Wearing symbols/jewelry from other religions

[Mike]

41 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

So me going to church without clothes on-good message or bad? 

Post a photo--we'll all get back to you on that.

[Blackmarch]

ROFLMAO

[Guest]

I have a peace sign medallion that I wear with my tie dye shirt. I'm such a hippie.

[Guest]

On 2/24/2017 at 1:20 PM, MormonGator said:

So me going to church without clothes on-good message or bad? 

In your case I think it would fall under the "excessive nudity" category and would therefore be: BAD!  BAD!  Bad Gator.

[Guest MormonGator]

6 hours ago, Carborendum said:

In your case I think it would fall under the "excessive nudity" category and would therefore be: BAD!  BAD!  Bad Gator.

So nude beaches are ok....

[Guest]

4 hours ago, MormonGator said:

So nude beaches are ok....

11 hours ago, Carborendum said:

In your case I think it would fall under the "excessive nudity" category and would therefore be: BAD!  BAD!  Bad Gator.

 

[limichelle]

I just cracked up at Gators posts!!! ? 

 

i did buy myself a little cross to wear as Jewlery. It's silver and the cross is silver with real sapphire going down the middle. It's my most expensive piece I own. I would hate to give that up. 

 

Lisa

[unixknight]

I used to wear a pendant with a pentagram in it, because it was once used as a Christian symbol. 

After a while though, I felt nudged by the Spirit to take it off.  I think the problem was that people would see it and assume I was a Wiccan, so it wasn't really doing anything to promote Christ.

[prisonchaplain]

Learned something new today. Let me see if I can summarize this:  Many LDS are neutral-to-okay with displaying/wearing artifacts from other religions. My guess is that this may have to do with the belief that all those of sincere religious faith/practice will achieve a heavenly reward--most often the Terrestial Kingdom.  From my Pentecostal perspective, most of us would believe that the icons--particularly from non-Christian religions--could serve as an invitation for demonic spirits. Personally, I do not even like to put up images of Jesus, because of the OT commands against having images of God. 

[NightSG]

On 2/24/2017 at 1:20 PM, MormonGator said:

So me going to church without clothes on-good message or bad? 

Mainly depends on whether others notice you're "feeling the spirit."

Or if you're overusing the "must be right under a vent - it's really cold here" excuse.

[Guest]

On 3/8/2017 at 4:34 PM, prisonchaplain said:

Many LDS are neutral-to-okay with displaying/wearing artifacts from other religions.

Actually, I don't believe that is correct.  You just happen to come across a pretty good crowd with regard to this issue.  I'd say most Mormons are annoyed-to-offended when seeing a cross or especially a crucifix being worn at church.  But most Mormons are also very polite people who won't speak their minds about that.

If you took a poll of most Mormon's ideas about the cross or the crucifix, I think you'd get a response like,"No, that's wrong."  But if you'd ask why it's wrong, they would say something like,"That's a symbol of death.  You wouldn't put an electric chair on the wall if He were executed today, would you?"

Even President Hinckley was known for stating that the cross is the symbol of His death.  We celebrate the Living Christ. (e.g. We celebrate Easter, but not Good Friday).

While I can't say Pres Hinckley is wrong (because he is right about that aspect) I believe he was merely offering a motivating/uplifting statement rather than a declaration of history or doctrine.  I believe the background shared here (even by the non-LDS of the board) is pretty accurate in regard to the history.  But many Mormons are not educated on that matter.  We try to focus on just serving the best we can and qualifying ourselves day-by-day.  We (especially I) certainly need it.

[prisonchaplain]

Thank you @Carborendum. The teacher in me is always trying to discern where people-groups are at. When I was in Korea I would sometimes form ideas about where most Koreans were at, only to find out later that my small sample of encounters were outliers.  As I read through your explanation it makes a lot of sense, and rounds out some pretty rough edges in my previous post. 

[Guest MormonGator]

I know some LDS wear "CTR" rings (which frankly I think is a pretty cool way to show your faith in a quiet, non obtrusive style) but are there any other symbols or necklaces out there that LDS have? 

[Guest Godless]

54 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

I know some LDS wear "CTR" rings (which frankly I think is a pretty cool way to show your faith in a quiet, non obtrusive style) but are there any other symbols or necklaces out there that LDS have? 

My mom has a necklace with a charm of the angel Moroni (which coincidentally is also my brother's middle name). I think I've seen other LDS women wearing similar Moroni jewelry as well.

[NightSG]

1 hour ago, MormonGator said:

I know some LDS wear "CTR" rings (which frankly I think is a pretty cool way to show your faith in a quiet, non obtrusive style) but are there any other symbols or necklaces out there that LDS have? 

Kinda pricey, and you might be mistaken for a Methodist, but:

http://www.cafepress.com/mf/97416314/electric-crock_charms?productId=1529512870

https://www.amazon.com/Sterling-Kitchen-Casserole-Cooking-Bracelet/dp/B01CZMIYJE

[Sunday21]

Some people have temple ties! Cool!

[Mike]

On 3/8/2017 at 3:34 PM, prisonchaplain said:

From my Pentecostal perspective, most of us would believe that the icons--particularly from non-Christian religions--could serve as an invitation for demonic spirits. Personally, I do not even like to put up images of Jesus, because of the OT commands against having images of God. 

This portrait of Jesus Christ was up on the wall at the front of the chapel where I attended church as a child. It made me feel good. 

 

 

[Mike]

On 2/24/2017 at 10:44 AM, Blackmarch said:

probably depends... for the grand majority of items if worn as jewelry for jewelry sake i don't think there would be anything against that. Stuff that have messages on them or have very specific or significant meaning to other people, especially if the meaning or what is symbolised dosn't mesh well with what you believe I would be quite a bit more hesitant and very careful with on the other hand.

Whether you intend to or not, what you wear or decide not to wear will always send messages to others.

I think you rightly address a point that ought to make each of us think very hard about our own motives if we choose to wear or otherwise utilize a relic, symbol, etc., that pertains to a deeply felt religious conviction held by someone else. 

[Sunday21]

17 minutes ago, Mike said:

I think you rightly address a point that ought to make each of us think very hard about our own motives if we choose to wear or otherwise utilize a relic, symbol, etc., that pertains to a deeply felt religious conviction held by someone else. 

We ask students to dress in a business suit as if they were attending a job interview. I tried to explain to a student that the 3 inch cross that she wore was not appropriate and offensive to many different religions - Christians don't appreciate their symbols being worn as a fashion accessory, and others do not view symbols of Christianity positively.

[Mike]

1 hour ago, Sunday21 said:

We ask students to dress in a business suit as if they were attending a job interview. I tried to explain to a student that the 3 inch cross that she wore was not appropriate and offensive to many different religions - Christians don't appreciate their symbols being worn as a fashion accessory, and others do not view symbols of Christianity positively.

That is true. I think we could file this under treating others with respect as we would wish to be treated. I would suppose that an LDS person, as an example, would look with suspicion at a non-LDS person wearing temple garments with less than the covenant type motive for which the garment is designed. As you rightly cite, the same might be felt by a Catholic observing a non-believer wielding a crucifix in a less than reverent manner in contrast to the devotion felt by the Catholic. It shouldn't be so difficult for one to see things through another person's eyes in this particular regard. 

[kendraallen]

nice sharing!!

[unixknight]

Historically, pentagrams were used as Christian symbols, and in fact they even appeared on the Nauvoo Temple.  I decided to start wearing one for a while a few years back.

The problem was twofold:

1. People who saw it tended to (understandably) think I was Wiccan, not LDS.  That led to awkward conversations at times, because from their point of view they may have felt I was usurping the meaning of a symbol they considered to be theirs.  (Also understandably.)  

2. At some point I just felt that I was being prompted by the Spirit to stop wearing it, so I did.  Even though that symbol was once used by Christians, the fact that it isn't anymore may have altered the symbol's meaning enough that it just can't be used for the older purpose anymore.  

I do still have it, though.  I also have a couple copies of the Qur'an given to me by some very kind Muslim co-workers when they learned I was interested in reading it. (I believe there's value in doing that, as long as it doesn't take priority over studying Canon Scripture.)  I also have a Catholic Bible somewhere.

(Edit:  I just  noticed that this is an OLD thread and I'd said some of this before... Well, I'll leave it up since I put in more detail this time.)

Edited March 4, 2019 by unixknight

[Guest Gallant Pioneer]

I wear 2 Mallas constantly as one was a gift from a dear friend and another was from a Rapinoche at a temple near me. Couple of my Asian friends bought me a Bodai keyring and a Chinese astrology Rat keyring. I consider them gifts from the few people who were there for me in my darkest hours in the past. 

[Guest Scott]

On 3/4/2019 at 8:26 AM, unixknight said:

Historically, pentagrams were used as Christian symbols, and in fact they even appeared on the Nauvoo Temple. 

They are also on the Salt Lake Temple all the way around the outside of the temple on the level that has the Telestial Room.  

[pwrfrk]

On 2/24/2017 at 12:20 PM, MormonGator said:

So me going to church without clothes on-good message or bad?