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Hebrew's have David's star. The Christians have the cross. Hindu's have the Aum. Muslims have the Star and crescent. Do you feel they need these symbols to identify themselves or is just a form of advertising?

Originally posted by WindDancer
Hebrew's have David's star. The Christians have the cross. Hindu's have the Aum. Muslims have the Star and crescent. Do you feel they need these symbols to identify themselves or is just a form of advertising?

A little of both. A religion needs people or the religion dies.

Thats a really interesting idea.

Apperantly so. You know, many muslims deny Islam being representative with star and moon, but its generally known as that.

And Christianty as i recall has many many symbolisms - the oldest one was a fish if i recall, rather than a cross?

http://faithskeptic.50megs.com/fish.jpg

And you're right, Hindus have Aum as well as many avatars of Krishna, Vishnu and Shiva.

Hmm...I think Baha'i have no symbolism to represent it, although im not sure.

Interesting topic, WD.

Do you think that the Swastika should be the main symbol of Buddism? Apperantly it is also presented in Hinduism.

Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika had positive meanings. The symbol has a long and varied history.

Originally posted by WindDancer
Do you think that the Swastika should be the main symbol of Buddism? Apperantly it is also presented in Hinduism.

Yes, as long as it is facing the correct way.

Originally posted by WindDancer
Do you think that the Swastika should be the main symbol of Buddism? Apperantly it is also presented in Hinduism.

Yeah, its a good luck charm.

I do believe it should remain to those who know its true meaning - hmmm, its difficult though. Thousands of years of tradition are present in Swastika...

The fish was actually not of Christian origin..


The Pre-Christian History of the Fish Symbol
The fish symbol has been used for millennia worldwide as a religious symbol associated with the Pagan Great Mother Goddess. It is the outline of her vulva. The fish symbol was often drawn by overlapping two very thin crescent moons. One represented the crescent shortly before the new moon; the other shortly after, when the moon is just visible. The Moon is the heavenly body that has long been associated with the Goddess, just as the sun is a symbol of the God.

The link between the Goddess and fish was found in various areas of the ancient world:

In China, Great Mother Kwan-yin often portrayed in the shape of a fish
In India, the Goddess Kali was called the "fish-eyed one"
In Egypt, Isis was called the Great Fish of the Abyss
In Greece the Greek word "delphos" meant both fish and womb. The word is derived from the location of the ancient Oracle at Delphi who worshipped the original fish goddess, Themis. The later fish Goddess, Aphrodite Salacia, was worshipped by her followers on her sacred day, Friday. They ate fish and engaging in orgies. From her name comes the English word "salacious" which means lustful or obscene. Also from her name comes the name of our fourth month, April. In later centuries, the Christian church adsorbed this tradition by requiring the faithful to eat fish on Friday - a tradition that was only recently abandoned.
In ancient Rome Friday is called "dies veneris" or Day of Venus, the Pagan Goddess of Love.
Througout the Mediterranean, mystery religions used fish, wine and bread for their sacramental meal.
In Scandinavia, the Great Goddess was named Freya; fish were eaten in her honor. The 6th day of the week was named "Friday" after her.
In the Middle East, the Great Goddess of Ephesus was portrayed as a woman with a fish amulet over her genitals.

Here is an interesting site that shows how pagan symbols entered the church....
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/verita.htm

Though I think people like to identify themselves with things...

Actually, Its the early christianity that used it - and it has to do with the following -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity/Fish


This was one of the few things that wasnt taken from the pagan origins.

The cross is used to remind us of the sacrifice of Jesus.

yeah, but its weird.

Crucifix comes from Latin and it means 'torture'. Im sure Jesus would not be impressed that everyone carries around him on a torture device.

"I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be in a belief structure who's symbol is a guy nailed to two pieces of wood."-George Carlin

"Christians wear crosses to express their faith. You think that when Jesus comes back to Earth, he ever wants to see a f*ckin' cross again?"-Bill Hicks

The Pythogoreans used the symbol of the fish before Christians adopted it.It was a secret math formula they used which equaled the circumference of a fish.I belive Jesus caught 360 fish in his miracle.The number (regardless of what it was) was the formula of the Pythogoreans fish.