A couple of different homes in my neighborhood have light displays in the shape of a cross as part of their Christmas decorations, one affixed to the house and one as a free-standing lawn display. In both cases this is merely one element of a more or less elaborate display of lights and lawn ornaments. Both places have had similar displays for the four Christmases that I have lived here.
I’m no longer a Christian (atheist here), but when I was, the religious aspect of Christmas was all about the birth and the joy of welcoming the Prince of Peace to earth, not about the pain and suffering of his death.
I suppose these people could want to signify that they are Christians, and not just celebrating the holiday in a secular way. But isn’t that what Nativity scenes, and “…Reason for the Season” banners are for?
Does this strike anyone else as adding an odd and rather macabre note to an otherwise joyful season? Is this style of decoration more common than I realize?
Interesting. I try to have some religious elements to my holiday decorations, to make them more meaningful, but crosses are in no way involved. Nativity scene, check, angel on the top of the tree, check, but crosses or crucifixes? Not a one…would never occur to me, in fact.
Some people have no sense. That’s what it is. I actually agree with your point of the OP totally.
Of course, this reminds me of the time I was in church in Mexico and happened upon a glass coffin. . . with a Jesus in it. I looked at the priest and asked him why there was a Jesus in a coffin. He really didn’t have a good answer, other than that it was artistic.
In the case of the OP, I’m guessing most of those people aren’t thinking of the cross in the Catholic, bloody nailed up Jesus hanging in church sense, but rather the pretty gold necklace with diamonds sense. To them, Jesus = crucifix. Oh well.
Heh. We were asked to wear holiday stuff to work yesterday, so I wore my silver cross to be ironic. I can’t imagine adding a cross to a holiday display with honest intent.
Seems kind of odd, but I’ve seen it done. Just a big wooden cross, more or less life sized. Err, more or less the size one would need to crucify a person on. It wasn’t super well-lit, but it did make a contrast to many of the other light displays.
I do think sometimes we as Christians focus to much on baby Jesus, and Jesus the anticipated, during the Christmas season, and not enough on the whole story-- which does include that whole dying on a cross thing, and nativity scenes are so common, I can almost see it in an effort to be different.
But I like the giant Advent Wreath as a way to emphasize the Christian part of the holiday better.
As someone who has literally been an on again, off again Christian, I find it quite bizarre that anyone finds the most popular Christian symbol out of place at Christmas. Even in my deepest, darkest depths of atheism, I would have viewed the Cross as a normal display during a Christian holiday celebrating Jesus’ birth.
My answer is no, to the question regarding the wreaths. Even though the form is funereal in origin, and is occasionally still used in funeral arrangements, wreaths are a very common decoration these days, in all seasons. I’ve seen wreaths made of teddy bears for goodness sake! Their association with death has been weakened to the point that you’d have to remind many people of that particular symbolism, and still others would never have heard of it. Not so the cross.
Yes, but how often do you actually see it done? Is the use of the cross in Christmas lawn decorations at private homes a common custom in your area?
I should add that I am a middle-aged person who has lived all her life in a largely Christians areas. (The majority religion in the area I grew up was likely Roman Catholicism, but all Christian denominations were pretty well represented. This was in the NYC suburbs. In the area where I live now, the majority religion seems to be Lutheran, but again most denominations have a presence.) And everywhere I have ever lived, people loved to decorate for the holidays. Yet, until I was 43 years old I had never seen crosses used this way in Christmas decorations. And I’ve still only seen it twice. I could be wrong in finding it bizarre, but nothing in my experience suggests that it is a common thing, the dominance of the cross as a Christian symbol notwithstanding.
And by the way, I do not see atheism as “deep, dark, depths” but rather the opposite.
A cross is far more relevant than a fat bearded guy wearing a red dressing gown and and a drunk reindeer plus the odd couple of pine trees. A cross symolises Christianity and there is nothing wrong IMHO with it.
But it is so with cross, as well. It represents much more than the crucifixion, now – it’s an icon of Christianity in general, and not out of place at all at Christmas. Even as a total apostate, I can see that.
Wreaths, they way they are used at Christmas, are generally funerary in any other context. When have you ever seen a wreath on a door, when it didn’t represent either a death or an observance of Christmas? Heck, if you want to geek out completely, you can trace the etymology of the word back to origins that rival nailing-a-dude-to-a-crossbeam for negative connotations. In Old English, the words “wri[th]a” (“band”) and “wri[th]an” (“torture”) have the same root, closely connected with “wra[th],” which still enjoys regular use in Modern English. [/geek]
I hope it comes across, a cross is just a cross, a wreath is just a wreath… as time goes by…
Seems to me that a cross is a symbol of the religious Christmas, and the fat dude is a symbol of the secular Christmas. So, they’re both relevant, but they are relevant to different aspects of the same occasion.
Maybe in Evangelical circles, the cross is more common as a decoration for Christmas, but as a Catholic, I find it very strange. As I said, it would never occur to me to incorporate a cross into Christmas decorations. Of course, when you go to Mass during the Christmas season, or any time of year, the Crucifix is always there. But the additional Christmas decorations would not incorporate a cross…most parishes have a large nativity scene at the foot of the altar.
Growing up in a Catholic home, and in Catholic neighborhoods, I can’t remember ever seeing crosses incorporated into Christmas decorations in peoples’ homes, either. Of course, many Catholic homes already display a crucifix on the wall in most of the rooms, but in terms of having a Christmasy one added, never have I seen that. Every religious-themed Christmas decoration I have is related to the nativity, not the crucifixion/resurrection…nativity scenes, stars, angels, the three kings, etc. The focus is on the birth of Jesus.
Of course, the Catholic Church is very seasonal-oriented, and many Evangelical-style churches are not, so that may have something to do with it.
The cross is not a Christmas symbol. The luthern church s around here will use staff shapes that look like a small f. The f sheperds staff is what members of the churchs I know of would consider a symbol for Jesus. The triangle and three outsides of a circle in a three leafed clover patern as asymbol of God. I can’t describe it better. They take the christmas tree and use it for a cross in advent. There’s also a f interpossed on an X. Those are also hung on the Christmas tree.
Fairly often. People around here commonly have door wreaths made up of (faux) autumn leaves as a fall decoration, and a smaller number have floral door wreaths as spring decoration.
I knew someone who made and sold elaborate wreaths of dried flowers and other vegetation as year-round decoration. Decorating shows and magazines often show wreaths (Hydrangeas are popular) as year-round indoor or outdoor decoration. There are also living wreaths, made of ivy or succulent plants, that are trendy home decor items among people who enjoy growing houseplants. I myself had a eucalyptus wreath to liven up a blank wall in the apartment where I used to live. None of these have anything to do with death or Christmas.
I do find it a bit odd to celebrate the death of Jesus on his supposed birth date.
Then again, I also find it odd that for Easter, they sell chocolate crucifixes - I mean, nothing says Easter more than taking a big bite of a chocolate Jesus head on the cross.
Yeah but don’t forget that Jesus was predestined to die. That’s why he was born. The reason you celebrate Jesus’ birth is because he’s finally here so he can die for you.
Sounds utterly nutty when you say it “out loud” but that’s the truth.
It would be stupid to celebrate MLK Jr’s death on his birthday, because nothing good came of his death. While both MLK Jr. and Jesus both did some great things while alive as Leaders of Men, Dr. King’s death put and end to the good works he could do while on Earth, while Jesus’ death was uhm…the gift that kept on giving.
