Blasphemous "creepy cross" at Target

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SaintSerafina

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I saw this on another Catholic forum and I was disgusted!

"I was in a Target store this past week and happened to see a product in their halloween section which is offensive and blasphemous to me as a Catholic. The product is an item called a “creepy cross” made for Target exclusively which in place of the Corpus found on a Crucifix has a hideous looking owl/bat looking figure.

I brought it to the attention of the store manager and I asked Target to remove this item which is offensive to me, but more importantly is an offense to Our Lord Jesus Christ who died on that very image that Target has chosen to desecrate for it’s own financial gain.

I told them will be posting a picture of the “creepy cross” on multiple prominent message forums on the internet to bring awareness to this offense and urging others to contact call them as I did to pull this item from their shelves.

Online contact form: target.com/gp/help/display-contact-us-form.html?displayLink=tsq

or call 1-800-440-0680"

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_uv0P--66jyA/TKkCnFsADAI/AAAAAAAABnA/YWhx_7yCY3k/s800/blasphemous cross.jpg

We should all let Target know how we feel about this blasphemy!!!
 
If you should happen to visit some of the older graveyards and cemeteries in the New England area, you will see many crosses with one or more skulls on them. It was quite common through the mid 1800’s.
 
Um, your free to do what ever you want, but this wasn’t meant to offend or be blasphemous. In fact, acting like this does sort makes it easier for anti-catholic people to paint us all as whack jobs.

This coming from a guy who has protested against real blasphemy before, such as offensive art.
 
I doubt the tacky toy was intending to copy a crucifix, just to copy old gravestones, a common if trite halloween decoration. but the rights of those who feel offended by such a store display should be respected by a wise retailer.
 
I don’t find this offensive. they never made it to be offensive, im sure.
But as an american, you have your freedom of speech. However tbh, i dont think they will remove this just because one person doesn’t like it.
 
There are two types of halloween - cute and fun (pumpkins, scarecrows, kids in superhero costumes) and the dark/satanic halloween (bleeding skulls, pentegrams, and crosses like the ones you found). Unfortunately some people and some retailers focus on the dark side of halloween. 😦 I am sure Target did not mean the crosses to be offensive, but it’s because they probably think so little about Christianity and Catholicism in particular that they forgot that twisting a cross into a dark, satanic symbol would actually bother a lot of people. I mean look at it, those things would be better suited for a witch’s coven than a Christian church. The more people speak up when someone insults our faith, even if they think it’s much ado about nothing, retailers will think twice about doing it again. Muslims, homosexuals, racial minorities, and plenty of other groups are always so quick to point out when something offends them, but we Christians tend to just put up with it. Now we’re at a point where practicing out faith in public is discouraged or even banned. If we keep silent it will only continue.
 
Imagine if they had done a creepy looking mohammed or something related to islam. People would go crazy but because it’s Christian, it’s just brushed aside.

Shame on you who don’t think making a mockery of our holy Crucifix is a big deal, even if it wasn’t intended to be disrespectful. How can you not want to stand up for a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice and fight against it being blasphemed?

Typical lax “Catholics”.
 
SaintSerafina said:
Imagine if they had done a creepy looking mohammed or something related to islam. People would go crazy but because it’s Christian, it’s just brushed aside.

Shame on you who don’t think making a mockery of our holy Crucifix is a big deal, even if it wasn’t intended to be disrespectful. How can you not want to stand up for a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice and fight against it being blasphemed?

Typical lax “Catholics”.
Click to expand...
nobody said it was not a big deal, they are saying however that it is not a federal case, which it is not, as the OP makes it seem to be a deliberate calculated attack on the Catholic faith. It is more likely to result from ignorance, and if your protest helps to cure some of that ignorance so much the better. But it is not helpful to go looking for persecution where none exists to the extent that we miss the real thing (the ghastly publicly funded art exhibit in Colorado for instance). and curious how you know whether I or anyone else who has responded is a typical Catholic, lax or not. are you prescient or are you receiving locutions from the Holy Spirit?
 
SaintSerafina said:
Imagine if they had done a creepy looking mohammed or something related to islam. People would go crazy but because it’s Christian, it’s just brushed aside.

Shame on you who don’t think making a mockery of our holy Crucifix is a big deal, even if it wasn’t intended to be disrespectful. How can you not want to stand up for a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice and fight against it being blasphemed?

Typical lax “Catholics”.
Click to expand...
Your totally getting a de-friend on my facebook. 😃

Relax.

If you cause a big scene about things that are trivial (like this) it will cheapen it when REAL blasphmey comes along.

Would you like Catholics to be considered as crazy as those muslims who protest everything? Would that help Catholicism? Save more souls?

You need to take a breather on this one.

And calling people on this site in particular “lax” Catholics shows a disturbing iignorance of the people on this site.
 
Actually, a lot of old crosses and crucifixes have skulls on them, or at the base. The skull was an artistic symbol often placed in old paintings and statues as a representation of our own mortality, and Christ’s triumph over death. This is not only not satanic, but within the realm of Catholic expression.
 
SaintSerafina said:
Typical lax “Catholics”.
Click to expand...
What is up with everyone judging other people’s devotion on this forum? As if they magically know what’s in everyone else’s hearts over the internet.

I need to get that mind-reading browser that a lot of you seem to have.
 
MarianD said:
What is up with everyone judging other people’s devotion on this forum? As if they magically know what’s in everyone else’s hearts over the internet.

I need to get that mind-reading browser that a lot of you seem to have.
Click to expand...
That does happen from time to time in the forums, but the postive totally outweights the negative. Most people are rational, normal everyday good catholics.

I love your comment on the browser thing by the way!
 
Considering the cross was a device originally designed to bring a person a long and painful death I don’t really know how much right we would even have to claim the use of one for purposes other than Christian imagery is blasphemous. Honestly the way we treat and view the cross is far removed from the way it was viewed by our early Catholic ancestors. To them it was primarily a torture device, the phrase “take up your cross” was probably not taken anywhere near as lightly by them as it is by many of us.
 
Thats because people are scared of muslims, but not scared of christians. and they don’t want the crazy taliban attacking our country.
 
Agape_Thom said:
If you should happen to visit some of the older graveyards and cemeteries in the New England area, you will see many crosses with one or more skulls on them. It was quite common through the mid 1800’s.
Click to expand...
But are such skulls in the same position as the corpus on a crucifix? I am just curious, since the topic has been raised.I don’t think the Target Halloween decoration was meant to mock the crucifix. I suspect the toy was designed in China by persons unfamiliar with Catholic symbols. The skull was simply put at the center of the cross because that is where our eyes are drawn.

Here is one example of grave marker using symbolism common among Czech Catholics in the 19th century. The skull appears towards the base of the crucifix, with the corpus in its normal place:
The Andera grave marker crosses are rich in symbolism. His #1 was adorned with a skull and crossbones. (This did not indicate that the deceased had died from poison as one school child surmised, but was an image commonly displayed by Czech Catholics in centuries past as a reminder of man’s mortality.)
Click to expand...
iagenweb.org/johnson/NPCATHCEM/AnderaCrosses.htm
 
I think the people at Target’s merchandising department did not mean to offend.

However, i think a reasonable, polite complaint is appropriate.

For example:

Dear Target,
You may not have been aware, but it is offensive to Christians to see a holy symbol co-opted into Halloween decor. Please refrain from using the cross for less-than-respectful purposes in the future. Thanks.
 
StJudePray4Me said:
I think the people at Target’s merchandising department did not mean to offend.

However, i think a reasonable, polite complaint is appropriate.

For example:

Dear Target,
You may not have been aware, but it is offensive to Christians to see a holy symbol co-opted into Halloween decor. Please refrain from using the cross for less-than-respectful purposes in the future. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Of course, the OP is well within her rights to send a letter of protest to Target to express the fact that SHE is offended. A quick read of this thread, however, suggests that most Christians do not find this particular cross offensive.
 
I thought maybe I was being less caring about this as I should be since I was not really offended. Would I buy it? No. But, when there are SO many more disrespectful things going on out there, this just wouldn’t be the hill I’d want to die on.
puzzleannie said:
nobody said it was not a big deal, they are saying however that it is not a federal case, which it is not, as the OP makes it seem to be a deliberate calculated attack on the Catholic faith. It is more likely to result from ignorance, and if your protest helps to cure some of that ignorance so much the better. But it is not helpful to go looking for persecution where none exists to the extent that we miss the real thing (the ghastly publicly funded art exhibit in Colorado for instance). and curious how you know whether I or anyone else who has responded is a typical Catholic, lax or not. are you prescient or are you receiving locutions from the Holy Spirit?
Click to expand...
I live in CO, but am totally out of the art “loop”, what are you talking about?
 
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