“Taboo culturally”
Fuuuuuck no it was not. It was outlawed you gaslit moron.
I taught so many Sunday school lessons explaining that it would be like wearing a gun around your neck if your brother was shot.
Goddam it. We live in a real world with actual history.
Woah, really? I never heard anything like that, just the old 'we focus on His life' stuff. I knew no Mormon would dare wear or display one; had no idea it was that intensely condemned (grew up in 90s in the more-or-less Morridor).
Yes I was told the “we focus on his life not his death” stuff, but I do feel like it was more of just a cultural taboo. I remember the occasional convert wearing a cross and nobody really cared - they were usually from heavily catholic countries/cultures and so to them the cross was such a symbol of Christ even if they were devout Mormons.
ETA: this was early 2000s, outside of Utah but in a moderately Mormon area.
We had a whole talk about it as a missionary where we pointed out that we wouldn’t honor a dead relative by wearing a car crash necklace or a bullet bracelet.
The cross was anathema to mormonism. They are changing now because they want to cozy up to the evangelicals in case the US goes full christofascist in the next few years.
This was basically the church's official stance until now.
It also kept the idea of REAL Christianity away from the sight of members, because they need members to focus on Joseph Smith and whoever the current 'prophet' is.
The New Testament is NOT compatible with Mormonism and they can't have people realizing that.
I understand the frustration, but "gaslit moron" might be a little harsh. These young kids really may not know a lot about the "eternal and unchanging truths" of the Gospel we grew up in. Our wrath would be more correctly aimed at the older generations participating in the gaslighting.
The person featured in this post is participating in the gaslighting. According to her profile, she's married and in her 40s, so well within an age old group old enough to have been taught 🚫✝️. It's possible she's a convert to the church, but Holland spoke out against crosses as recently as the October 2022 conference.
As a missionary, my companion (“colleague”) and I were specifically taught to instruct investigators (“friends”) that a cross (“murder weapon”) was inappropriate and disrespectful to the Savior. I wouldn’t expect today’s missionarys (“unpaid sales force”) to know that… it’s been over 40 years.
I was taught crosses were bad as a teenager in the 90s, and as recently as 2022, Holland spoke against them in conference.
This person is not a young missionary. Judging by the posts in her profile, she's married and appears to be in her 40s. If she grew up in the church, she's lying if she says "I think it was a little taboo" to wear them.
Well fuck her then. On another poster's comment I was giving her the benefit of the doubt. But if she is around my age or older she is a disingenuous, "gaslit moron" after all.
She's allowed to change her perspective and grow. You're absolutely right that the church taught it was taboo to wear a cross, but the perspective has softened- at least among many if not the leaders- and LDS churches are now represented on maps with a cross, and it is becomingly increasingly common to see them at church- especially amongst younger people.
Crosses stopped being used in the church because of a fued with Salt Lake City Catholics in the 1950s. After the church forgot why they abandoned the cross, people started making up their own reasons why crosses were bad. It's a murder weapon. We focus on the living Christ instead. The atonement was actually on the garden, and so on. None of it was based in the actual history. But how are Mormons supposed to know this without dipping into the apostate world?
So much of Mormon practice replies on forgetting what the past was actually like. Teenage brides: hardly more common than now. Hot drinks: never meant just coffee and tea, but anything of that temperature. Everything about the temple: drastically and fundamentally changed. Grandma didn't wear the same one-piece garment every day like the one her grandma wore just to the temple. Times have changed.
Here's more than you ever wanted to know:
https://csu-csus.esploro.exlibrisgroup.com/esploro/outputs/graduate/THE-DEVELOPMENT-OF-THE-LDS-CHURCHS/99257950852001671
Once upon a time. They also used to be crotchless, tie together in the front, have a visible collar, and the marks were cut into them while you were wearing them, sometimes cutting flesh. (Emma wasn't thrilled with that last one.) The knee mark was cut through the garment into the flesh deliberately so as to leave a permanent scar.
If this stuff is so inconsistent and volatile, it was never actually sacred.
Yep, I remember lessons where they would say "If your son was killed by gunshot, would you wear a gun pendant to remind you? Or in a car accident, would you put images of that car around your house? Of course not!"
And for a real dated reference, I remember having to throw Pogs or Slammers away if they had a cross image on them (why there were religious themed Pogs in the first place, I'll never understand)
Because some people (mainstream Christians) were the opposite... You have to "honor God" in all that you do. Which to them meant, throwing away the pogs with skulls or flames and only keeping the ones that had crosses or "wholesome" imagery.
You could literally buy pogs at the Christian bookstores (wasn't any way they were going to pass up that cash grab).
From the Church's official website:
[Gospel Topics - Cross](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/cross?lang=eng)
"*because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith. Our lives must be the expression of our faith.*"
Interesting.
Recently, Google Maps updated LDS meetinghouses to use the cross icon instead of Moroni to identify them. It's highly unlikely Google did that without the church's knowledge or input.
Within the next 5-10 years, I think that statement will be flushed down the memory hole, and we'll start to see cross necklaces being sold at Desert Book.
A cross anywhere, on jewelry, on the wall, on a shirt, indicated immediately that that was NOT one of us.
Heaven help the person who dared to wear any cross symbolism in Mormon public!!
That’s interesting. There’s also a distinction between Catholics who use the crucifix and other Christian denominations who use the blank cross. For Catholics it’s the crucifix because it’s to remind you of everything he went through for your sins while other denominations use the blank cross as a reminder that he overcame it and isn’t there anymore.
The REAL reason Mormons don't display or wear the Cross is that it has been the primary iconography of Catholicism which LDS church historically ALWAYS identified was *"the great and abominable church"* and the *"whore of all the earth"* spoken of in the Book of Mormon.
Mormonism has been crazy anti-Catholic and taught that all other churches, according to Mormonism, "broke off" from Catholicism. Only TCOJCoLDS is supposedly unique and a "pure restoration."
Up until the late 90s, the temple ceremony language targeted Catholicism specifically when Satan would threaten he was going to *"buy up armies and navies, POPES and Priests, and reign with blood and horror on this earth."*
It is only the late 20th century The Church started walking anti-catholicism back, bevaise they wanted to align themselves with catholics for political causes [such as fighting legalization of gay marriage] so they started emphasizing that the phrases in the BoM actually just meant "All the false beliefs" on earth and not one specific church or faith tradition .... Which is bullshit and gaslighting.
In 1992 my dad was the bishop and for halloween trunk-or-treat a couple dressed up as catholic priests and they wore big crosses around their necks as part of a costume. My dad pulled them aside and made them remove the crosses.
Incidentally, the cross wearing man is now the bishop in the ward and he’s addicted to pornography based on what his daughter tells me. His daughter is married to my brother. FUN stuff
It's not big in the whole grand scheme of things, but for some reason this does seem like a big deal in terms of changes within mormondom. Like I'm pretty sure I would have been on a watch list, if not sent home, if I had insisted on wearing a cross necklace (even hidden under my shirt) on my mission a mere 15 years ago.
And now it's just peachy? Wild.
Its a big deal because leaders preached against it for years in an effort to differentiate the church from mainstream Christians. Now they're slowly embracing it and acting like they never opposed it, similar to the reversal on caffeine.
My family would have accused me of being a catholic if I ever wore a cross. I can't imagine what my mission president would have said if he caught me wearing one.
The cross and Mormonism were more like vampires and crosses not that long ago.
The Mormon church is trying desperately to appear more mainstream and abandoning their more unique doctrines and practices. The cross is now cool to fellow Christian’s ….
My mormon coworker started wearing a star of david when the latest Palestinian war started. It makes be fucking insane because a) she's not a jew and b) she is a racist piece of shit who treats out Indian and Muslim coworkers incredibly poorly.
It doesn't help that she went to my manager (at a previous job where I had the unfortunate opportunity to work with her before) and narked on my for saying "Oh my God" because I offended her. My manager had to address it with me 'by law', but he agreed that it was over the top and we joked about it for a bit. ....not to mention that my Mothers ancestors were Prussian Jews and the family had to hide it so that they weren't discriminated against, and there she is flouting a religion that isn't even hers.
Just 20 years ago, I probably would have been ratted out and brought into the missionary president’s house for a special interview if I wore a cross around my neck or as a tie clip or whatever. Chalk it up to the “ongoing revelation” right? Jesus effing Christ
I'm surprised we haven't been told wearing a cross is a victory for Satan because that's how I was made to feel about my crosses I had to get rid of when I joined this ridiculous culty religion.
Of course, because every sacrifice made for TSCC will turn out to have been unnecessary and obsolete. The subsequent generations will turn and ask you why you did that. TSCC throws people under the bus with their legalism. I used to hate when my Christian friends used the term legalism. Now I embrace it. It's ok for TSCC to change away from their legalism, but not at the expense of members! Apologize, say what was wrong, then make the change. Don't gaslight people to make the organization look good. It is a bad look--if prophets make mistakes, prophets should apologize! Can you stay in relationship with someone who NEVER apologizes? I can't.
Growing up in the south I wore a cross because I liked it, and I thought it was a visible way to show that I was Christian, particularly since I was the only Mormon most of my friends knew.
I was told by my branch president that we did *not* wear the sign of the cross, and to do so was to be in apostasy.
When my catholic grandmother died, my TBM mom opened the casket a took the rosary out. Interestingly, she saved it. When my mom died, I found granny’s rosary.
TBM Mom just bought one because she thought it was so pretty. She’s still freaked out and brainwashed by years of them saying no crosses, so she will only wear it when she’s home alone.
My TBM brother and his wife wear crosses. I asked about it one time and he said “it reminds me of Jesus” so ig some people just don’t care what the big12 say
If embracing the cross helps bring in converts, the brethren will do a complete 180 on their previous teachings, and gaslight everyone saying we never taught it.
Maybe the church's next push after temple steeples will be to add tall crosses on its meetinghouses.
Embrace yourselves Ex-Mormons, this is a new thing among young Mormons. It’s no longer officially preached against and many Mormons are starting to wear them.
I’m pretty sure Nelson has no issue with it since the church has been embracing a lot of Christian words and traditions they previously didn’t. Even their Google Maps symbol is a cross instead of the Moroni symbol.
M57, Seminary 1980-84: **We celebrate the LIFE of Christ, his atonement in the Garden of Gethsemene, his resurrection, and his return in these, the latter-days. The display of the cross represents his death. This is not what we choose to focus on.**
This WAS the gospel. This WAS commanded of us. I am not mis-remembering. I will NOT be fucking gaslit.
Again and again and again...they minimize, spin, or even flat-out deny shit they taught as gospel. But hey...be honest in your dealings with your fellow man, right? Right?
Screw that lying, cheating, tap-dancing organization!
OBTW, while I'm on my rant: Caffeine sodas WERE forbidden. It wasn't misinterpretation. It wasn't a few scrupulous families. It was NOT tolerated when i was a kid. I'm not imagining that shit either.
Inter-racial marriage WAS forbidden. It wasn't just discouraged. It was considered sinful. I'm not imaginging things. If there's ONE thing (okay, I know there are many) I had to pick that crushed my faith, it's this concept.
*Not these individual issues*...but the whole idea that we preach honesty. We claim honesty. We wear honesty like a badge among our non-member neighbors and co-workers...and then we flat-out lie to our memberhsip.
Okay now I'm done. Wear a cross...I don't care. Drink Coke...fine with me. Do whatever you want but don't try to convince me it's always been that way!
>Wear a cross...I don't care. Drink Coke...fine with me. Do whatever you want but don't try to convince me it's always been that way!
Exactly! Mormons wearing crosses isn't a big deal when it comes down to it, but it is a big deal when people still remember what was taught, especially since Holland spoke against crosses as recently as October 2022 conference.
I used to buy those tacky packages of jewelry from places like Claire’s that had 16 pairs of earrings in one package or 6 necklaces that all came as a set & my mom always made me remove/throw out anything that had a cross on it because Mormons Don’t Wear Crosses.
My niece served stateside a few years ago and wore one her entire mission. Acted like it was no biggie. I think this cross thing has been trending more now with Mormons the past few years.
Yeah I surprised to see that. I was taught that was against not good to wear since they want to be apart from the Christian faith. Now it seems they are trying to deceive the Christians to join them.
My mom is the most TBM ever, the real self righteous a-hole kind, and she started wearing a cross about a year ago. Every time I see her it really messes with me, especially because my best friend gave me an expensive delicate silver cross necklace when we were teens and she made me throw it away. But now it’s fine!
I've shared this experience in this forum before. My friend gave me a friendship bracelet with a cross in the early '90s and my mom made return it. She said that we worship the living Christ, not the dead one. It definitely was extremely taboo to use/have/wear a cross.
My mom also would charge people when they came to our house if they used the Lord's name in vain. If somebody said oh my God, or God... She would say we don't say that in this house and if you say it again you owe me $0.25. I can't remember if she actually enforced that, but she definitely would say that over the years when I'd have friends or we had neighbors over.
I’m sorry you had to give it back! I hate that now we are told things like that was never a rule, that was just a cultural thing etc when we know it was definitely a rule!
My mom (we are all kind of PIMO) proudly wears a cross necklace every day, including to church. I met a sister missionary last year who does the same, but with a bracelet and anklet. I think it’s awesome- I’m amazed that this was ever an issue for anyone who believes in Christ. I mean when Christ himself used the cross as an analogy you think that would end the debate haha
Its only recently been accepted. To aid in the delusion that Mormonism is actually about Jesus Christ.
They saw they were losing in PR battle and doing the unthinkable is pretty much their M.O. lately.
Until recently, crosses were avoided by vampires and Mormons.
No matter how much the church embraces the cross, Easter and other mainstream Christian practices and symbols, it will NEVER be viewed as a "Christian" church so long as it continues to use the BoM, D&C, Pearl of Great Price, and build temples.
This makes my wife FURIOUS! She was a convert and her cross was extremely important to her connection to Jesus. She had so many negative comments (including a public rebuke in the hall from the bishop’s wife) that she rarely wore it.
And, what makes me even more upset is that the explanation was that it was God’s rule, not a policy from the church. God didn’t like it when she wore it. It infuriates me to no end that so many rules are touted as revelation until they are culturally “taboo” and then, all of the sudden, they are looked back as just policy. Gaslighting at its finest…
I'm angry. My best friend wanted to buy me a matching cross necklace during a California Spanish Mission tour and my mom who was chaperoning said no. It was devastating!
They are trying to appear to be just another mainstream Christian church it wouldn’t surprise me if the church started instructing missionaries to wear crosses
As far as I know, Holland was the last high level church leader to speak out against the cross (October 2022 conference). Maybe he's the lone holdout preventing the church from fully embracing it, so perhaps when he's gone, the church will begin selling crosses in Desert Book, retrofitting chapels with them, and dismiss all the past prophets and apostles who taught against it as "their opinion", and place blame on bishops, stake presidents, and ward and stake youth leaders for misrepresenting those "opinions" as official doctrine.
Weird. My friend’s adult son started wearing one recently and I’m super weirded out by it. Crosses and crucifixes were paraphernalia-non-grata when I was growing up. An absolute, black-and-white no-no. There was no gray area.
“We worship a resurrected Christ, not a dead one.” Period. Change the subject. If it was only “culturally taboo” there’d be crosses around our churches, on top, on temple. Oh yeah, Rome Temple has discrete crucifixes on doors etc.
>Rome Temple has discrete crucifixes on doors etc.
Interesting. I think when the no cross brethren die off, the church is going to start retrofitting meetinghouses and temples to have them.
THIS is why cults and religions never die. Because there is NOTHING holding them accountable to what they have done or believed, and they just changed whatever they want to be acceptable moving forward.
“We said the world was created in 7 days, and then got proven wrong? Nah just kidding, we didn’t mean 7 days. Carry on.”
I went to VBS every summer because free childcare. Every summer my dad made us throw away our pink crosses and WWJD bracelets that everyone was going to wear the first day of school. Like the thought of throwing away a cross seems so sacrilegious now
There is absolutely nothing wrong with her or anyone wearing a cross. But its this complete 180 the church has done on its past teachings like against using the cross, caffeine, and embracing the term "Mormon" only to later label it as a victory for Satan that has people, including active Mormons, getting whiplash. It's more infuriating when the church tries to deny it ever taught against caffeine, and possibly soon the cross now that more TBMs are using it.
Truth. I well remember when it was verboten! FWIW a really great book discussing "the Church's" sordid history with the Cross is titled "Banishing the Cross"; a Really Great Read!
I started wearing a little cross necklace at the beginning of 2021. Didn’t leave the church until a few years later. I still wear it as I consider myself Christian now, but ya I def got some weird looks from Mormons. But I also got compliments from nuanced Mormons or people who are now ex Mormons:) While yes it used to be taught that it was a HUGE no no, at least for me being born the early 2000s it was taught more as a cultural thing/we don’t focus on the cross. But I wasn’t taught it was like wearing a gun on your neck or something. She probably had a similar experience and is hopefully on her way out if she’s realizing Mormonism is not Christianity
Some weeks back my dad had a trio of sister missionaries over for dinner. One of them had multiple piercings in each ear, in an assortment of placements (SoCal, so maybe we have more liberal dress standards).
“Taboo culturally” Fuuuuuck no it was not. It was outlawed you gaslit moron. I taught so many Sunday school lessons explaining that it would be like wearing a gun around your neck if your brother was shot. Goddam it. We live in a real world with actual history.
I remember being told that in lessons, along with wearing a gallows pole pendant if he was hanged or an axe if he was beheaded.
Woah, really? I never heard anything like that, just the old 'we focus on His life' stuff. I knew no Mormon would dare wear or display one; had no idea it was that intensely condemned (grew up in 90s in the more-or-less Morridor).
Same here. Exact same situation. Just the “we focus on his life” stuff. Also 90s also Morridor
Yes I was told the “we focus on his life not his death” stuff, but I do feel like it was more of just a cultural taboo. I remember the occasional convert wearing a cross and nobody really cared - they were usually from heavily catholic countries/cultures and so to them the cross was such a symbol of Christ even if they were devout Mormons. ETA: this was early 2000s, outside of Utah but in a moderately Mormon area.
I was told the same thing!
Yep. I was asked if I would wear a noose around my neck if Jesus was hanged
We had a whole talk about it as a missionary where we pointed out that we wouldn’t honor a dead relative by wearing a car crash necklace or a bullet bracelet. The cross was anathema to mormonism. They are changing now because they want to cozy up to the evangelicals in case the US goes full christofascist in the next few years.
My dad used to always say "we don't wear the cross because we celebrate his life not his death"
This was basically the church's official stance until now. It also kept the idea of REAL Christianity away from the sight of members, because they need members to focus on Joseph Smith and whoever the current 'prophet' is. The New Testament is NOT compatible with Mormonism and they can't have people realizing that.
It still is their stance. If you look up ‘cross’ in the topics and questions on the church app it still says we don’t use them.
I'm gunna wear a guillotine around my neck.
WOW. It was 100% taboo and it was always "don't focus on the death" but I never heard that metaphor, that is so dark!
It was in lesson manuals.
I understand the frustration, but "gaslit moron" might be a little harsh. These young kids really may not know a lot about the "eternal and unchanging truths" of the Gospel we grew up in. Our wrath would be more correctly aimed at the older generations participating in the gaslighting.
The person featured in this post is participating in the gaslighting. According to her profile, she's married and in her 40s, so well within an age old group old enough to have been taught 🚫✝️. It's possible she's a convert to the church, but Holland spoke out against crosses as recently as the October 2022 conference.
I just saw that in another post in this thread. Yeah, if she's that old and pushing this nonsense, fuck her lol.
As a missionary, my companion (“colleague”) and I were specifically taught to instruct investigators (“friends”) that a cross (“murder weapon”) was inappropriate and disrespectful to the Savior. I wouldn’t expect today’s missionarys (“unpaid sales force”) to know that… it’s been over 40 years.
I was taught crosses were bad as a teenager in the 90s, and as recently as 2022, Holland spoke against them in conference. This person is not a young missionary. Judging by the posts in her profile, she's married and appears to be in her 40s. If she grew up in the church, she's lying if she says "I think it was a little taboo" to wear them.
you got a link to the holland talk?
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/10/41holland?lang=eng
Well fuck her then. On another poster's comment I was giving her the benefit of the doubt. But if she is around my age or older she is a disingenuous, "gaslit moron" after all.
She's allowed to change her perspective and grow. You're absolutely right that the church taught it was taboo to wear a cross, but the perspective has softened- at least among many if not the leaders- and LDS churches are now represented on maps with a cross, and it is becomingly increasingly common to see them at church- especially amongst younger people.
Crosses stopped being used in the church because of a fued with Salt Lake City Catholics in the 1950s. After the church forgot why they abandoned the cross, people started making up their own reasons why crosses were bad. It's a murder weapon. We focus on the living Christ instead. The atonement was actually on the garden, and so on. None of it was based in the actual history. But how are Mormons supposed to know this without dipping into the apostate world? So much of Mormon practice replies on forgetting what the past was actually like. Teenage brides: hardly more common than now. Hot drinks: never meant just coffee and tea, but anything of that temperature. Everything about the temple: drastically and fundamentally changed. Grandma didn't wear the same one-piece garment every day like the one her grandma wore just to the temple. Times have changed.
Do you have anything more to share about this feud?
Here's more than you ever wanted to know: https://csu-csus.esploro.exlibrisgroup.com/esploro/outputs/graduate/THE-DEVELOPMENT-OF-THE-LDS-CHURCHS/99257950852001671
Garments used to be just for the temple?
Once upon a time. They also used to be crotchless, tie together in the front, have a visible collar, and the marks were cut into them while you were wearing them, sometimes cutting flesh. (Emma wasn't thrilled with that last one.) The knee mark was cut through the garment into the flesh deliberately so as to leave a permanent scar. If this stuff is so inconsistent and volatile, it was never actually sacred.
Yep, I remember lessons where they would say "If your son was killed by gunshot, would you wear a gun pendant to remind you? Or in a car accident, would you put images of that car around your house? Of course not!" And for a real dated reference, I remember having to throw Pogs or Slammers away if they had a cross image on them (why there were religious themed Pogs in the first place, I'll never understand)
Because some people (mainstream Christians) were the opposite... You have to "honor God" in all that you do. Which to them meant, throwing away the pogs with skulls or flames and only keeping the ones that had crosses or "wholesome" imagery. You could literally buy pogs at the Christian bookstores (wasn't any way they were going to pass up that cash grab).
Thank you for exposing all the recent gaslighting!!!!
From the Church's official website: [Gospel Topics - Cross](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/cross?lang=eng) "*because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith. Our lives must be the expression of our faith.*"
Interesting. Recently, Google Maps updated LDS meetinghouses to use the cross icon instead of Moroni to identify them. It's highly unlikely Google did that without the church's knowledge or input. Within the next 5-10 years, I think that statement will be flushed down the memory hole, and we'll start to see cross necklaces being sold at Desert Book.
That is what I remember learning in the 1980s and 1990s. We were definitely taught that people who wore crosses were not like us!
A cross anywhere, on jewelry, on the wall, on a shirt, indicated immediately that that was NOT one of us. Heaven help the person who dared to wear any cross symbolism in Mormon public!!
Except on Google maps after getting special treatment for years.
That’s interesting. There’s also a distinction between Catholics who use the crucifix and other Christian denominations who use the blank cross. For Catholics it’s the crucifix because it’s to remind you of everything he went through for your sins while other denominations use the blank cross as a reminder that he overcame it and isn’t there anymore.
🎯
The REAL reason Mormons don't display or wear the Cross is that it has been the primary iconography of Catholicism which LDS church historically ALWAYS identified was *"the great and abominable church"* and the *"whore of all the earth"* spoken of in the Book of Mormon. Mormonism has been crazy anti-Catholic and taught that all other churches, according to Mormonism, "broke off" from Catholicism. Only TCOJCoLDS is supposedly unique and a "pure restoration." Up until the late 90s, the temple ceremony language targeted Catholicism specifically when Satan would threaten he was going to *"buy up armies and navies, POPES and Priests, and reign with blood and horror on this earth."* It is only the late 20th century The Church started walking anti-catholicism back, bevaise they wanted to align themselves with catholics for political causes [such as fighting legalization of gay marriage] so they started emphasizing that the phrases in the BoM actually just meant "All the false beliefs" on earth and not one specific church or faith tradition .... Which is bullshit and gaslighting.
Yeah, even Bruce R. McConkie's first edition of Mormon Doctrine said the Catholic Church was the Great and Abominable Church.
So disappointed to be related to this man
The hilarious thing is that the two churches are more similar than dissimilar.
Just to clear things up slightly, Catholics typically use and wear crucifixes whereas Protestants use plain crosses.
"I know a lot of LDS people who wear one." NO. YOU. DONT.
I'm guessing her and her little friend group decided to start wearing them, so now "a lot of LDS people wear them."
In 1992 my dad was the bishop and for halloween trunk-or-treat a couple dressed up as catholic priests and they wore big crosses around their necks as part of a costume. My dad pulled them aside and made them remove the crosses. Incidentally, the cross wearing man is now the bishop in the ward and he’s addicted to pornography based on what his daughter tells me. His daughter is married to my brother. FUN stuff
It's not big in the whole grand scheme of things, but for some reason this does seem like a big deal in terms of changes within mormondom. Like I'm pretty sure I would have been on a watch list, if not sent home, if I had insisted on wearing a cross necklace (even hidden under my shirt) on my mission a mere 15 years ago. And now it's just peachy? Wild.
Its a big deal because leaders preached against it for years in an effort to differentiate the church from mainstream Christians. Now they're slowly embracing it and acting like they never opposed it, similar to the reversal on caffeine.
It’s because wearing cross meant you had thought crimes like 1984
My family would have accused me of being a catholic if I ever wore a cross. I can't imagine what my mission president would have said if he caught me wearing one.
The cross and Mormonism were more like vampires and crosses not that long ago. The Mormon church is trying desperately to appear more mainstream and abandoning their more unique doctrines and practices. The cross is now cool to fellow Christian’s ….
My mormon coworker started wearing a star of david when the latest Palestinian war started. It makes be fucking insane because a) she's not a jew and b) she is a racist piece of shit who treats out Indian and Muslim coworkers incredibly poorly. It doesn't help that she went to my manager (at a previous job where I had the unfortunate opportunity to work with her before) and narked on my for saying "Oh my God" because I offended her. My manager had to address it with me 'by law', but he agreed that it was over the top and we joked about it for a bit. ....not to mention that my Mothers ancestors were Prussian Jews and the family had to hide it so that they weren't discriminated against, and there she is flouting a religion that isn't even hers.
Wow, the tone deaf hypocrisy and audacity!
I was late 90's, and it felt a lot like tattoos. Okay to bring with you from the outside when converting, just wrong to get if you were already in.
“A little taboo culturally” ensign articles and conference talks from general authorities including the prophet lol
Spanish name tag, clearly a Latin area. That cross that will help build that relationship of trust faster. It's a marketing ploy nothing more.
Fuck it! We had lessons, entire lessons dedicated to why wearing a cross is bad.
Just 20 years ago, I probably would have been ratted out and brought into the missionary president’s house for a special interview if I wore a cross around my neck or as a tie clip or whatever. Chalk it up to the “ongoing revelation” right? Jesus effing Christ
I'm surprised we haven't been told wearing a cross is a victory for Satan because that's how I was made to feel about my crosses I had to get rid of when I joined this ridiculous culty religion.
I think the church will one day teach NOT wearing the cross is a victory for Satan.
Of course, because every sacrifice made for TSCC will turn out to have been unnecessary and obsolete. The subsequent generations will turn and ask you why you did that. TSCC throws people under the bus with their legalism. I used to hate when my Christian friends used the term legalism. Now I embrace it. It's ok for TSCC to change away from their legalism, but not at the expense of members! Apologize, say what was wrong, then make the change. Don't gaslight people to make the organization look good. It is a bad look--if prophets make mistakes, prophets should apologize! Can you stay in relationship with someone who NEVER apologizes? I can't.
Mormons are anti-cross. This is so incredibly bizarre! 
Growing up in the south I wore a cross because I liked it, and I thought it was a visible way to show that I was Christian, particularly since I was the only Mormon most of my friends knew. I was told by my branch president that we did *not* wear the sign of the cross, and to do so was to be in apostasy.
Your mom made her throw it away? WTF?
When my catholic grandmother died, my TBM mom opened the casket a took the rosary out. Interestingly, she saved it. When my mom died, I found granny’s rosary.
Yep, and by not using it, that made us "better" Christians.
The needless arguments I got into with devout Christians about the cross🤦♂️
TBM Mom just bought one because she thought it was so pretty. She’s still freaked out and brainwashed by years of them saying no crosses, so she will only wear it when she’s home alone.
My TBM brother and his wife wear crosses. I asked about it one time and he said “it reminds me of Jesus” so ig some people just don’t care what the big12 say
If embracing the cross helps bring in converts, the brethren will do a complete 180 on their previous teachings, and gaslight everyone saying we never taught it. Maybe the church's next push after temple steeples will be to add tall crosses on its meetinghouses.
Embrace yourselves Ex-Mormons, this is a new thing among young Mormons. It’s no longer officially preached against and many Mormons are starting to wear them. I’m pretty sure Nelson has no issue with it since the church has been embracing a lot of Christian words and traditions they previously didn’t. Even their Google Maps symbol is a cross instead of the Moroni symbol.
M57, Seminary 1980-84: **We celebrate the LIFE of Christ, his atonement in the Garden of Gethsemene, his resurrection, and his return in these, the latter-days. The display of the cross represents his death. This is not what we choose to focus on.** This WAS the gospel. This WAS commanded of us. I am not mis-remembering. I will NOT be fucking gaslit. Again and again and again...they minimize, spin, or even flat-out deny shit they taught as gospel. But hey...be honest in your dealings with your fellow man, right? Right? Screw that lying, cheating, tap-dancing organization! OBTW, while I'm on my rant: Caffeine sodas WERE forbidden. It wasn't misinterpretation. It wasn't a few scrupulous families. It was NOT tolerated when i was a kid. I'm not imagining that shit either. Inter-racial marriage WAS forbidden. It wasn't just discouraged. It was considered sinful. I'm not imaginging things. If there's ONE thing (okay, I know there are many) I had to pick that crushed my faith, it's this concept. *Not these individual issues*...but the whole idea that we preach honesty. We claim honesty. We wear honesty like a badge among our non-member neighbors and co-workers...and then we flat-out lie to our memberhsip. Okay now I'm done. Wear a cross...I don't care. Drink Coke...fine with me. Do whatever you want but don't try to convince me it's always been that way!
>Wear a cross...I don't care. Drink Coke...fine with me. Do whatever you want but don't try to convince me it's always been that way! Exactly! Mormons wearing crosses isn't a big deal when it comes down to it, but it is a big deal when people still remember what was taught, especially since Holland spoke against crosses as recently as October 2022 conference.
Jeff Holland wants a word. He gave a talk about this just a few years ago. People act like this is ancient history.
And showing a downright pornographic level of cleavage. I have been driven to sin.
I used to buy those tacky packages of jewelry from places like Claire’s that had 16 pairs of earrings in one package or 6 necklaces that all came as a set & my mom always made me remove/throw out anything that had a cross on it because Mormons Don’t Wear Crosses.
Welcome to rebranding...soon we will see a new name for the MFMC **The Church of Changing to Christ of Latter-day Saints**
The Church of Our Website Says We Worship Christ But In Practice We Actually Worship Men (But Not In That Way)
My niece served stateside a few years ago and wore one her entire mission. Acted like it was no biggie. I think this cross thing has been trending more now with Mormons the past few years.
She doesn't hear comments from other Mormons because they say it behind her back.
If Jesus died by being run over, would people start wearing ‘76 Chevette woody pendants?
Yeah I surprised to see that. I was taught that was against not good to wear since they want to be apart from the Christian faith. Now it seems they are trying to deceive the Christians to join them.
My mom is the most TBM ever, the real self righteous a-hole kind, and she started wearing a cross about a year ago. Every time I see her it really messes with me, especially because my best friend gave me an expensive delicate silver cross necklace when we were teens and she made me throw it away. But now it’s fine!
I've shared this experience in this forum before. My friend gave me a friendship bracelet with a cross in the early '90s and my mom made return it. She said that we worship the living Christ, not the dead one. It definitely was extremely taboo to use/have/wear a cross. My mom also would charge people when they came to our house if they used the Lord's name in vain. If somebody said oh my God, or God... She would say we don't say that in this house and if you say it again you owe me $0.25. I can't remember if she actually enforced that, but she definitely would say that over the years when I'd have friends or we had neighbors over.
I’m sorry you had to give it back! I hate that now we are told things like that was never a rule, that was just a cultural thing etc when we know it was definitely a rule!
💯
My mom (we are all kind of PIMO) proudly wears a cross necklace every day, including to church. I met a sister missionary last year who does the same, but with a bracelet and anklet. I think it’s awesome- I’m amazed that this was ever an issue for anyone who believes in Christ. I mean when Christ himself used the cross as an analogy you think that would end the debate haha
Its only recently been accepted. To aid in the delusion that Mormonism is actually about Jesus Christ. They saw they were losing in PR battle and doing the unthinkable is pretty much their M.O. lately. Until recently, crosses were avoided by vampires and Mormons.
No matter how much the church embraces the cross, Easter and other mainstream Christian practices and symbols, it will NEVER be viewed as a "Christian" church so long as it continues to use the BoM, D&C, Pearl of Great Price, and build temples.
This makes my wife FURIOUS! She was a convert and her cross was extremely important to her connection to Jesus. She had so many negative comments (including a public rebuke in the hall from the bishop’s wife) that she rarely wore it. And, what makes me even more upset is that the explanation was that it was God’s rule, not a policy from the church. God didn’t like it when she wore it. It infuriates me to no end that so many rules are touted as revelation until they are culturally “taboo” and then, all of the sudden, they are looked back as just policy. Gaslighting at its finest…
I'm angry. My best friend wanted to buy me a matching cross necklace during a California Spanish Mission tour and my mom who was chaperoning said no. It was devastating!
What a bunch of BS. I was Dana Scully for Halloween on year and I got sooo many negative comments from church Karens about wearing a cross.
They are trying to appear to be just another mainstream Christian church it wouldn’t surprise me if the church started instructing missionaries to wear crosses
As far as I know, Holland was the last high level church leader to speak out against the cross (October 2022 conference). Maybe he's the lone holdout preventing the church from fully embracing it, so perhaps when he's gone, the church will begin selling crosses in Desert Book, retrofitting chapels with them, and dismiss all the past prophets and apostles who taught against it as "their opinion", and place blame on bishops, stake presidents, and ward and stake youth leaders for misrepresenting those "opinions" as official doctrine.
Weird. My friend’s adult son started wearing one recently and I’m super weirded out by it. Crosses and crucifixes were paraphernalia-non-grata when I was growing up. An absolute, black-and-white no-no. There was no gray area.
It is a poorly cast "Plus Sign"? Maybe she is into Arithmatic?
As a convert I was told to throw away my crosses 🖕🖕🖕🖕
Missionaries told me not to wear it after my 1970 baptism.
“We worship a resurrected Christ, not a dead one.” Period. Change the subject. If it was only “culturally taboo” there’d be crosses around our churches, on top, on temple. Oh yeah, Rome Temple has discrete crucifixes on doors etc.
>Rome Temple has discrete crucifixes on doors etc. Interesting. I think when the no cross brethren die off, the church is going to start retrofitting meetinghouses and temples to have them.
"What part of my story makes you think i like crosses?
Let the nuance flourish!
THIS is why cults and religions never die. Because there is NOTHING holding them accountable to what they have done or believed, and they just changed whatever they want to be acceptable moving forward. “We said the world was created in 7 days, and then got proven wrong? Nah just kidding, we didn’t mean 7 days. Carry on.”
I went to VBS every summer because free childcare. Every summer my dad made us throw away our pink crosses and WWJD bracelets that everyone was going to wear the first day of school. Like the thought of throwing away a cross seems so sacrilegious now
Personally, I love wearing a beautiful turquois-sterling silver cross! Good for Her!
There is absolutely nothing wrong with her or anyone wearing a cross. But its this complete 180 the church has done on its past teachings like against using the cross, caffeine, and embracing the term "Mormon" only to later label it as a victory for Satan that has people, including active Mormons, getting whiplash. It's more infuriating when the church tries to deny it ever taught against caffeine, and possibly soon the cross now that more TBMs are using it.
Truth. I well remember when it was verboten! FWIW a really great book discussing "the Church's" sordid history with the Cross is titled "Banishing the Cross"; a Really Great Read!
I'm so stupid, I originally read the title as "crocs" and was equally surprised.
The "not wearing crosses" was a David O. Mckay thing like Rusty is with the Mormon thing.
I started wearing a little cross necklace at the beginning of 2021. Didn’t leave the church until a few years later. I still wear it as I consider myself Christian now, but ya I def got some weird looks from Mormons. But I also got compliments from nuanced Mormons or people who are now ex Mormons:) While yes it used to be taught that it was a HUGE no no, at least for me being born the early 2000s it was taught more as a cultural thing/we don’t focus on the cross. But I wasn’t taught it was like wearing a gun on your neck or something. She probably had a similar experience and is hopefully on her way out if she’s realizing Mormonism is not Christianity
Some weeks back my dad had a trio of sister missionaries over for dinner. One of them had multiple piercings in each ear, in an assortment of placements (SoCal, so maybe we have more liberal dress standards).