How the cross necklace has lost its true meaning

How many people now days wear a cross necklace and don't even understand the history or the meaning of it? First, in order to understand the reason for the cross necklace you have to understand where it came about. The cross on the necklace is a symbol from the Christian and Catholic faith representing the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who paid for the sins of those who put their faith in him. The cross didn't become a symbol of Christianity until the 4Th century of the Roman Empire. The site Celtic Cross's, emphasis's the importance of the cross. In addition, the site says that the cross symbolizes the four directions of the sections of the earth. The directions such as horizontal and vertical shows the forces of how Heaven and earth cross one another. Emperor Constantine, made Christianity the official faith of the Roman Empire. There are many different kinds of crosses with various designs, which mean a lot to people of the faith. I chose to do my description of a Jerusalem cross necklace with Ancient Roman Glass.

Description: This particular cross necklace was dated to be over 2000 years old. It is covered in sterling silver. There are two different patterned larger silver crosses that sit next to each other. One has a ribbed pattern while the other one on the right is smooth looking. Additionally, there in lies a circle on top of the crosses, which means eternal life in Christ Jesus after we physically die and go to heaven. Inside of the circle there is a blue, pink, green and gray colors of Ancient Roman glass that covers the top of the circle. Further, in the corner of the two crosses lies a little cross in each area. So, in all there are four little crosses. The four little crosses symbolize the four gospels and the statement in the bible that says that "the gospel would be thought throughout the four corners of the earth.

Deduction: The cross necklace was really made to symbolize that you believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior. However, some how the those that are not of the Christian and Catholic faith started wearing the cross necklace as a piece of fashion. Was the cross necklace meant to be a piece of fashion with no meaning? Or was it meant to symbolize that you were a believer? Unfortunately, the mainstream has abused the meaning of the true meaning of the cross necklace. Pagans and other people , like the hip-hop culture turn the cross into something not of God.

Speculation: Long ago in the Christian and Catholic faith the cross was worn to symbolize the faith of believing in Jesus. The cross was also seen in churches and certain funeral homes.

Questions:

1. Why do people where the cross necklace if they are not Christians or Catholics?

2. Has the cross necklace really lost its meaning?

3.Would other people still where the cross necklace if they really new the true meaning?

4.Do people who are of the faith fall into the mainstream of wearing the cross just as decoration?

5. Will the cross necklace gain back its true history?

Research: These are the sources that talked about the cross necklace and its history.

1. www.celtarts.com/celtric.htm. I felt like this article really explained the meaning of the different crosses. I gave me great detail especially about the description of the designs of certain crosses. I didn't realize how one detail has a certain meaning.

2. "What does the Cross mean today", www.ThinkChristian.net/index.php I felt like this article was good because it showed how the cross necklace has become less important. It talked about how different people wear the cross for different reasons to show parts of their identity. I do wish that is had a little more information of why they think this has happened within our culture.

3. The Holy Bible NIV, Luke:9:23) The bible was one of most important sources because it tied in the main part of my argument. I had to explain certain concepts because not everyone understand the scriptures.

4." Teens faith in fashion is their cross to wear",by Vikki Ortiz. March 12, 2002.www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?d= 26672. I used this article to get another persons opinion to understand why they buy cross necklaces. It is true we buy them because they are pretty. The teen girl thought they were pretty too, but she wanted to remember what the cross really meant to her. In addition, I liked how the article talked about how certain celebrities like Madonna wear a cross necklace. Madonna has said that she isn't a Christian so it was interesting to see what she had one.

5. www.albatrus.org/english/religions/pagan/origin_of_cross_htm. I didn't like this source as much because it lacked in certain information that I wanted. However, its did provide me with some good examples of where the cross came from and the certain origin.

6. "The Ancient Roman Cross Necklace Description", www.shop.theanimalrescuesite.com/store/item.do? This was a great site because I found the most beautiful cross necklace to talk about. The site provided be with a brief description of how old the cross necklace was and the meaning of the certain parts that were on the necklace. It was perfect for my paper.

7."The Cross of Ramplet"www.clydesight.com/coft/crosskey.htm. This source lacked with good info, but it just helped to reinforce my argument.

8. "The Crux Gemmeta And Shifting significances of the cross in insular art". www.marginlia.co.uk/journal . I liked this article because it helped with my argument and helped to explain the beautiful significance of the cross.

Argument: Its seems like the cross necklace has become so mainstream that it has lost its original true meaning on which it was founded. The first reason why believers wear the cross necklace is because it is a reminder of the even that made eternal life in heaven possible for man. This concept is foundational to the Christian and Catholic faith. The second reason is that it reminds us of the calling that God has placed on his people to live a life that pleases him. In the bible Jesus says in Luke 9:23, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me."To carry your cross doesn't mean literally carry your cross. It means "dying" to self" or denying the indulgence in sin, which does not please God. So when a rapper like Fifty Cent wears the cross necklace he totally contradicts the meaning of why believers where it. Through his thug life style and disrespectful song lyrics aren't saying that he understands the meaning of the cross necklace. In addition, some people wear the cross as a fashion piece but yet reject the faith is also a contradiction. A girl in the journal article, "Teens faith in Fashion is their Cross to Wear", by Vikki Ortiz, says that she thinks her necklace is pretty and hoped that she still remembered its meaning. Then, the teen said that she saw Madonna wearing a cross in her video, "Like a Virgin" and thought it was interesting. It just really bothers me that this has happened ,but you can't change peoples minds because this is the world that we live in. So, the cross necklace has lost its meaning, because there those like I have said that have no understanding of the symbol and when people like an object they can change to fit their own identity regardless of what it was originally made for.

I loathe cigarettes!

There are not many things that I loathe besides one thing in particular, and that is cigarettes! I hate the smell and what it does to peoples lungs.This disgusting long white thin cancer stick causes so many health problems for people all over the world. From the site "Cigarette butt Litter," describes a cigarette as being about 85 mm to 100 mm long and its width around 8mm. There are tightly fitted fibers made of cellulose to lets air enter the smoke mix. In addition, the cancer stick is wrapped in usually a white sticky paper to lock in the fibers. Cigarettes are highly addictive and are incredibly toxic. The toxine is called, nicotine , which comes from one of the most deadlist plants when in its natural form. Further, there is a substance called, tar found in cigarettes and when inhaled to the lungs causes a nasty sticky yellow-brown liquid. Did you know that there are over 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes such as, carbon monoxide, nicotine,ammonia and etc? It just bathels me how much people do not realize the damage that they are doing to their bodies. The cigarettes manufactures need to be sued because they know that they are slowly killing off the people in the world. How can they be so selfish just to make a buck!

Cigarettes cause health probelms to smokers and almost always has them end up in the doctors office or hospital. The site http://www.lungusa.org/ claims that over 8.5 million perople have at least one serious sickness caused by smoking. Smoking causes Chronic lung disease, Coroanry heart disease, Stroke, Heart attack, throat cancer and just plain death! Because smoking is so addictive people that want to quit suffer severly. The reason is because there are withdrawal symptoms like irritablitity, crankiness, anxiety, head aches, nausia and other symptoms. Cigarettes are one of the leading causes of death in our world. Futhermore, the withdrawal process isn't usually that long.

In addition, if you are a non smoker and live with someone who smokes you are suffering from second-hand smoke. Second hand smoke in some cases can be just as bad because the non smoker is constantly breathing in the smoke. The same site lungusa .org says that children can develop asthma in the long run. Morever, babies sometimes experience sudden infant death syndrome because of second hand smoke. Some smokers do not realize the cost that you are dealing with when it comes to their children. Where even sometimes others do and smoke when they are pregnant. I can not stand that! How can people be so ignorant and want to distroy their baby's life.

I have never been a fan of cigarettes and Iam happy that in most places in Maryland, they are not allowing people to smoke in restaurants. Thank you Jesus! I feel like it is about time. Why do other people have to suffer when they do not need to. I am not saying that smokers are bad; Iam just saying that they need to really understand the consequences of smoking and how it effects others. It is good that there are products like nicorite gum and the patch to help smokers quit.I hope that one day there will be a cure for being addicted without the painful withdrawl.So when I think of cigarettes, I think black lungs and might as well stick my head into a fire pit and breathe into the smoke! Yuck, who wants that!

New ( Heals) Natalie

Did you know that High Healed shoes wore made sometime around 4000B.C? Men and women typical wore them and they were made of flexable leather held in place with lacings. The website, "History of High Heals", viewed the times of the first High Healed shoes. Further, centuries later men stopped wearing them and they were continually produced for women. So, what do high healed shoes mean to the women of our culture? Are heals comfortable? Some are and some are not. I love heals because it is apart of my identity as a young female. Heals are a feminine trait , which allows the female to feel confident. Heals come in different materials from patten leather, leather, plastic to you name it. When I wear heals I feel sexy because the heal allows me to show off who I am inside.

For centruries women have worn heals because it was a known part of culture. For example women in the nineteen forties usually wore heals either at home or just going out. Rarely was it heard of a women just wearing sneakers or flats. The producers of high heals now days are created to show sex appeal of the true woman and they new that heals would be a hot item to sell. High Heals will never go out of style it is very much ingraved in our culture.


In the movie "The Devil Wears Prada", shows a picture of a red high healed shoe. The shoe contained a red pitch fork on the top. It symbloized to me sexiness of the woman. The color red usually emphasizes love or too hot to handle. In addition, red heals are considered to be high fashion and I truly believe that every woman should own at least one pair. Additionally,High heals are very important to have in this day in age especially in the corporate world. Woman are expected to present themselves in a certain way .Women are expected to show off their feminity and heals certainly does the trick. Further more, heals can either make or break an outfit. Certain commercials have women strutting themselves with a hot outfit wearing a nice pair of heals. When I see them walking; I see strong women on a mission. I feel that way when I wear them too.

Lastly, when I wear a pair of High Heals I feel very girly and confident like I can do anything and I believe that everyone feels that way especially if they are wearing their favorite pair. The unfortunate thing about heals is that some have comfort and some do not. The higher priced brands such as "Guess" or "Steve Madden", are definatley very comfortable. It all depends on the consumer. For women sometimes looking good with uncomfotable shoes is more important, rather than actually being comfortable. I am mostly about the comfort.The following links are sites where I love to buy High Heals, DSW, Gojane, Guess.

Object of my identy (Shoes)

Well, what can I say? I love shoes! A girl can never have too many shoes. I picked shoes as my object because I believe that the shoe shows the style of that particular person. I have all types of shoes such as sneakers, heals, flip-flops, and boots. My favorite shoe is probrably the heal because heals come and a variety if styles. Women for centeries have been wearing some sort of heal.The shoe is surely a human made object, because producers created them to protect peoples feet.Anyhow,the heal comes in various inches from 1/2 and inch to I believe five inches. I prefer no more that four inch heals depending on the comfort and the style of the shoes. My favorite shoe designer whom I can afford at times is "Guess". Heals are not alwasy comfortable, but "Guess" heals are, yes girls they are! The more that you spend on shoes the better quality. This is the website to "Guess" www.guess.com. There is another site where I love to by shoes at and it is www.gojane.com. As for the bigger cultural perspective shoes are just very important to protect our feet and to walk around in. Shoes are all very different and what you wear them with tells people a little about you.
Another type of shoe that I enjoy are boots! Boots are important to wear when it is cold outside. For years people have worn boots for that very reason, to keep warm. However, some wear them in any season for fashionable purposes. I have boots in different colors because I like to match my outfits. Matching nicely is part of my identity. In addition, I believe the shoe was created in our culture for practical reasons . At first not everyone needed differnt kinds of shoes to get around, but as time went on people found it necessary to have more than one type of shoe.The producers of shoes new what they were doing and as far as the consumers they will never stop buying them. Since I am a girly girl, I buy shoes when I can but sometimes I have to slow it down. That last link where I like to buy shoes is www.DSW.com.

http://www.myspace.com/truthonduty

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Da Truths My space Website

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Natalie's AMST 344 blog

Hi I am Natalie Walters, and this is my third semester at UMBC. My major is American Studies and my study area is Communications in the Media. I will finally be graduating next spring of 2009! I plan to intern with Discovery Communications in Silver Spring Maryland. I am very excited! I have a lot of interests such as, growing in my relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,reading, writing poetry, drawing, singing in my churches gospel choir, muisc, traveling and lastly dancing. My favorite hip-hop artist is actual Christian and his name is DA TRUTH. He is off the hook! Additionally, I am pretty on going and get bored quickly if I am not doing anything productive. I love to learn new things and hate to be stressed but that comes with the territory of life. Other than that I love people and my family.