Loading ...Utah: The cross is not just a Christian symbol
flockwoodThe American Atheist Association is suing to prevent the posting of crosses on public land. The crosses mark the spot where law enforcement officials were killed in the line of duty. (Here’s a picture of one of the monuments…)
For more on the lawsuit against the Utah crosses, click here.
The monuments feature a cross and a beehive. The atheists are up in arms about the cross — not the beehive. (This is somewhat ironic because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Utah’s majority religion — does not display crosses on its religious buildings. On the other hand, the
beehive is a longtime Mormon symbol…This example is from a June 8, 1889 edition of the church-owned Deseret Weekly.)
The Mormon Church is not the only religion to embrace the beehive symbol, by the way. In 1995, Anita Cramer did her university honors project on The Religous Significance of Bees and Beehives in Egyptian, Israelite, and Latter-day Saint Traditions.
So what does the beehive symbolize in the Mormon tradition? Industry and hard work. Teamwork and cooperation. There’s also a Biblical element, I imagine: The Bible described the Promised Land as a land “flowing with milk and honey.”
The beehive also suggests separation — and privacy. No one sees into a beehive or sees out. The beehive is a fortress and a shield that provides shelter from a hostile world. At a time when “Mind Your Own Business” was embraced as “the Mormon creed”, it’s not surprising that the beehive was a popular symbol.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Any Christian church that uses the cross as a sacred symbol ought to be embarrassed by such a silly statement, that the cross is not Christian when used to revere someone who has died. Either the cross should matter because it is a sign of the crucifixion, or it should not matter and folks agree to use something else.
A couple of other observations on the SLTrib article:
“The judge said the U.S. military uses crosses in cemeteries to represent death…”
You will also find the Star of David and the Crescent Moon at Arlington National Cemetery. Shall we conclude that these are not symbols of Judaism and Islam? At last report the cemetery caretakers still refuse to honor the requests from families of slain soldiers when it comes to displaying pentangles, a Wiccan symbol.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, does not use a cross as an icon.”
Nor do Jehovah Witnesses, I think. But I don’t understand why this matters. Is there any church– one that we can agree is orthodox Christianity– that does not use the cross?
March 9th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
This is far more fascinating than I thought it was when I first read about it. Good catch, Frank, on the whole beehive thing. Knowing as little as I do about the LDS Church, I didn’t know that the beehive was one of their symbols. Further to Frank’s comments on the symbolism of the beehive, it appears that there is also a theory that the beehive, a well known Masonic symbol, was adopted, along with other Masonic symbols early on in the movement.
According to its web site, the use of the beehive as a symbol by the Utah Highway Patrol is because of the symbol’s association with the LDS Church: “On the centennial of the arrival of the Mormons to the Salt Lake Valley, the Utah Highway Patrol adopted the beehive as their official emblem. The beehive had been worn on the uniform since the late 1930’s; however, the emblem which had been used on the doors of the patrol cars and as the hat badge was the Utah State Seal. In 1947, the beehive was placed on the doors of the patrol cars and at all office locations of the Utah Highway Patrol.”
The significance of this symbol (or even its use) was not mentioned in the first article I read about this, perhaps because the author had “denominational ignorance,” the first cousin of “biblical ignorance.”
Given the history of all this, it seems to me that the real question is not whether the cross is appropriate, but whether either the cross or the beehive is appropriate.
March 9th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Jose, since you specifically refer to Arlington National Cemetery’s caretakers, perhaps you have more recent information than I do, but in April of 2007, according to news reports, the Bush administration agreed to recognize the Wiccans’ pentacle as a grave marker, along with the 38 other religons’ markers that it already approved. As one article said: “In addition to the Christian cross, the Jewish six-pointed star and the Islamic crescent, atheists, Hindus, humanists, Sikhs and members of the Eckankar, Serbian Orthodox and United Moravian faiths also have symbols.”
So, to look at the big picture, as Jose says, the reason that crosses are used in military cemeteries is precisely because they ARE religious symbols, and I suspect that if someone lobbied enough to get a beehive added to the bunch, they’d allow that, too. The Mormons, by the way, do have their own symbol, a representation of the angel Moroni.
I didn’t know til I looked up the pictures of the symbols that the Episcopal Church has its own distinctive cross (it looks kind of Celtic), as do the Presbyterians and Lutherans. The United Methodists and Disciples of Christ also have their distinctive emblems, but there doesn’t seem to be a separate emblem for Roman Catholicism. This is strange, because there are, as far as I can tell, three different crosses for Eastern Orthodox Churches, and numerous symbols for churches I’ve never heard of. The atheist symbol is kind of like a Jetsons logo, a little representation of the atom with electrons spinning around it and a big “A” in the middle. Humanists, as opposed to atheists and Unitarians (who have their own symbol, too), may choose a stylized “H” that represents the human spirit.
The bottom line, though, is that each symbol is something that is supposed to have a religious meaning to those of a particular faith, not a symbol that has no religious meaning.
March 9th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
First of all, those wasting their time in such ridiculous lawsuits need to get a life.
However, for some enlightenment as to the “beehive” issue, I offer this.
From the Book of Mormon: “And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind.”
This is from the book of Jared, chapter 2, verse 3.
As some might know, Utah was at first named Deseret by the Mormon pioneers. The name reminded them of the industry and hard work it would take to tame the land in which they now lived. The beehive is not necessarily a “religious” symbol other than it reminds us of the same thing today. You won’t find a beehive carved into any of our modern chapels, and not necessarily in any of the temples, that I have seen anyway. Where you will find it is on older temples built by those pioneers. You’ll find beehives carved into the door handles of the Salt Lake temple, the Manti, Utah Temple and probably on the St. George and Logan, Utah temples, although I am not sure.
What I do know is that we do not use the symbol of the beehive in anything that has to do with worship. It has been come a symbol of our church, but only as I have described. You’ll find it all over the BYU campus on the markers outside that name each building for example but once again, it designates hard work and industry.
Caleb is correct regarding the angel Moroni being a symbol of our religion, probably much more than the beehive. A statue of such sits atop most of our temples and is added to many military grave markers. I would imagine it will be on my father’s (a WWII vet) when he passes.
March 9th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Back when I was a Boy Scout, many moons ago, we could earn something called the God and Country award. The program worked through the scout’s local church. The medal was presented in our worship service and worn as part of the full scout regalia. There were several different versions of the actual medal depending on one’s faith. I remember the LDS version because it was kinda cool, with a metallic emblem of a dried cattle skull hanging from the ribbon instead of a heraldic shield on the generic Protestant medal. David, do you know if such an emblem is used by the LDS? As with so many other things in Boy Scouts, the God and Country award appears to have been replaced by a constellation of multiple other awards. Alas.
March 9th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Jose,
The award you’re remembering is the Duty to God award. It was given up until 2002, when it was removed and replaced by a strictly religious award, having nothing to do with BSA.
My brother and I both earned it, although I have no idea where mine is. It’s probably in a drawer somewhere in my parent’s home!
The award given now is earned by our young men from the ages of 12-18 as they progress through the Aaronic Priesthood as deacons, teachers and priests. Each age group has their own manual used to set goals and different areas; spritual, physical, family, career and developmental, priesthood quorum activity.
Here is a wikipedia link showing the new award and also the old one to which you are referring:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_God_Award
The LDS Scouting award available now is called On My Honor. Ironically, considering the above comments, it is the classic scouting fleur-de-lis with the angel Moroni on top, still with the green and gold ribbon similar to the Duty to God. Here is link below to see it.
http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,8003-1,00.html
March 10th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Jose, while my son was a boy scout (he became an Eagle Scout), I was troop committee chairman for our church’s troop, and yes, our Episcopal medals were pretty dull: just the Episcopal shield suspended below a bar saying “God and Country.” Each denomination has its own religious medals. I hesitate to even mention the LDS medal, fearing the wrath of David, but I just looked at the Boy Scout web site, hoping to see a picture of that LDS medal with the dead cow skull, but found only LDS medals with the angel Moroni superimposed on the Boy Scout symbol. Once again, dullness prevails.
March 12th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Caleb, I apologize if it offends you that I might disagree with you when you pontificate about things when you clearly don’t know all of the facts and your ideas as clearly clouded by what you think you know about the LDS church. You’ll notice that I do not submit comments regarding the Anglican church unless it is to ask questions. I would never assume to know more about your religious views than do you, yet many times you seem to throw out ideas about mine as if they are facts. I’m sorry, but a lot of times they just are not.
On of the biggest problem with communicating solely in written form is that you cannot see, nor can I see, the entire context of non-verbal communication behind the words. Perhaps you are joking when you write some of the things you do and, yes, we LDS can become a little offended also. Perhaps that is because we (I know I have…) put up with so many who like to tell us what we believe.
Be that as it may, I figure both of us are mature enough to handle differing opinions thrown our way. And if it is any consolation, I do not assume any improper motives behind anything you write and believe you have every right to write what you do. However, I believe I have every right to correct you if I feel you are misrepresenting any group to which I belong, be that LDS, Utahn or whatever. I hope you would do the same should you feel I’ve crossed that line.