Crucifix/Cross Jewelry

[psychoslice]

Originally Posted by Silvergirl

Whoah slice, I thought of the cross-shaped gurney they use when they execute by lethal injection! It would still be a cross!

But I think its because we have been conditioned by the symbol of the cross that makes one see the cross in such a thing as what you have said ?.

Originally Posted by blackraven

Does one wear a crucifix for some kind of personal recognition from others as being a christian? There has to be more to it than just that. (I have my own opinion, but I will withhold it for now.) Also it seems as though it's a trendy thing to wear crosses (crucifixes without Jesus on it). What's up with that?

Blackraven

These things are only manmade idols that sinners use because they don't know who God is. If you know God, you won't need to go to church and listen to a false prophet lying to you while looking at all the idols on the walls, altars, floor, etc.

[blackraven]

Originally Posted by psychoslice

Just Imagine if Jesus had died in modern times, we might be now wearing a electric chair, or maybe a rifle or even a hang noose around our necks, but yes when i use to wear a cross around my neck what it represented was my own death on the cross, and my own resurrection, just what the cross should mean to all.

Slice - Yes and along those lines I studied with another religious group some years back that didn't believe in wearing the crucifix and the woman I studied with said, "If a loved one was killed in a car accident, would you wear a small icon of a crushed car around your neck?" They of course used extreme tactics to convert people, but her comment stuck with me for some reason.

BR

[theophilus]

Originally Posted by blackraven

Slice - Yes and along those lines I studied with another religious group some years back that didn't believe in wearing the crucifix and the woman I studied with said, "If a loved one was killed in a car accident, would you wear a small icon of a crushed car around your neck?" They of course used extreme tactics to convert people, but her comment stuck with me for some reason.

BR

This really isn't an accurate comparison. Dying in a car wreck is a tragic accident. But Jesus chose to allow himself to be killed so he could pay the penalty for our sins and enable us to be forgiven for them.

Originally Posted by theophilus

This really isn't an accurate comparison. Dying in a car wreck is a tragic accident. But Jesus chose to allow himself to be killed so he could pay the penalty for our sins and enable us to be forgiven for them.

The problem for me theophilus is the focus on the cross as the instrument of death. Religion has this morbid facination with dead Jesus, as if guilt images are somehow going to uplift us as a species. Why not focus instead on the living and uplifting Christ-like images, aspects and messages?

[theophilus]

Originally Posted by bbr

The problem for me theophilus is the focus on the cross as the instrument of death. Religion has this morbid facination with death, as if guilt images are somehow going to uplift us as a species. Why not focus instead on the living and uplifting Christ-like images, aspects and messages?

Christ's death was necessary to make forgiveness of sins possible. But his death wasn't the end. He rose again. For this reason I think a plain cross is a better symbol of Christianity that a crucifix. A crucifix only portrays part of the gospel message, his death, but leaves out his resurrection.

Originally Posted by theophilus

Christ's death was necessary to make forgiveness of sins possible. But his death wasn't the end. He rose again. For this reason I think a plain cross is a better symbol of Christianity that a crucifix. A crucifix only portrays part of the gospel message, his death, but leaves out his resurrection.

Well, any cross symbol is still focusing on the death aspect. Why not a sepulchre stone as an image? Or a triangle or star? It's a problem with religion in general. We're shamed into remembering that Jesus died on the cross. That's ridiculous. The message is the resurrection and light.

[blackraven]

Originally Posted by theophilus

Christ's death was necessary to make forgiveness of sins possible. But his death wasn't the end. He rose again. For this reason I think a plain cross is a better symbol of Christianity that a crucifix. A crucifix only portrays part of the gospel message, his death, but leaves out his resurrection.

theophilus - The comparison with the crunched car of course is absurd! To wear a crucifix or a cross is a personal choice. If one is not comfortable with a crucifix because they feel it is morbid they should wear a plain cross. Or one can be a Christian and wear neither one. :)

Blackraven

Originally Posted by theophilus

Christ's death was necessary to make forgiveness of sins possible.

This is where religion and Christianity crosses the line into the fatuous and the moribund IMO. A comparison here would be a bully who runs around the playground pushing other children off the teeter-totter, the slide, the merry-go-round, etc., all the while shouting that nobody can have any fun until they show eternal remorse for the city worker who died in an explosion while welding the monkey bars together.

It's one thing for a group of people to live by their particular beliefs or code of conduct. It's another thing entirely to insist that nobody else in the world is whole or complete unless they too adopt the same shamed and submissive attitudes and beliefs. I used to imagine Jesus was an extra-terrestrial. But did I go around insisting the rest of humanity was full of sin and incapable of forgiveness unless they believed what I believed? Of course I didn't, because that would be petty, juvenile and incredibly unenlightened.

Given the bottomline message of religion -- that humans are all flawed, weak, sinful, inferior beings until they make the choice to come over to Jesus -- wearing a cross is a nothing less than a symbol of supreme arrogance IMO.

I wear a cross because:

My mom was a Catholic, who maybe missed mass three times in her whole life. She never analyzed or questioned; thought too much about it. She was so simple, and strong. Well, after she passed my daughter said we should each get a tattoo of a cross in memory of her strong faith. Then we decided why not wear a cross around our necks, instead. I think it was more on her part to do this. Well, she bought one and decided it was too delicate for her, but thought it more suited me. So, I put it on and never took it off, except maybe twice to get some X-rays. She got another one, but never actually wore it. The chain has broke several times, but I always replaced it. My neck would feel empty without it. I think maybe to me it is simply a symbol of Hope. Nothing less, nothing more. Does this sound crazy?? Because I never thought too much about why I wear a cross.