With kids heading back to school, many Christian parents are looking to protect them the best way they know how: By giving them things to remind them who they are.

At the LifeWay Christian Store in Salt Lake City, parents can find sports medallions with a scripture hidden on the back, bookmarks with Christian images and "pocket tokens," little coins about the size of the quarter with Christian engravings on them for kids to feel as they sift their pockets for change.

"We sell a lot of such things this time of year," says Huron Polnac, who volunteers at LifeWay. "Parents usually bring their kids in and let them pick something out. For young Christians in public school, the idea is to find something subtle."

In the past, a good deal of Christian memorabilia tended to blare. Some Christian students began calling it — pardon the French — "Jesus junk."

But in recent years the Christian themes have grown more understated.

One T-shirt, for instance, declares "Going Green!" along with the words, in small print, "Love the creation, love the creator."

Another shirt features a small red cross and bold words saying "This shirt is illegal in 51 countries" — a hip message about censorship with Christian overtones.

Some shirt slogans bank on double meanings.

"Saved by a blood donor," reads one, making a plea for both social responsibility and the Atonement of Jesus.

But more than cleverness, parents are looking for something that Christian children can wear or carry without feeling self-conscious. They want their children to keep their heritage in mind.

Other faiths do similar things.

LDS children wear CTR rings.

Many Islamic women wear headscarves.

In "The Penitent," a novel by I.B. Singer, a Jewish man gets caught up in a moment of fumbling infidelity on a transatlantic flight to Israel. The man laments how accessible sin is and how weak human beings can be. He sees a Hasidic Jew on the plane with earlocks and a rabbinical hat. "Had I worn such an outfit," he muses, "I wouldn't have been exposed to those temptations."

He decides if a person doesn't carry a "sign" of some sort to remind him of his spiritual commitments, he will find himself succumbing to temptation.

He eventually gets a rabbinical hat and grows side curls.

"A soldier who serves an emperor has to wear a uniform," he says. "And this also applies to a soldier who serves the Almighty."

In Christian schools, parents actually dress their children in uniforms.

"With Christian schools, the kids don't have to be as cautious," Polnac says.

In public schools, however, sometimes the best approach is to not wear your Christianity on your sleeve but keep it printed on a coin in your pocket.

e-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com