A cross is a symbol of ...?

[BurtWorm]

Poll question: A cross is a symbol of ...?

[arwalden]

1. Intolerance

[BurtWorm]

3. Hmm...

:think:

[Midwest_Doc]

40. I agree n/t

[rateyes]

2. A cross is an instrument of death..

just like the electric chair, or the gas chamber, or the firing squad.

[BurtWorm]

8. You mean it deters crime?

:think:

[rateyes]

17. No, I don't believe that...

I should amend it to say that it's an instrument of death by torture. I just think it ironic that people wear crosses as jewelry. It's like hanging a tiny electric chair around your neck.

[ewagner]

4. Wasn't the original

Christian symbol and "X" ? Because crucifictions were done more on an "x-shaped" cross.

One of the original church symbols (and I think still used by some denominations today) is the P with the X below it symbolizing "Pax Christiania".

[TechBear_Seattle]

20. There were several different styles of crucifixion

The most common was the one associated with Jesus. Death typically took several hours, until the weight of the body collapsed the chest cavity leading to suffocation.

In less general use was crucifixion on a saltire cross (that's the one that looks like an x.) That was used not so much to kill as to torture. Death (if someone died on one) usually coming from either dehydration or from other inflicted tortures.

Added The P and X symbol you are thinking of has nothing to do with crucifixion. They are the Greek letters rho and chi, the first two letters of the Greek word christos. According to one of the stories of Constantine's vision before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, it was the chi-rho symbol he was supposed to use, not the Christian cross. While actual crucifixions were being done and the cross was still a symbol of torture and gruesome death, Christians used symbols such as the chi-rho and the fish to represent Christ. It was not until sixth and seventh century, after the remnants of the Roman empire had become fully Christian and crucifixion was outlawed, that we find the crucifix being used as a religious symbol.

[rateyes]

24. deleted...never mind...tech bear said it...

and I can't use the images I tried using. Sorry.

Pax, though means "peace."

[ewagner]

27. Thank you

I can always count of DU for filling gaps in my knowledge.

Thanks again :hi:

[rateyes]

28. And, in mine...

I learn more and more every day.

:yourock:

[Warpy]

31. No, it's from the Greek letter CHI

meaning the initial for Christ.

[Bill McBlueState]

38. another note

The earliest Christians were reluctant to use the cross as a symbol, since it was what had been used to execute their leader. It surely symbolized pain and loss for them.

[blm]

5. Capital punishment.

.

[Wilms]

6. .

[montanacowboy]

7. If Jesus had been executed by

an electric chair would the fundies wear little silver gold or diamond electric chairs around their necks?

think about - they wear symbols of execution and they kiss it

[leveymg]

9. Silly Monty Python Skits about the Spanish Inquisition

NOBODY Expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[tridim]

10. The "addition" mathematical operator

and to denote positive numbers.

[BurtWorm]

12. So when you see a cross planted by the side of a road you think

"Someone must have done an addition problem there"?

:wtf:

[Inland]

33. If I see a cross on the side of the road

If it's in a yellow diamond, it means "Intersection."

[CrispyQ]

14. Harr!

:rofl:

[TechBear_Seattle]

11. Other. It represents the sun, the world and/or balance

Of course, I'm talking about the solar (equal armed) cross :bounce:

[nemo137]

30. the difference is amazing

St. Peter's basillica was supposed to be a solar cross, but the design was extended when the portico was built or something like that. anyway, there's still a point marked where the original design would have began. The building just soars up to the dome. It's gorgeous.

Sorry for the tangent.

[BurtWorm]

13. I'm going with Christianity.

[rucky]

19. that's my first reaction

without analyzing it too much.

Symbols are symbols so people don't have to analyze concepts and stuff - the gut reaction IS the intent of the symbol.

[BurtWorm]

22. I don't know why everyone is being so cute about it.

Alan's take is damn close to the bone, but does the cross really mean "death" to everyone else responding in this thread? That would surprise me if it really did.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

35. No, it does not mean death to me

It means life.

But I am not surprised at the response. Pretty par for the course, actually. You'll get the same response on Free Republic if you ask about the Islamic Cresent. Same song, different verse. Different choir, but the same emotions.

[Bill McBlueState]

39. you could probably group "death" and "Christianity"

to an extent, anyway. Most of the people who said "death" probably think that way because they know the role of the cross in the Christian belief system.

[liberal N proud]

15. A friend of mine uses this analogy

When Jesus Christ returns and walks into a church, do you think he is going to want to look at a cross? To him that is a symbol of torture.

[meegbear]

16. The Red Cross?

[Syncronaut Seven]

18. A quartering of the universe in to active and passive principles.

It's made out of aluminum, eh.. Got any aluminum?

[Inland]

37. God bless Vespucciland nt

[mia]

21. Making the sign of the cross wards off evil.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, evil will not enter here."

[johnaries]

23. Sorry, it doesn't work. I tried it,

but Free Republic is still up and Bush is still in office.
:evilgrin:

[mia]

32. Next time I run into a "protest warrior", I'm going to try it.

I'm from a half-Catholic family, with nuns as teachers up through college. In the first grade we were taught to make the sign of the cross when passing cemetaries and whenever we heard the sound of an ambulance or a fire truck, so that everyone would go to heaven. I watched a lot of scary vampire movies during those days and was glad to learn that the sign of the cross would keep them from latching on to your neck. Later nuns taught us that when we made the sign of the cross, "impure thoughts and desires" would vanish. It worked back then.

It's amazing what faith can do. I guess that's why Voodoo works for some people.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

25. It's the symbol of

some dead guy on a stick.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

36. Eloquent.

[Broken_Hero]

26. to me its always symoblised christianity....

[Webster Green]

29. Torture and death...

"Christians" can't seem to get enough of those two things.

[WhollyHeretic]

34. Vampire hunters

[Dervill Crow]

41. I think of the empty cross as a symbol of life.

Jesus's death atoned for the sins of mankind so true believers can have eternal life. At least that's what it meant to me (and what I taught my kids) before I traded my cross for a pentacle--another symbol of life representing the five elements.

Both of those symbols seem to represent different things to different people. Gotta love that religious freedom! :sarcasm:

On the local news this past week there was a story about a church that had been vandalized with graffiti that included a pentacle. The pastor and his wife were being interviewed, and he said something to the effect of, "I just worry about the neighborhood." I had second thoughts about wearing my pentacle to work; I can just hear my co-workers thinking, "Those pesky pagans. There goes the neighborhood."

[loveable liberal]

42. It symbolizes sacrifice. But people wear it to symbolize ....

their participation in a group, and to let others know they are not welcome. True christians dont need such tokens.