<p>Agree that this showed poor taste, but nothing more. A case of trying too hard to be clever.</p>
<p>How is using the word “crucifies” ridiculing the Catholic Church? I’m just not seeing it. How is it even poor taste? Is the poor taste just because the word “crucifies” was used? I think depicting blood on posters is usually in poor taste, and would say so here, too, but I have a feeling that offense would have been taken with or without the blood.</p>
<p>That poster is in very poor taste</p>
<p>Can someone please point me to a source which claims that large numbers of Catholics (not just early Christians, but those who would be identified specifically as Catholic) were crucified? That’s the only thing that I could see that would make this in poor taste, and I’m not aware of any such event. That’s the only thing that would make the “Holocaust” comment above make sense, too.</p>
<p>For those of you who might be confused on this religious point, Jesus was Jewish. He certainly wasn’t Catholic.</p>
<p>Seriously, I am not seeing the offense here, and would really appreciate it if someone would spell it out for me.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who sees a threat of bodily harm in the poster? To me the bigger offense is the use of the dripping blood because it suggests the team intends brutality, not just the physicality inherent in the sport. Without the blood, “crucify” is a promise to best the other team in competition and the word choice is merely a nod to the fact that they’re playing a Christian school. As a non-Christian, that’s all the meaning I read in, but in the context of Catholicism, I can see how a more specific threat is perceived.</p>
<p>I think the OP is genuinely offended and a letter to the secular school is in order. Since in the US it’s likely at least some of those who made the sign are Christian themselves, the specific threat to the competitors as Catholics was probably not intended, but rather the reference to the crucifix was a general reference to Christianity. I also think sensitivity to the possibility of offense, however unintended, is necessary in our global society and would go a long way toward encouraging peaceful coexistence in a broader sense. A letter to the principal from the OP just might inspire a meaningful learning experience.</p>
<p>Owlice, I think it’s more that the crucifix, while certainly A symbol of Christianity, it is more THE symbol of Catholicism.</p>
<p>Maybe it was an homage, done with respect, to the Catholic school? You know, just how teams like the Redskins and the Chiefs, where fans dress in war paint, are an homage to native peoples of the United States. </p>
<p>Sports is to war as pornography is to sex. This kind of idiotic thinking has been around since the beginning of sports and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.</p>
<p>Since when is a cross “THE” symbol of Catholicism, specifically, vs. any other Christian church? In 50+ years of living cheek-by-jowl with both Catholics and members of various mainstream Protestant denominations, I have missed that nuance entirely.</p>
<p>It may be that Catholics are far more likely to use a representation of Christ on the cross. But I don’t think the poster in question here showed that. (That is waaaay too subtle a nuance for high school spirit club kids.) And I just don’t register a mere reference to crucifixion as singling out Catholics in particular.</p>
<p>It is very poor taste and was a definite bash at the faith…but sadly in our more “tolerant” society bashing christians isn’t seen as persecution…</p>
<p>This is in really poor taste, and as a practicing Catholic, yes I am offended. I would certainly call the headmaster if this occurred in my community.
Sadly, people of faith are bombarded by offense, it seems like a losing battle sometimes.</p>
<p>JHS, I was raised a Christian in a largely Catholic community and recall a mildly indignant feeling amongst the non-Catholics that the Catholics seemed to regard the crucifix as “theirs”. I detect a proprietary notion from the OP as well. Maybe my perceptions are colored by my past.</p>
<p>[Crucifix</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifix]Crucifix”>Crucifix - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>The early Christians were Catholic. Read the beliefs of the early Christians (the ones thrown to the lions, the ones who were crucified, etc)…their beliefs were Catholic. There might have been some odd sect here or there, but the majority of early Christians held Catholic beliefs.</p>
<p>As for Catholics thinking that the crucifix is “theirs”… NO one has prevented protestants from wearing crucifixes. Catholics have been criticized for wearing the crucified cross. Protestants are the ones who consider crucifixes as being “Catholic,” which is why most prots don’t wear cross with a corpus.</p>
<p>Could you explain that, Mom2? I don 't even think the early Christians were *Christian *in the sense most Christian orthodoxies observe it. Constantine invented modern “Christianity”. The only churches near to what I read in Acts are Quakers and other similar sects, and some homegrown groups.</p>
<p>I apologize for offending, Mom2 and anyone else. I was trying to relate my understanding of the particular offense taken by the OP as a Catholic. About the crucifix, from the Wikipedia link in my previous post: “It is a principal symbol of the Christian religion. It is primarily used in the Catholic Church, but is also used in Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Lutheran churches,…” That was my meaning.</p>
<p>I don’t have any opinions as to which symbols belong to who and really don’t care except to understand how one might be offended by use or misuse in the context of the aforementioned poster (sign).</p>
<p>You are allowed to ridicule someone over something that is entirely in their control. Religion fits the bill, as does politics and weight, social tendencies, etc. You can make fun of someone being a “loony liberal” or a golden-age syndrome conservative. You can make fun of their economic policies or their dress style.
Why should religion be afforded any more respect than other beliefs? Maybe if it were ridiculed more it would go away like it should have in the Bronze Age.</p>
<p>And in the case of religion, there is a LOT to poke fun at. It’s in bad taste to make fun of race and mental disabilities because those things are out of a person’s control.</p>
<p>That’s not ridiculing religion. I used to play a MUD (online, non-graphical computer game) where the screen flashed “You C<em>R</em>U<em>C</em>I<em>F</em>Y the [orc or goblin or whatever]!!!” with “crucify” in bold, red letters. It’s no worse than you’d see as a headline on the sports page. </p>
<p>For the record, I went to a Catholic grade school and high school and am from a very Catholic family and I’ve never experienced this supposedly prevalent “persecution” at all. I remember in the middle school grades another school would chant a little song about how they were going to beat our school, and included a rhyme wherein our school’s name was slightly altered to rhyme with “poop.” </p>
<p>The rival school was also Catholic.</p>
<p>Christians have been crucified by Muslims in the Sudan in the 21st century.
[SUDANESE</a> SLAVE ‘CRUCIFIED’ BY HIS MASTER NOT UNUSUAL IN CENTRAL AFRICAN NATION](<a href=“http://www.assistnews.net/STORIES/2004/s04110038.htm]SUDANESE”>http://www.assistnews.net/STORIES/2004/s04110038.htm)</p>
<p>I think the poster is in poor taste, but since Christians are in the majority in the US, people don’t really think Christians need defending. I am Catholic and wouldn’t make a big deal about it. Poor judgment, that’s all.</p>
<p>Most Protestants do not display the corpus (body) on the cross, as Catholics do. So the crucifix is generally recognized as a Catholic (or Orthodox)symbol. I’ve heard it said that Protestants (most denominations–Anglicans and Lutherans are the exception) focus more on the resurrection, and don’t want to display the body of Jesus on the cross,(and think Catholics are wrong for doing so) whereas Catholics do emphasize the suffering and death of Christ.</p>
<p>I don’t think they think it’s wrong to portray the body. I think it’s more that they think it’s a little scary. But it’s an interesting question, I’d love to know the actual history here. Did Luther have anything to say on the subject?</p>
<p>EssEmSee, and JHS: I do not think religion is “fair game” to ridicule. I seems that others may disagree with me, as that’s what coming out in this and other threads. I started this thread because I was shocked that a group of students would use obvious connotations about the Catholic church in such a demeaning way. I am not ultra conservative, or even all that religious, but I would NEVER ridicule another religion…any religion. I guess I live too close to NYC and remember the horrors of 9/11.</p>
<p>I also must say that I do not feel making fun of a team’s name is the same as making fun of someone’s religious core beliefs. JHS: "just as fans of Florida Marlins opponents may yell “Fry the Fish!” </p>
<p>As I said, my own kids are in a public school. I like the diversity there in all its forms. I sure never expected to see many readers think that poking fun of someone’s religion is okay. It wasn’t as if I planned to do anything…just posting it here was plenty. Thanks all for sharing your thoughts, even if I don’t agree. makes for interesting reading.</p>
<p>I think it is in poor taste. Would have been much more clever to write, “School A gonna nail School B to Lacrosse!”</p>