I would say we praise Jesus who died on the cross, rather than the cross itself.
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Do you think that Christians worship the cross? Seriously?
For Christians it is a symbol of the ultimate love and sacrifice that our God suffered and died on it to pay for our sins and literally WENT TO HELL so we didn’t have to.
The Cross is the most important symbol of Christianity because it is there that our salvation took place.
Just perusing FR on the “comments” tab, and so I may be butting in with a tangent, but there is a difference in perception among a large population of Christians.
A cross, alone, used as a symbol, is almost always a Protestant thing. To Protestants, the vacant cross symbolizes victory, for He is Risen.
A cross showing the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, used as a symbol, is almost always a Catholic thing. The suffering and the sacrifice is the important symbolism.
I’m not saying one is good and one is bad. I do fall in the “Protestant” camp, though, and am acquainted with many people who are quite bothered by crosses showing the Crucifixion. To them, and to me I suppose although I’m not quite so strident about it, such a cross glorifies death and verges upon denying Resurrection.
For what it’s worth.