# Why do people wear Rosaries around their neck? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-wear-rosaries-around-their-neck/294760 "2005-03-16T04:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-wear-rosaries-around-their-neck/294760/21 "2005-03-17T17:48:23Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > How the heck else can they expect others to know how pious they are if they don’t advertise it? I’ve also seen people hang rosaries from their rear vision mirrors. It’s an insult to use a prayer aid as a lucky charm, in my opinion. An insult to who? To you? I’ve been Catholic all my life. I don’t think rosaries should be worn around the neck. I don’t hang one from my mirror either, but I don’t see anything wrong with it. Why do Catholics fast, and a million other traditions? One reason is to keep us in the right frame of mind. If someone wants to hang a rosary from their mirror to feel better about themselves, I don’t see the harm. I’m curious, do you feel the same way about people who put plastic Jesus or Madonna icons on their dash board? Again, it’s not something that I do, but I certainly would never feel offended by it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-wear-rosaries-around-their-neck/294760/22 "2005-03-17T18:58:32Z")
Apparently these kids have never heard of [prayer box](http://www.victoriantradingco.com/store/catalogimages/7g/i2887.html) [jewelry](http://www.victoriantradingco.com/store/catalogimages/7g/i3212.html). Either that, or get a rosary like necklace that hasn’t been blessed. ---
**Author:** ![Tenzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Tenzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenzin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-wear-rosaries-around-their-neck/294760/23 "2005-03-18T00:11:03Z")
Buddhists do wear 108 bead malas around the neck; a convenient carrying place and reminder of one’s faith. Could be where Brittany & co got the fashion statement. “Power beads”, were a fashion co-opting of wrist malas a few years back. Mostly cheap Chinese knock-offs; some sad irony there. Mebbe them gals are wanting to say"Hey, here’s a spiritual thang going on, get with it!" Yep, I know , mebbe not… At any rate, malas are still to be used as a meditational tool, to be treated with respect, and not just used as ornament. Posting, though, to say that, in some traditions, wearing the rosary around the neck is OK. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-wear-rosaries-around-their-neck/294760/24 "2005-03-18T08:53:58Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > An insult to who? To you? I’ve been Catholic all my life. I don’t think rosaries should be worn around the neck. I don’t hang one from my mirror either, but I don’t see anything wrong with it. Why do Catholics fast, and a million other traditions? One reason is to keep us in the right frame of mind. If someone wants to hang a rosary from their mirror to feel better about themselves, I don’t see the harm. > > I’m curious, do you feel the same way about people who put plastic Jesus or Madonna icons on their dash board? Again, it’s not something that I do, but I certainly would never feel offended by it. Not an insult to me personally but I think it’s an insult to prayer, if that’s possible. As I said, I don’t think the rosary should be treated like a lucky charm. Plastic Jesuses and Madonnas are tacky, in my opinion, but I don’t see them as being on the same level of tackiness as hanging a rosary from the rear view mirror. That’s more in the realm of parading one’s religiosity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-wear-rosaries-around-their-neck/294760.md?page=1)