About two weeks ago and while on a trip to my local Wal-Mart, I came across this exact style of tee shirt. For most people, they pass on by the shirt without even paying it a second thought, but I could not. For some reason, this shirt extremely bothered me. On our weekly grocery shopping trip last Saturday, I decided to take a picture of the shirt to share why this bothers me. As I was taking this photograph, I also decided to look through the rack and saw two other shirts that also bothered me; one said “redemption” and the other was a set of three skulls drawn to represent “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” with the word “sanctified”.
Before I go any further into the scriptural reasons that forms the basis for my discomfort with these shirts and others like them, I do want to state that the tag and stickers on the shirt promote Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). One five-minute video that I did watch on the Internet actually showed the two fighters continuing to pound one another even after blood covered both men’s faces. These remind me of the blood sports that the Romans found great enjoyment in. Although a veteran of the U.S. Army, former Ranger, and after two combat related deployments, it amazes me how we can have a society that actually revels in bloodletting for sport.
This particular shirt features a human skull, boned wings, and the word “salvation” prominently featured on the upper part of the chest. As a historian by trade, I could not help but to make a connection with the artistry of this tee shirt and that of the worship of the Aztec (Mexicali) god, Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the underworld and the bringer of death. He is but one of many Aztec gods that was worshipped by offering human sacrifice. He was a prominent part of their religious system and was featured as a skull surrounded by smaller skulls that represented the souls 
of man. As the Aztec religion evolved, he soon was featured sitting on a throne in front of the gate connecting this world to the underworld. By this era of Aztec religion, he had been transformed not only in body, but in purpose. Still the god of the underworld and death, he had taken on characteristics that the early Spanish Catholic priests and missionaries understood: he was Satan himself!
Within modern Mexico, now regarded by the world as a Catholic nation, Mictlantecuhtli is still worshipped and has his own festivals. Although no longer called by his Aztec name, he is now simply regarded as Santa Muerte or “Saint Death.” His likeness, now made to resemble the many paintings and drawings of the apostles, Mary, and other key New Testament figures, can be seen in tattoos, on candlesticks, paintings, and other home decor. While many will say that there is no connection between a tee shirt at a Wal-Mart in Kentucky and the worship of Satan in Mexico, there is more of a connection than most of us would like to admit. Just a quick image search of this “saint” when compared to the shirts sold at Wal-Mart bear testimony that it is the worship of the same devil.
