religion, you get to define your pathway to God. This, at its core, is New Age Spiritualism and it speaks of a relativistic concept of truth.
My husband and I took a closer look at each of the symbols. Each letter represents a religion or spiritual ideology. Here’s breakdown of the letters and what they mean:
- The “C” is modified to look like a crescent moon with a star. This is similar to the Islamic flag which was probably the artist’s intention. However this symbol actually predates the Islamic flag and has been a part of pagan cultures and ancient goddess worship.
- The “O” is modified to look like the modern peace symbol designed by artist Gerald Holtom for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958. The vertical line in the center represents the flag semaphore signal for the letter D, and the downward lines on either side represent the semaphore signal for the letter N. Yet as we go into greater depth concerning the design of this symbol this is what we can discover: Holtom later wrote to Hugh Brock, editor of Peace News, explaining the genesis of his idea in greater depth: “I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya‘s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it.”[56] Ken Kolsbun, a correspondent of Holtom’s, says that the designer came to regret the symbolism of despair, as he felt that peace was something to be celebrated and wanted the symbol to be inverted.[57] Eric Austen is said to have “discovered that the ‘gesture of despair’ motif had long been associated with ‘the death of man’, and the circle with ‘the unborn child’,”[53]. Some time later, Peggy Duff, general secretary of CND between 1958 and 1967, repeated this interpretation in an interview with a US newspaper, saying that the inside of the symbol was a “runic symbol for death of man” and the circle the “symbol for the unborn child”. Yes, rather than peace, there is an element in this symbol, of death, depression and despair.
- The “E” is modified to the symbol of hermaphroditic, in science meaning having both male and female reproductive organs. It is often used for transgender people. However the female symbol was derived from Venus, and mimics the hand mirror or distaff of the Roman goddess of love. The male symbol was derived from Mars, and shows the shield and spear of the Roman god of war. These are all pagan gods.
- The “X” is the star of David, the symbol for Judaism these days, which actually only began in Prague in the Middle Ages and was widely adopted in the 19th century. It is now on the flag of Israel. However it has no biblical or Talmudic origin or authority. The actual symbol goes back to antiquity, is associated with Kabbalah, alchemy, Buddhism and in Hinduism it is used as part of the symbol of the goddess Lakshmi—the goddess of fortune and material abundance.
- The “i” in the coexist has an encircled pentagram instead of a dot above it. The pentagram is most often associated with Neo-Pagan witchcraft religions, especially Wicca.
- The “s” in coexist is transformed into the yin-yang symbol from China’s religion of Taoism concerning the balance of negative and positive. Taoism grew out of various religious and philosophical traditions including shamanism and nature religion.
- The “t” in coexist represents Christianity. However the cross was used by other cultures and pagan religions before Jesus died on a cross. The origin of the cross is traced back to the ancient Babylonian worship of Tammuz. It wasn’t a symbol used in Christianity until Constantine in the 2nd century. The Reformers rejected the Catholic crucifix cross with Jesus on it.
What do we make of all this?
One of the most controversial, against the grain, and difficult statements that Jesus ever made was found in John 14:6. Read it for yourself below. What do you think? Do you agree?
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
john 14:6
This is the point at which people have a problem with Jesus. How dare He say that He is the only way. What arrogance. What conceit. (Or so thinks the worldly mind.) John 14:6 stands in stark contrast to the coexist symbol. It’s saying that Jesus is the only way. And it’s saying that truth can only be accessed through Jesus. God the Father can only be accessed through Jesus. Other philosophies say that the truth that I believe is my truth and I get to say what’s true for me. But Truth is exclusive. Truth is singular. That which disagrees with the Truth is false. And this goes very much against the grain of our preferred thinking processes.
How do we live within the tension that’s embodied in the contrast of the coexist symbol and Jesus’ words?
We are still called to be people that are gracious (fruits of the Spirit). We are never to attack a person because all people are created in the image of God. But we must stand in the truth: I didn’t write the Bible. This is God’s word. You don’t have a problem with me, you have a problem with God’s Word.
But it becomes a watershed. Will I insist upon my own way? Will I define my own path?
Do people get to choose? Yes. They are choosing between the Truth or a lie. According to John 14:6 there is only one way to the Father, through the Son, the narrow gate. In fact many people will arrive at the judgment even though they may not believe in a judgment. So many will try to access the good works path. They’ll say, “Lord didn’t we do this good and that good?” But Jesus will say, “I don’t know you.”
What is it about the people whom Jesus will say, “Good work. Enter into the joy of the Lord.” They did good out of a relationship with Jesus, bowing to Him and His authority.
The exclusivity that Christianity claims is highly offensive to many people and the coexist symbol captures that essence. Fundamentally it is saying, No, Jesus, you are wrong. We can access God through all of these paths.
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