What do you do when a mormon tells you the cross is like a swatstika?

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catholic-rcia:
The LDS do not see Baptism as dying in Christ to be risen in Christ.
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Rich,

Are you sure about this? I can’t tell if you are trying to represent LDS belief as the LDS themselves would describe it, or you are merely stating your understanding of LDS belief and critiquing it.

As this LDS guy sees it, the opposite of what you state is true. When on my mission, I taught about baptism with words such as “Baptism is symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” And “When we are baptised our old life of sin dies and we then start a new life as followers of Christ.”

As for your other critique, I don’t see how President Hinckley’s mention of how Judas set some chain of events in motion on a small scale somehow denies that larger forces were at work.
 
I think most Mormons shy away from the cross. They don’t want to look at it. You won’t find crosses in LDS churches or LDS homes (to find them is the exception). They are offended by it, and I don’t know why. I’ve been told many times that it has to do with them preferring to see the risen Christ, but I think there is more to it than that, because most Mormons I know have a negative reaction to the cross. They particularly don’t want to look at Jesus on the cross. I’m not sure where this comes from in their faith formation, but it’s there. I think it may have to do with their emphasis of Jesus’ agony in the garden as the atonement rather than his death on the cross. I think the underlying issue is that from the beginning, the LDS church tried to separate itself from other Christian churches, most of which use the cross as a symbol in one form or another. I don’t know how one can fully appreciate the resurrection without a deep appreciation of the cross. Having it visually around to help us remember seems the best way to keep Christ’s death and resurrection on our minds and in our hearts.
 
Hi all!
What do you do when a mormon tells you the cross is like a swatstika?
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Egad…

I marvel at the self-control and self-restraint of any Roman Catholic who would not react, instantly and reflexively, with physical violence to a Mormon making such a claim. What ill-manners! What shocking intolerance!

Be well!

ssv 👋
 
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momathome:
I would disagree with the reasoning that it might be perceived as idolatrous practice of veneration. The swastika is not a vernerated symbol, but highly offensive. I’ve been counciled against use of the cross because it’s offensive, not out of respect.

Lds church leaders have counciled members to decorate their homes with church art, specifically pictures of Joseph Smith and the history of the lds church. The lds church also uses pictures of Christ in all church buildings. It’s specifically the cross, not anything other symbol that is forbidden. Church members use all sorts of symbols for art and jewelry, such as the liahona, the temple, the young womens flower, etc… I’d like to see the logic of banning the cross.

Thanks.
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The cross is not “banned” - just not used. I have an LDS friend who has a daughter who wears a treaured cross all the time - even to her LDS church. She has NEVER received any sort of “flack” from doing so.

Karen Anne
 
Well, first off, this whole issue sounds like a mountain out of a molehill. This was an off-hand remark made by a single person, and might I add a very badly chosen parallel, but is in NO way representitive of the LDS Church as whole, or probably any other members either.

I’ve been a member of the LDS church for the last 24 years and am now taking the catechism and learning more about the Catholic faith BUT I still hold the LDS church in great respect.
I’m chainging churches due to personal beliefs but I still hold the LDS church with the highest of respect, but once I started learning about the Catholic church, I find that they believe the exact same thing that I disagreed with in the Mormon church.

When I joined, I too was confused about the lack of any iconography in the church, and when asked about it, the man I asked said simply “Well, it would be like wearing a little electric chair around your neck. Personally, I would rather have a necklace showing the tomb with the stone rolled back”.

While I agree that this makes sense, the symbol of the cross or crucifix is a REMINDER of what Christ suffered for our sins, and should not in and of it’s-self become venerated, otherwise you are then bowing down to a graven image. For the last 15 years I’ve worn a small gold cross on the lapel of my suit, and I’m a greeter (stand at the door and hand out the bulletins, shake hands, corral kids during services etc).

Kissing the feet of Christ is not IMO venerating the object it’s-self, but merely showing devotion for whom the object represents. The object is still just an object, it can be destroyed, desecrated, stolen or otherwise lost but the man for whom this represents will still be with us.

Now on the subject of the Swastika, it was, prior to WW-2, considered a Good Luck symbol (most likely the reason Hitler chose it, he was VERY superstitious). Even the Boy Scouts of America employed the symbol on the award medals they handed out, but Hitler tainted this image when he chose it as a symbol of his oppresive and murderous regime. The problem is, that this association with the third riech has become so strong, that most folks today are somewhat surprised to learn that it was not actually invented by Hitler himself, but rather had a life of it’s own and totally different meaning prior to his regiem.

It’s rather like the word Gay. It used to mean happy and carefree, but our society has changed it’s meaning to “homosexual”. Am I Gay? Sure! It’s a nice day out! Am I Homosexual? Nope, Sorry fellas.
 
Go to India, Swastikas are everywhere and the Japanese kanji for temple is a swastika…albeit the Nazi swatika is backwards.
 
I’d tell them this isn’t true.

A good friend of mine is a US Army Chaplain and is LDS, he wears a cross on his uniform. Some members of the local congregation he attended off post were scandalized that he wore a cross daily. He gave them som come uppance and the issue was dropped.
 
If a Mormon told me that, instead of doing the Nazi salute and saying “hail Hitler”, I would make the sign of the cross and say “All Hail Jesus!”
 
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