Note I am a convert from Catholicism, and I understand the crucifix is not a symbol of Christ’s death, but his victory over death and his resurrection.  Actually, one time I got in trouble with my Bishop at BYU for having my crucifix on my door, saying that I would offend people.  When I took it down, my room mates told me to put it back up.  They got use to it, and liked the reminder of what Christ did and was a good thing to see before starting the day.  

It’s much like Heather said in the comments: “It is a symbol of the resurrection, of the fact that Christ overcame death and is not there, for he has risen. It’s empty because christ is not dead, but conquered death.”

 I most certainly have a cross in my bedroom. It is white with a girl praying and I will prominently display that cross in my new home once I’m married later this year.  I do have a couple cross necklaces, and its from my Great-Grandmother, on my Father’s maternal side. 

I most certainly think we use the Cross, its just reserved for LDS Chaplains to wear. Because Chaplains serve everyone in the military, wearing the cross on their helmets or gear, is a sign to Christians to come to them for spiritual guidance and help. 

And lastly I believe that pictures in the Chapel are banned, but I quite like the flowers. I think of the song that has something to do with flowers growing over the sea, and that is where Christ was born and lived and did his mortal work. It’s a visual reminder to me, of a beautiful life, as Christ is the creator. 

What is the downside of someone using a symbol such as a (insert your traditional LDS necklace, CTR ring, etc., here), or a cross to show their devotion to God and acknowledgement of Jesus’ awesome sacrifice being accepted in their lives? No crosses, by golly, but say yess to the sickeningly sappy “Mormon Top 40″ songs being performed in LDS meetings. If the church hadn’t put a stop to the uncontrolled farewell rituals, I’m not sure how much more I could have stomached.

I consider the standard LDS responses to the question to be total bunk and no more than vain attempts to come up with answers to appease the doctrine police (if you are LDS, you are grinning now because every ward has ‘em).

I find the symbol a positive thing and feel positive when I see someone wearing one….I think it is a brotherhood thing perhaps. For Mormons to claim it is a “focus” issue is without depth of understanding and hyportical beyond belief. How can we assert that one particular component of the Atonement carries more sway than another?

While Mormons get wrapped around the axle regarding the use of a cross, I can’t help but wonder what Christ’s thoulghts would be regarding our insistance in portraying Christ, a Semitic, as having Anglo features. Interesting notion, that.

Joseph Fielding Smith, as only he or his son-in-law could express, wrote the following:
“To many, like the writer, such a custom is repugnant and contrary to the true worship of our Redeemer. Why should we bow down before a cross or use it as a symbol? Because our Savior died on the cross, the wearing of crosses is to most Latter-Day Saints in very poor taste and inconsistent to our worship.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:17)

He also went on to use the weapon of death analogy, a dagger or sword in his example.

What makes the difference to me is that he gave his life, it was not taken. What has made it “repugnant” (a word only a very few—one?–would use) is the tradition in which Mormons have been raised. We have talked elsewhere about the middle initial syndrome of the general authorities and the “odd” feeling we get when not calling them by their “official names”. To me it is all culturalization, not the essence of the cross itself.

A crucifix is a cross with christ hanging from it. It is a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice and not typically worn, but used in rosary and other places like churches.

A CROSS, however, is empty. It is a symbol of the resurrection, of the fact that Christ overcame death and is not there, for he has risen. It’s empty because christ is not dead, but conquered death. It is NOTHING like wearing a pistol around ones neck.

I always resent seeing the comparisons between a cross and a weapon being made, it shows a lot of ignorance about what other churches believe.

How has the Mormon use of symbols start? More often then not any significant symbol is associated with the Temple. There are only two “official” symbols used by the Church that are not tied to the Temple in a direct way and that is the Sacrament and the CTR ring. The Sacrament has a very specific purpose used at a very specific time. It is an extension of our baptismal oaths and covenants. One could argue that makes it partly Temple related. As for the CTR ring, it really started more as a primary gimmick that seems to have slipped from official usage and became consumerist. Paintings commissioned or displayed by the Church are actually rather generic and serving the purpose mostly of garnishing. There are still very few chapels that have any art (symbols) of any kind displayed – not even in the way of Islamic geometric patterns.

The reason Mormonism has not “taken up the cross” is because it already has a symbol that the cross fills in for; and that would be the Temple. Pictures of the Temple in homes are often placed where other religions would put their own symbols. When a prophet says that the symbol of Christ should be our own lives rather than a cross, that means something more than a cute expression of examples to others. That is precisely what the Temple is commanding us to do as members. Not saying that is what the prophets mean by that, but who knows? I have come to the conclusion that crosses are not bad (I prefer and keep, but don’t actually wear, an Ankh), but they are superfluous for Mormon tradition. I might even go so far as to say that Mormons who have gone to the Temple should put it aside. There might be several reasons a Mormon wants to wear a cross, but the only ones I feel that have a legitimate reason are converts and out of friendly gestures. I would love to expand on this topic, but worry about crossing sacred lines by expounding on my thoughts of why the Temple fills in for the Cross.

I don’t wear crosses to Church, I usually have on the CTR ring and bracelet. Does that make it any different that wearing a cross? Both are symbols of our beliefs, one just isn’t culturally acceptable and one is.

Either way, I think it is a personal choice, and no one’s business but my own. Like many who have posted, I like to focus on the living Savior, not on the way he left this mortal earth. But that doesn’t mean I don’t find the art of the many other religions of the world beautiful. Oh, I also have a wonderfully carved jade Buddha sitting on my bookshelf, and two Muslim prayer rugs displayed on another wall along with a Hindu goddess. Guess you could say, I like art for art’s sake and don’t place a lot of value on its religious symbolism.

“With regard to the mark of the beast, I think with Sir Isaac Newton, that it is the cross. This symbol has been abused by the Papists to the purposes both of the most infernal cruelties, and of the most childish superstition.” —Ray Potter. A Treatise on the Millennium, Or Latter-Day Glory of the Church, Compiled Principally From the Productions of Late Eminent Writers Upon that Subject. . . . By Ray Potter, Minister of the Gospel, Pawtucket. (Providence: Brown & Danforth, Printers, 1824), 269.

‘When I go to our chapels I rarely think of Jesus their are no pictures of him in the lobby or hallways – nothing.’
If this is the case then do something about it and ask your ward leaders to put some pictures on the walls in your chapel.

Good luck.

Having said that you have to know if you have been a member of the LDS faith for very long that it is not customary for LDS people to wear crosses and whatever the reasons are for not doing so, you are going to make people curious and wonder if you do wear one. Anytime you choose to do something that is not customary in a “culture” you will raise curiousity….it’s just the nature of the beast.