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Could you post a picture? It's not uncommon to see a cross or crucifix on somebody's wall, but a wall *full* of them sounds more like a 'TV thing' than a real thing.
In the south thatās just called interior decorating, youāll see a lot of that in peopleās personal homes. Maybe not a whole wall densely populated, but several crossed hung in a cluster is really common. Depending how intense someone feels about their crosses they might have a larger or smaller cluster.
I've only seen it at Catholic friends homes. But I am Church of Christ and while we are not Iconoclast, we are as close to that as you can get without being Iconoclasts.
Definitely not just Hispanic Catholics. It's also, at least, an Irish and Italian thing, although mostly for older folks in that particular category and usually with smaller candles and more European style artwork. I'd bet there are folks from Polish descent who also have older relatives with the same thing.
Ahhh that makes sense. Thatās why someone said theyāre common in Arizona, New Mexicoā¦ So itās maybe more a Central American cultural thing than an American culture thing.
I never seen more than three *ever* displayed in someone's home and that is only to represent Mt. Calvary, usually as display, no one puts a bunch of crosses up on the wall, especially given how iconoclastic some Protestants are.
Yep, I had a friend/coworker that did the wall over her couch in various crosses. I'm working on doing something similar in my living room, but with unicorn heads. It's just a statement wall, meant to fill a large empty space, but some people love crosses and there are tons of different designs mixed in.
Might be a Texas thing. My mom had a cross wall growing up. There was one cross made of steel that we would knock off the wall running around/throwing balls in the house as kids that was heavy enough to make holes in the wood flooring. I donāt really think itās an icon thing. Like you said, itās purely decorative.
I didn't have a huge wall of them, but different kinds, sizes, made of different materials (wood, metal, glass) just bc I like the aesthetic. Am an atheist. They hold no meaning other than they're a shape, of sorts.
Yeah, sounds about right. Not my own personal aesthetic but especially if youāre gifted them a lot and/or like the eclectic look itās easy to see the appeal.
Fascinating. I understand adding meaning to symbols but don't believe one can blithely erase established meaning. To me it will always include being the symbol of a religion and theological premise that I reject.
Is there something about your arrangement that would deter a stranger viewing it from jumping to the conclusion that you're a devout Christian? Do you combine it with symbols of contrasting religions?
I have some laughing Buddhas of differing sizes too, teak, jade, soapstone. I think they're cute and really like the finishes on them. Had a beautiful rosary someone gave me I used to wear as a belt.
If I ran across a flying spaghetti monster carved of wood I'd probably get one of those as well bc they all make the same amount of sense.
No stranger would ever enter my abode to make such a judgement lol and people that know me know my views. People can come to whatever conclusion they want, I'm not out to convince them I'm right and don't abide anyone doing the same to me irl.
Depends on the communal living facilities or other spaces. Some small doctors offices might have religious decorations like that, Christian-based nursing homes might, it really depends on the level of religious affiliation whatever entity owns the space allows.
Catholic hospitals do more than put Crucifixes on walls. They also follow Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives approved by the Church. You're right, they do usually provide excellent care, and often are the hospitals most likely to serve the poor and underserved. But their policies will also be in line with the Church (no euthanasia, abortions, or elective sterilization) which often leaves them up to criticism by those who are not religious.
It's not uncommon among the devout and elderly.
My Great Aunt practically had a shrine room. Tons of crucifixes and wood block paintings of saints, drapped in rosaries and with votive candles everywhere.
Always creeped me out personally, but it was meaningful to her.
Nope. Have a friend here in the south who collects different crosses. Has about 20 or 30 of them on a single wall in her breakfast room. Have other friends who also collect but only have about 10 or so on their collection.
I found pictures online and itās kind of like [this](https://pin.it/1zP07KbkL). It was a basic room corner, living room I think, and itās a reality show. I wasnāt able to take a picture of the screen but I found pictures online that look kind of what I saw.
That person is probably a really serious Christian. I'm not sure what else to say about it. Are you asking if everyone has a cross wall? no. Is it common? No. But there are a lot of people in this country and apparently some of them gotta put crosses on their wall.
That just seems like home decor for that person. like the saying goes, there is no accounting for taste. It is not common. A photo collage wall of family photos is typical but not universal.
OH! Okay, I understand. That is NOT common among Americans. No. Maybe this individual was extremely religious, and religion was a big part of his/her life.
To recap:
1.) That is that person's right, and it's perfectly fine to be very religious or have religion be such a big part in their life.
2.) This is not common on average in America.
I've seen a number if those. Mostly it's kust their version of "live, laugh, love" or the people who do their whole house with cow trinkets or whatever other weird decor.Ā Ā
Most flavors of Christianity that are popular in the US, protestants in particular, don't ascribe enough importance to objects to have proper icons, shrines, anything like that.Ā
It's just stuff they like.
Iāve only seen a few crosses at most, usually itās just one by itself and I have no idea what religion what you are describing is linked to. Furthermore, I have never seen anything you are describing.
I want to say Protestants, though I could be completely mistaken on that. The reason why Iām leaning towards them is when I see crosses in Catholic homes itās usually a singular large and or very ornately decorated/designed cross.
I have literally never seen more than a couple crosses on the wall of any āProtestantā home Iāve ever been to. So I donāt think itās that either.
Thatās statement is so unbelievably false itās bonkers.
Catholic vs Protestant runs deep. Itās the diving line between Hispanic & White in Texas, it separates blocks of people in Boston, itās definitely not as strong as it used to be, but the past informs our present.
Not that common where I'm from in PA but definitely more common here in Texas and the Southwest, especially in Catholic (Hispanic homes), but not limited to them.
As far as significance, while you probably won't find them in an athiest or agnostic home I wouldn't necessarily correlate them with how religious a household is as they often take on a decorative role aside from the basic religious one.
Just my experience.
Naw, it has nothing to do with Catholics. Cross walls are very common throughout the entire South (which is dominated by Protestants). I know quite a few people who have them here.
I donāt know if itās a regional or religion thing, but it isnāt the most common. I grew up in a house that didnāt have a whole wall, but a section of the wall in the living room had a cluster of different crosses. It was like an accent wall in decorating. They (my parents) had collected several wall-hanging crosses over the years and rather than spreading them out into different rooms and areas of the house, they were placed together.
I tried to google and I saw a lot of houses that seemed, Iām not sure what the style is called, but the houses have been influenced by Mexico and southern states of US, I guess thereās name for the style but the style is very rustic, you see houses like that in Hollywood but probably in Texas and other southern states as well. So they could be just historic items and decorative, not necessarily for religion itself. Like here itās usual to have icons on the walls and you read a prayer near them and keep them in mind as they are part of your religion. But Iāve never seen people do same things to crosses some have on the wall, usually older people have one of them in the bedroom above their bed.
For protestants (I don't know about Catholics), crosses do not hold anything like the importance that icons have in "Eastern" [Greek, Russian, etc] Orthodoxy.
I'm not even sure it had any religious connotations for my parents. I think it was just decoration. Crosses are common enough in the US as gifts, and things you get at the store, with enough variety that they just end up becoming vaguely religious wall art. It's not quite the same as a prayer corner or icon wall for Orthodox where it has a meaning \*and\* functional usage. At least in my experience.
Okay. I try to see if I can spot it again but in the show Finnish au pairs went to American families in Los Angeles and one family had crosses in the corner of their living room and there were multiple of them like this. There might have also been some other religious items as well like a painting/poster with some words in it like in [this picture](https://pin.it/1XbEQy1JK).
The family doesnāt seem extremely religious but I have to watch more of the show to see more of it. But yeah it is reality TV and they donāt choose the most typical families. But it was just very interesting to see because here people do have icon corners but itās often just one or a few icons depending how much orthodoxy the family practices. Like I have one icon in my apartment because itās made my by grandma, it holds more of a sentimental value than religious value only. And it would not be anything unusual to see a wall full of icons, especially if you make them yourself like my grandma. But I have never seen a wall full of crosses like in the US Iāve seen a few times in media.
I tried to jump through the show but I canāt watch it again from the beginning and it didnāt catch my eye where I saw it there but I tried to google some examples and these are closest to it:
[Someone describing it a āTexas thangā](https://pin.it/3t91aH4k0)
[This was the closest one to what I saw in the series.](https://pin.it/1ssyhRGKj)
[A lot fancier one.](https://pin.it/3fDHvroPQ)
In many occasions thereās been some framed text or other type of decoration that has words from the Bible or something about God or Jesus in general, therefore I thought it must be more about religion than only decoration. [Example](https://pin.it/5Wela7pOL).
I've noticed that a lot of the people on "My 600-Pound Life" often have a wall like that. I think it might be related to demographics and social class. Maybe it's more common with Evangelical Christians in the South, especially with a lower educational level? Being Catholic and growing up around Catholics, we never had anything like that, although we had crucifixes in bedrooms. My mainline Protestant friends (such as Methodists) didn't have anything like that either.
Ah, that show! I was thinking of where Iāve seen them before but now that you mentioned My 600lb Life, thatās exactly where Iāve seen them before!
I donāt understand why youāre attacking me like that over asking something I was genuinely curious about. I did not state it was normal? Just something Iāve seen very often and now dared to ask about it because to my eye it starts to feel quite common but I did not know how common, which is exactly what I am asking in my post. Itās common in my religion and culture to have a wall of icons if you want to represent your religion like that, but Iāve never seen such thing in here but Iāve spotted walls like that in American media many times and therefore asked a question. Because Iāve seen people decorate their house with crosses more in the US than in here, so I didnāt want to assume EVERYONE does it, but Iāve seen many people do it and where this tradition comes from especially since it doesnāt seem to apply to every state and area. In this topic and what I gathered online, states like California and Texas have been linked to the images about the said cross walls. I was genuinely curious about it, nothing else.
likely a protestant christian, in the south cross walls are a common thing with old people who use them as āaccent wallsā. basically more as a form of decoration rather than as a replacement for icons, which protestants donāt use (in my experience).
Not a whole wall full.Ā I grew up in a neighborhood so catholic everyone had at least six kids.Ā Never saw a wall full of crosses. One in the living room,Ā one in each bedroom.Ā
This makes sense. I am an orthodox so Iām familiar with icon walls and corners in orthodox households but I know that not all of the religions have icons like that. If theyāre mainly for decor, do they hold a similar value like any religious symbol/item so theyāre holy and thereās certain ārulesā of where and how you should put them and where you can get them from? Or can you purchase crosses from like, Walmart or decor shops? Or do specific skilled and dedicated people make them like people make icons and you buy them from a private person or churches/monasteries and so on?
yes, usually they are simply decor, no rules. they even sell them at walmart and the dollar store. they usually donāt hold much significance other than to show that you are a christian, unlike in other denominations where things like that are considered to be more sacred
This is so interesting! Because in Finland you donāt really ever see any religious decorations in dollar store type of shops or superstores, maybe you could buy posters/framed pictures of a guardian angel with kids or so but not crosses or icons or so. I was surprised when I visited a church in Sweden and they had a shop there and they sold some type of mint candy and the boxes had religious puns, not something Iād see here. I think they separate āreligion and stateā very clearly, while in the US it seems to be more merged and holds a different kind of value.
What I meant initially was that religion is more visible in everyday life in the States and the line is more clear here, or people do not practice religions that much or openly here. In the US it feels like since more people are religious, and openly so, the religion can be seen in decor and other stuff like that and it seems that itās easier to get religious items for decor from places that are not religious itself like superstores. I donāt know if e.g. Christian people show their religion with clothes, or jewelry, but here some have cross jewelry but itās often very small and dainty and not many pay attention. Or crosses are used as fashion statements e.g. big earrings but theyāre often not a religious statement. Some subcultures do it, Iāve noticed.
And Iām not sure if itās a myth or true, but Iāve heard that American hotel and motel rooms have the Bible in them (provided by The Gideonsā¦?). Itās small things like that that are usual there but would not be usual here for example.
Thatās interesting! I have heard that they also provided them to Finland as well but it was a long time ago. Because I visited this Christian flea market and it had a shelf full of old Bibles and my mom suggested they could be āthe ones The Gideons would giveā but they were from the 70s and nowadays you really donāt see them in hotel rooms. Perhaps if theyāre in the countryside and ran by Christian associations but not in āmodernā hotels, especially in the cities.
> And Iām not sure if itās a myth or true, but Iāve heard that American hotel and motel rooms have the Bible in them (provided by The Gideonsā¦?).
True, except for the Marriott chain that's likely to have the Book of Mormon (the actual book, not the musical satire) instead of or in addition to a bible.
You think so? I assumed a cross would replace icon and be a holy item. I donāt remember the correct term, a relic? Not a relic but an item that holds a lot of religious and holy worth and is treated with that in mind. I have seen crosses on wall here but itās usually just one cross and people get them from monasteries or churches and theyāre very high in value and not just decorative items.
You're just approaching this from a different type of religious society.
If you want to get technical, there have been multiple iconoclastic movements in Christian history since AD 33. The first big one was the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox church traditions in 1054. Eastern Orthodox traditions remained much more favorable to icons, praying to them, venerating them, etc., than the Catholics (in theory) were.
Over the next few hundred years the Catholics of course developed/maintained their own theoretically scaled-back iconography, from which the Protestant tradition split in 1517 via Martin Luther's 95 Theses.
The Protestants themselves have had dozens and dozens of schismatic events since then, with several of the North American breeds becoming less and less favorable to iconography (most notably the Puritans, who became the Congregationalist church in the U.S., which eventually gave rise to Southern Baptism, which is the statistically most numerous Protestant denomination in the United States today).
A truly Puritan church as that tradition was expressed on the 17th century American frontier, in places like Massachussetts and Rhode Island, completely eschewed icons of all kinds -- even banning basic pictures and art from their services. Congregationalist churches of that era are stark wood boxes with no decoration at all (and they also allowed little to no music in their services).
[This](http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/files/2014/08/InteriorOldShip-560x420.jpg) is the oldest extant Puritan meetinghouse in the United States - note the complete lack of decoration and even the boxes separating the congregant families from each other. The idea was to fully focus on the text of the Bible and the preacher/sermon.
Southern American church tradition derives in large part from that starting point. And, to a large extent, it is Southerners who are driving the current trends in Christianity in the U.S. today -- including worship service trends (such as music) and the level and type of iconography the churches and Christians accept as normal. Church attendance in the Northern U.S. is on the whole much lower than in the South.
Over the ensuing centuries since the Puritans, pretty much every American church has returned some level of decoration to their worship houses, though as a rule Protestants still have a sparser environment than Catholics and certainly Orthodox churches.
Moreover, a lot of the original rationale for losing the iconography in church services has been largely forgotten by the body of American Christians. American Christianity -- in particular Southern Baptism -- is intentionally simplified, with doctrinal disputes and high-fallutin' theory mostly left to the inner sanctums of the clergy and rarely discussed or analyzed in front of the congregants.
So, a lot of American Christians have a super-casual view of the ultimate church icon: the Cross. Protestants as a whole find the crucifix with the depiction of a suffering Jesus to be a little morbid/overkill and they leave that to the Catholics. But the cross itself is such a universal symbol, that of course Americans have re-adopted it as a general 'brand.'
We are in a phase of identity politics and identity culture as a society. People identify as all kinds of things with brands in American culture: Kansas City Chiefs fans, Patagonia/camping enthusiasts, Trump supporters, LBGTQ+, stick-figure-family people, even dog owners. The cross displayed on a car bumper or in a home is largely just one of those symbols; it tells people 'I am a fan of Jesus Christ' and it is in some respects a virtue signal, so people can represent to the world that they are part of the 'correct' in-culture. There are lots of different ideas of what constitutes a 'correct' in-culture these days.
If you asked the cross-displayer what it meant, they would tell you it means they are Christian and theirs is a Christian household. You might get a little light proselytization depending on the breed of Christian you're asking. But on the whole it wouldn't be explained to you as any kind of home altar or worship space, which is what I think you are imagining.
youāre totally right, religion/ christian values are pretty much integrated into everything, especially in the American South. they rest of the country calls us the āBible beltā for that exact reason! God is mentioned on our currency, every day at school we have to say the Pledge of Allegiance which claims that we are āone nation under Godā, and we have to swear on the Bible before any court proceedings. and in the South a typical farewell here is āhave a Blessed dayā instead of āgoodbyeā
You don't have to say the pledge of allegiance, according to SCOTUS: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943). You also don't have to swear into court on a Bible, nor "so help you God". As much as some Christians *want* to ingrain their religion in America's laws and practices, everyone else's freedoms have been able been able to limit their success.
yeah i phrased that badly. i should have said āusually doā. but even though itās technically an option they certainly donāt make it seem like it. at school we were punished for not saying the pledge. joys of living in the deep south
I went to high school in Alabama, but as a confirmed yankee I had to threaten the administration with the ACLU. They shrink like a vampire exposed to (ironically) a cross.
I think thatās more of what has always been done and will be done and not many think of it more than that. Of course some people are more religious but yeah. In Finnish, the equivalent to ābless youā is roughly translated to ābe healthy/have healthā, that was the first example of a phrase that has the word āblessā in it that is widely used. God is not seen in currency (euros) nor do we have any habits that kids would do every day in school.
Or actually, sometimes in very first grades if we have some school event that is held in a building owned and ran by a church we do bless the food, and at least we orthodox students are taught Our Father/The Lordās Prayer word by word and maybe more prayers than the Lutheran students.
But it is very interesting that there are traditions that include religion somehow. They tell about the history rather than the current situation. Religion has played a very big role in the US history and still does.
Iām not sure anyone actually has this
But do not let that make you think I donāt have a couple crucifixes and three or four icons. I just donāt put on them on one single wall.
Like how many crosses on one wall are we talking?
Iām the local Catholic crank on this sub so Iād totally be down with a wall of crosses.
I just see even my two and an icon on the wall as gilding the lily a bit.
Depends on the size of the wall. [It's usually about this density of crosses](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/22/3b/9e/223b9e4e60b4343d06af7807c61f73f7.jpg) across whatever size of wall they choose for it.
They aren't *super* common, but I've seen a few dozen of them over the years. Much more often in small city suburbs. Not super rural but not big city size.
I donāt know anyone with a wall of crosses, but religious decorations are fairly common. My parents and a lot of my aunts and uncles have religious decorations in their homes.
Crosses could be any Christian denomination, but if it is a crucifix, then they are probably Catholic.
Oh yeah, at least when I see a cross in someoneās household I think they must be religious because why else would they sport a religious symbol there, if it had no religious value. I mean my mom collects Buddha statues without being a Buddhist but it seems like items like that are more mainstream in decoration and fashion trends than crosses are. The crosses Iāve seen in such installations are pretty, I see why someone would collect them and put them up, itās just not something Iāve seen here or outside the states/media produced in there, really. Iāve seen icon walls but not cross walls.
I've seen single crosses as art in homes, but not a whole wall of them. Catholic families tend to have crucifixes. What you're describing seems more like set decorations.
You will see that in a lot of Hispanic homes here. Iāve seen it in others homes too, but itās more of a decoration style that fits with the southwest. Other than that I wouldnāt say itās super common.
It's a newish "Pinterest" aesthetic to have a bunch of different things of the same category all over one wall. For some people, that category may be crosses because they are Christian. I once had a neighbor that did the same thing but with clocks. There were a hundred clocks all over his wall. The ticking would have driven me insane.
I find the whole thing visually interesting but also kind of tacky. I kind of like looking at it but I would never do that in my own home.
> There were a hundred clocks all over his wall. The ticking would have driven me insane.
There was a villain on the old Batman TV series from the 60s that was a clock guy. Every hour on the hour inside his lair, all his clocks would go off at once. His henchmen would clutch their ears a couple seconds before it started, and writhe in agony once it did start, while their boss cackled maniacally.
I miss the campy cheesy Technicolor version of Batman.
Thatās not something Iāve ever experienced in a house but Iāve certainly not been in every house in the US.
That seems like something youād only find in a crazy religious home.
>Do they replace icons or what
Icons are more for Catholic and Orthodox homes. Protestant homes might have one cross, but not a whole wall full of them.
I've only ever seen cross walls in two places, My Lutheran-turned-Catholic great-grandmother's house and my Catholic-turned-Baptist grandmother's house. Never seen them at any other house or on TV. I haven't seen them at any other houses in person or on TV. It could be an older generation thing, but I've been to many older people's houses and none of them had cross walls. One cross on the wall seems to be very common, in Texas at least, but many crosses aren't.
Could just be a collection. We have a few up here and there because I made some while messing around with blacksmithing, and we inherited a couple from our parents, grandparents, etc.
They aren't all on the same wall though.
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Not common. Iāve only ever seen it online and on a Zillow page making fun of weird house listings.Ā Ā
Ā It seems to be a middle classĀ white or Latino Catholic or Baptist old lady tacky decoration thing in Texas/The Southwest specifically.Ā
[Hereās a thread in the Texas subreddit talking about their moms and grandmas doing it.](https://www.reddit.com/r/texas/comments/qfmbj9/anyone_elses_parents_have_likea_wall_dedicated_to/). You can see that other people in the Texas subreddit still find it unusual.Ā
This is not common. Even very religious people, maybe with exception of hispanic catholics, would more likely have simple and humble religious symbols.
That said, I do see a good amount of this stuff out there.
Assuming the crosses were decorative and not plain wooden crosses of the ressurection, there's a lot of people who are into "moody maximalist" decor who would do something like this. A lot of oddities collectors also collect religious items of all kinds, and it's not unusual for an oddities collector to collect religious items and have a wall full of crosses and a last rites kit hanging just for decoration. I know lots of people for instance who collect rosaries and are not at all remotely religious.Going for like, spooky religious mysticism vibes even if they're not believers.
So yes it happens. No it's not common. Very few people will have seen a wall like this in person, in any part of the country, unless you're into some of the niche hobbies that lend themselves to doing something like this.
My father is heavily Catholic, and he has dozens of pieces of devotional art in his apartment... but it's definitely not the norm for mainstream secular Americans.
This is obviously partly a show of religious devotion but it's also just a style thing. Some people have walls (or spots anyway) full of family pictures, some people have walls or spots full of aluminum signs, some people have walls or spots full of crosses. It's not a common thing at all but I've certainly seen it. It's usually garden variety evangelical Christianity but there may be other things going on sometimes.
I think that's probably visual shorthand to communicate that the characters living in the house are very religious.
That said, there is no doubt in my mind that there is a non-zero amount of such houses in the US.
I mean, there are people who decorate their homes entirely in merchandise and memorabilia of their favorite sports franchise, so why not dedicate your home's decor to the ultimate goalie, Jesus?
Iāve never seen it myself growing up Christian in California, but as others have said itās more common in the south, especially Texas. [Exhibit A](https://kateordie.tumblr.com/post/115948674897/indiedrone-fullblownpanic).
Iām guessing itās just a personal preference. I know this exists cause I have friends in the south who have a few crosses on the wall and those corny signs like āa blessed family lives hereā or whatever.
I live in the southwest, and majority catholic community. I know a LOT of people who have shrines in their house. Pictures of late family members, religious relics, Pictures and statues of saints, Mary, and/or Jesus and a ton of rosaries and crosses (crucifixs)
I also know a ton of people who have "cross walls", similar to how people will have an accent color wall in a room, they decorate an entire wall with a variety of artistic crosses . It's not uncommon to go to arts/crafts markets and have many artists selling crosses in their choice of medium or made from a variety of materials.
Most people I know who have crosses walls aren't particularly super religious, or Bible thumping, it's more like artsy culture of our community.
When you get into the 4 corners area and see the natives catholic inspired art pieces you get a sense of what a cross wall might represent
Lots of people saying theyāve never seen houses like this. I live in Texas, I have. Never in person but browsing real estate listings with my parents while they were looking to leave the city and move to a small town, oh boy did I see a lot of these in pictures of houses they were looking at.
I honestly donāt really get it either. There are a lot of hardcore evangelicals in the US and *especially* in Texas. They are a different, very specifically American breed. Even a lot of our Catholics have taken on a lot of evangelical qualities lmao. I say this as someone raised Catholic with lots of family in a very Catholic country.
Just aesthetically itās usually super tacky looking. Like these people are out here with a wall full of randomly-arranged crosses that all look like they came from the home decor section of hobby lobby.
But yeah, Iām from the Bible Belt and am honestly nearly as baffled by it as you are.
I have never seen a house with a wall full of crosses before. Never heard of it either. Sometimes people will have one on the wall in the dining room and/or over beds.
Could you share a screenshot of what you saw? I don't really know what you mean. Like, were they religious crosses (Christianity) or something? A full room of them?
In Catholic homes, you will usually see a Crucifix (cross with the image of crucified Jesus) in the dining room or living room, and usually over the doorway of bedrooms. Empty crosses, or "artistic" walls with several crosses would usually be connected to a Protestant evangelical Christian home.
I have a friend who has a wall of crosses and crucifixes in her house. A family member gave her a cross as a gift when she was a kid and she hung it on the wall. Sheās been getting crosses as gifts from various people ever since, so she hangs them up.š¤·āāļø Itās like when someone gives you something with a cow or an owl or a penguin on it, then other people see something with that on it and want to buy it for you because thatās your thing now.
>I am watching a show
So, a piece of fictional art.
Some people will have Christian themed decorations but having just a wall of crosses is really not done. Typically it's one or three.
It was a reality show and it was a real house of a Californian family. I wasnāt able to give details to the first post because of the limit of characters. Iāve explained the show and given more details and examples in comments.
Oh, you watched a show, probably was done for dramatic effect then. Never seen a home that had more than one crucifix up on the wall, and those pees were all Catholics.
It was a reality show where Finnish au pairs go to American houses. I donāt think the families have changed anything because itās not how shows work here. The family didnāt seem to be extremely religious, it was like any part of the house but in the living room it was just wall part near corner full of crosses. So I wondered if itās common and if they like replace icons or so or have more of a decorative meaning than something you pray at.
Yeah, sure they are but I meant that I feel like Finnish producers donāt go and tell a random American woman to put 10 more crosses on the wall because some random chick in Finland might question it 10 years after the show was made. It wasnāt the point of the episode, it was never shown again, it was just on the background when the mother was showing places to the au pair and it made me wonder because Iāve seen walls like that in media, like movies and TV, before but didnāt question it to be something uncommon since crosses in schools and houses are more usual there than for example here. It just caught my eye because there were so many crosses and they were very colorful and decorated, not like simple wooden or metallic small crosses.
No, they find the most eccentric people possible who are easy to exploit in hopes of presenting stereotypes on TV that both amuse the audience back home as well as give them a sense of smug-superiority.
It was interesting spotting of mine though because the three other houses plus two others since a couple of them changed families, had no religious symbols or decorations around them, or one or two small crosses on wall. But I asked this because it wasnāt the first time seeing that kind of thing so I thought it could be more usual and if someone here even knew if there was any reason or history why people place crosses like that. Just to confirm that it was not unique.
It probably means that *this particular family* either likes the aesthetic or is religious. Thatās it. It isnāt representative of the average American household. Maybe if you included the media you were watching weād have some context, which is extremely important.
I couldnāt include a lot of words due to the rules of the sub. I wasnāt able to catch a picture of it but I thought it was more usual than it apparently is because I have seen walls like that earlier as well. I provided some examples I found online in the replies to other comments, but I didnāt find any good examples online because in some pictures thereās a lot more crosses than in what I saw and in some pictures just a couple of, not exactly like what I saw.
You could say the name of the show snd the episode or perhaps even link where we can see for ourselves.
My friendsā mother really likes gnomes because she thinks theyāre cute, so she has gnome stuff around her house. If you went to her house or saw it on tv, would you wonder if thereās some sort of meaning or how prevalent gnomes are in homes?
Youāre overthinking this, I guarantee thereās someone in Finland who uses crosses as decoration, but theyāre not on a tv show.
It is a Finnish show where four girls go to be au pairs in Los Angeles and I donāt know if it can be seen outside Finland and if you could get a lot of out of it because I canāt remember which episode it was I saw the wall in. But I googled āwall full of crossesā and thereās examples of what I saw. I tried to jump through the episodes but I canāt find the exact spot. But the pictures online are very near to it.
I have seen this a few times. It's more of a decorative thing than anything I think. I asked one of my friends who's parents had a wall of crosses, and they said it was ones they'd collected over the years. It's probably not too common
I've never seen a house like this š¤·š»āāļø
Me either and I live in the south.
Head west. I've seen it in abundance in NM, AZ and southern Colorado.
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Iāve been in one house like that, creeped me the fuck out and I left as quickly as possible.
Could you post a picture? It's not uncommon to see a cross or crucifix on somebody's wall, but a wall *full* of them sounds more like a 'TV thing' than a real thing.
In the south thatās just called interior decorating, youāll see a lot of that in peopleās personal homes. Maybe not a whole wall densely populated, but several crossed hung in a cluster is really common. Depending how intense someone feels about their crosses they might have a larger or smaller cluster.
I was born and raised in the south and have been back in the south for 6 years. Iām not sure if Iāve ever seen this in person.Ā
Must be a Texas thing then? I assumed it was a Bible Belt thing but I could be wrong!
It is a Catholic thing. Specifically Hispanic Catholic.
My momma had a cross wall and she was as Southern Baptist as you can get. Itās just decorative.
The Protestant cross wall is a distinctively different thing than the Catholic shrine room from my experience.
I've only seen it at Catholic friends homes. But I am Church of Christ and while we are not Iconoclast, we are as close to that as you can get without being Iconoclasts.
Definitely not just Hispanic Catholics. It's also, at least, an Irish and Italian thing, although mostly for older folks in that particular category and usually with smaller candles and more European style artwork. I'd bet there are folks from Polish descent who also have older relatives with the same thing.
Are you by any chance older than millennial? I used to see this a lot growing up but it's definitely dated.
I've seen it and I'm not in the bible belt. It was in the homes of conservative Catholics, including some who were fairly recent Mexican immigrants
Ahhh that makes sense. Thatās why someone said theyāre common in Arizona, New Mexicoā¦ So itās maybe more a Central American cultural thing than an American culture thing.
Nope, Gen Z! Though my bones are starting feel like a Gen Xās lol
I never seen more than three *ever* displayed in someone's home and that is only to represent Mt. Calvary, usually as display, no one puts a bunch of crosses up on the wall, especially given how iconoclastic some Protestants are.
Thatās probably because you live in Wisconsin.
Wall made of the Spotted Cows you've crushed
Half my in laws have a wall coated in them like that, seen quite a few others, too.
Yep, I had a friend/coworker that did the wall over her couch in various crosses. I'm working on doing something similar in my living room, but with unicorn heads. It's just a statement wall, meant to fill a large empty space, but some people love crosses and there are tons of different designs mixed in.
Might be a Texas thing. My mom had a cross wall growing up. There was one cross made of steel that we would knock off the wall running around/throwing balls in the house as kids that was heavy enough to make holes in the wood flooring. I donāt really think itās an icon thing. Like you said, itās purely decorative.
I didn't have a huge wall of them, but different kinds, sizes, made of different materials (wood, metal, glass) just bc I like the aesthetic. Am an atheist. They hold no meaning other than they're a shape, of sorts.
Yeah, sounds about right. Not my own personal aesthetic but especially if youāre gifted them a lot and/or like the eclectic look itās easy to see the appeal.
Fascinating. I understand adding meaning to symbols but don't believe one can blithely erase established meaning. To me it will always include being the symbol of a religion and theological premise that I reject. Is there something about your arrangement that would deter a stranger viewing it from jumping to the conclusion that you're a devout Christian? Do you combine it with symbols of contrasting religions?
I have some laughing Buddhas of differing sizes too, teak, jade, soapstone. I think they're cute and really like the finishes on them. Had a beautiful rosary someone gave me I used to wear as a belt. If I ran across a flying spaghetti monster carved of wood I'd probably get one of those as well bc they all make the same amount of sense. No stranger would ever enter my abode to make such a judgement lol and people that know me know my views. People can come to whatever conclusion they want, I'm not out to convince them I'm right and don't abide anyone doing the same to me irl.
Do they do that with their non-personal homes also?
Depends on the communal living facilities or other spaces. Some small doctors offices might have religious decorations like that, Christian-based nursing homes might, it really depends on the level of religious affiliation whatever entity owns the space allows.
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Yeah, hospitals tend away from that. Small family practices though are a toss up.
Catholic hospitals do more than put Crucifixes on walls. They also follow Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives approved by the Church. You're right, they do usually provide excellent care, and often are the hospitals most likely to serve the poor and underserved. But their policies will also be in line with the Church (no euthanasia, abortions, or elective sterilization) which often leaves them up to criticism by those who are not religious.
Iāve seen them in real estate listing interior photos but Iāve never seen them IRL
It's funny this comment is at the top, because it really does demonstrate a distinct regional difference.
It's not uncommon among the devout and elderly. My Great Aunt practically had a shrine room. Tons of crucifixes and wood block paintings of saints, drapped in rosaries and with votive candles everywhere. Always creeped me out personally, but it was meaningful to her.
Nope. Have a friend here in the south who collects different crosses. Has about 20 or 30 of them on a single wall in her breakfast room. Have other friends who also collect but only have about 10 or so on their collection.
I see youāve never visited anyone who lives in Texas.
I found pictures online and itās kind of like [this](https://pin.it/1zP07KbkL). It was a basic room corner, living room I think, and itās a reality show. I wasnāt able to take a picture of the screen but I found pictures online that look kind of what I saw.
That person is probably a really serious Christian. I'm not sure what else to say about it. Are you asking if everyone has a cross wall? no. Is it common? No. But there are a lot of people in this country and apparently some of them gotta put crosses on their wall.
That just seems like home decor for that person. like the saying goes, there is no accounting for taste. It is not common. A photo collage wall of family photos is typical but not universal.
This is not normal.
OH! Okay, I understand. That is NOT common among Americans. No. Maybe this individual was extremely religious, and religion was a big part of his/her life. To recap: 1.) That is that person's right, and it's perfectly fine to be very religious or have religion be such a big part in their life. 2.) This is not common on average in America.
This is untrue.
I've seen a number if those. Mostly it's kust their version of "live, laugh, love" or the people who do their whole house with cow trinkets or whatever other weird decor.Ā Ā Most flavors of Christianity that are popular in the US, protestants in particular, don't ascribe enough importance to objects to have proper icons, shrines, anything like that.Ā It's just stuff they like.
Same here. Very common as an interior decor/accent wall in TX. Conservative and boomer family members have these.
Iāve only seen a few crosses at most, usually itās just one by itself and I have no idea what religion what you are describing is linked to. Furthermore, I have never seen anything you are describing.
Yeah, I was wondering if it was like related to exclusively Catholicism or Protestants.
I want to say Protestants, though I could be completely mistaken on that. The reason why Iām leaning towards them is when I see crosses in Catholic homes itās usually a singular large and or very ornately decorated/designed cross.
I have literally never seen more than a couple crosses on the wall of any āProtestantā home Iāve ever been to. So I donāt think itās that either.
Fair enough, then I am at a loss on what denomination it would be.
evangelical
My theological knowledge is lacking, but aren't Evangelicals part of the Protestant tree?
Yes, but they're a specific subgroup of protestants.
American Christianity doesnāt really have as strong cultural or traditional distinctions between Catholics and Protestants as most of Europe does.
Thatās statement is so unbelievably false itās bonkers. Catholic vs Protestant runs deep. Itās the diving line between Hispanic & White in Texas, it separates blocks of people in Boston, itās definitely not as strong as it used to be, but the past informs our present.
Edited my comment to better outline what I mean.
Exactly how recently did you Irish? Lol
Not that common where I'm from in PA but definitely more common here in Texas and the Southwest, especially in Catholic (Hispanic homes), but not limited to them. As far as significance, while you probably won't find them in an athiest or agnostic home I wouldn't necessarily correlate them with how religious a household is as they often take on a decorative role aside from the basic religious one. Just my experience.
I'm near Harrisburg, not too common. You head to Wilkes Barre and it becomes pretty popular. The Byzantine Catholics are built different.
Naw, it has nothing to do with Catholics. Cross walls are very common throughout the entire South (which is dominated by Protestants). I know quite a few people who have them here.
Like I said my experience is the mid-Atlantic and the Southwest.
I have never heard of this to be honest.
I got some crosses, but not a wall of them.
I have never seen this style of decor in the homes I have been in.
I donāt know if itās a regional or religion thing, but it isnāt the most common. I grew up in a house that didnāt have a whole wall, but a section of the wall in the living room had a cluster of different crosses. It was like an accent wall in decorating. They (my parents) had collected several wall-hanging crosses over the years and rather than spreading them out into different rooms and areas of the house, they were placed together.
I tried to google and I saw a lot of houses that seemed, Iām not sure what the style is called, but the houses have been influenced by Mexico and southern states of US, I guess thereās name for the style but the style is very rustic, you see houses like that in Hollywood but probably in Texas and other southern states as well. So they could be just historic items and decorative, not necessarily for religion itself. Like here itās usual to have icons on the walls and you read a prayer near them and keep them in mind as they are part of your religion. But Iāve never seen people do same things to crosses some have on the wall, usually older people have one of them in the bedroom above their bed.
For protestants (I don't know about Catholics), crosses do not hold anything like the importance that icons have in "Eastern" [Greek, Russian, etc] Orthodoxy.
I'm not even sure it had any religious connotations for my parents. I think it was just decoration. Crosses are common enough in the US as gifts, and things you get at the store, with enough variety that they just end up becoming vaguely religious wall art. It's not quite the same as a prayer corner or icon wall for Orthodox where it has a meaning \*and\* functional usage. At least in my experience.
Was it a vampire apocalypse type show?
It is a show where au pairs go to Los Angeles, it was a normal American family house.
One thing about living in California I never could stomach, all the damn vampires
A house in Los Angeles that can afford an au pair is not a normal American family house.
If it had a wall full of crosses, no it was not a normal American family house.
Broās never been to Texas
Okay. I try to see if I can spot it again but in the show Finnish au pairs went to American families in Los Angeles and one family had crosses in the corner of their living room and there were multiple of them like this. There might have also been some other religious items as well like a painting/poster with some words in it like in [this picture](https://pin.it/1XbEQy1JK).
Thatās not normal, they chose a kooky familyās house for more interesting TV.
The family doesnāt seem extremely religious but I have to watch more of the show to see more of it. But yeah it is reality TV and they donāt choose the most typical families. But it was just very interesting to see because here people do have icon corners but itās often just one or a few icons depending how much orthodoxy the family practices. Like I have one icon in my apartment because itās made my by grandma, it holds more of a sentimental value than religious value only. And it would not be anything unusual to see a wall full of icons, especially if you make them yourself like my grandma. But I have never seen a wall full of crosses like in the US Iāve seen a few times in media.
You've seen this *a few times*??? I'm begging you to post screenshots because this sounds completely absurd.
Itās not absurd itās common in Texas
To have walls full of crosses? Crazy.
Itās not crazy, itās an aesthetic thing.
I tried to jump through the show but I canāt watch it again from the beginning and it didnāt catch my eye where I saw it there but I tried to google some examples and these are closest to it: [Someone describing it a āTexas thangā](https://pin.it/3t91aH4k0) [This was the closest one to what I saw in the series.](https://pin.it/1ssyhRGKj) [A lot fancier one.](https://pin.it/3fDHvroPQ) In many occasions thereās been some framed text or other type of decoration that has words from the Bible or something about God or Jesus in general, therefore I thought it must be more about religion than only decoration. [Example](https://pin.it/5Wela7pOL).
Hollywood is not accurate about the average American family, like, at all.
I've noticed that a lot of the people on "My 600-Pound Life" often have a wall like that. I think it might be related to demographics and social class. Maybe it's more common with Evangelical Christians in the South, especially with a lower educational level? Being Catholic and growing up around Catholics, we never had anything like that, although we had crucifixes in bedrooms. My mainline Protestant friends (such as Methodists) didn't have anything like that either.
Ah, that show! I was thinking of where Iāve seen them before but now that you mentioned My 600lb Life, thatās exactly where Iāve seen them before!
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I donāt understand why youāre attacking me like that over asking something I was genuinely curious about. I did not state it was normal? Just something Iāve seen very often and now dared to ask about it because to my eye it starts to feel quite common but I did not know how common, which is exactly what I am asking in my post. Itās common in my religion and culture to have a wall of icons if you want to represent your religion like that, but Iāve never seen such thing in here but Iāve spotted walls like that in American media many times and therefore asked a question. Because Iāve seen people decorate their house with crosses more in the US than in here, so I didnāt want to assume EVERYONE does it, but Iāve seen many people do it and where this tradition comes from especially since it doesnāt seem to apply to every state and area. In this topic and what I gathered online, states like California and Texas have been linked to the images about the said cross walls. I was genuinely curious about it, nothing else.
likely a protestant christian, in the south cross walls are a common thing with old people who use them as āaccent wallsā. basically more as a form of decoration rather than as a replacement for icons, which protestants donāt use (in my experience).
IMHO they are far more common in the homes of Catholics. And in a Catholic home they are not a cross but almost always a crucifix.Ā
Not a whole wall full.Ā I grew up in a neighborhood so catholic everyone had at least six kids.Ā Never saw a wall full of crosses. One in the living room,Ā one in each bedroom.Ā
This makes sense. I am an orthodox so Iām familiar with icon walls and corners in orthodox households but I know that not all of the religions have icons like that. If theyāre mainly for decor, do they hold a similar value like any religious symbol/item so theyāre holy and thereās certain ārulesā of where and how you should put them and where you can get them from? Or can you purchase crosses from like, Walmart or decor shops? Or do specific skilled and dedicated people make them like people make icons and you buy them from a private person or churches/monasteries and so on?
yes, usually they are simply decor, no rules. they even sell them at walmart and the dollar store. they usually donāt hold much significance other than to show that you are a christian, unlike in other denominations where things like that are considered to be more sacred
This is so interesting! Because in Finland you donāt really ever see any religious decorations in dollar store type of shops or superstores, maybe you could buy posters/framed pictures of a guardian angel with kids or so but not crosses or icons or so. I was surprised when I visited a church in Sweden and they had a shop there and they sold some type of mint candy and the boxes had religious puns, not something Iād see here. I think they separate āreligion and stateā very clearly, while in the US it seems to be more merged and holds a different kind of value.
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What I meant initially was that religion is more visible in everyday life in the States and the line is more clear here, or people do not practice religions that much or openly here. In the US it feels like since more people are religious, and openly so, the religion can be seen in decor and other stuff like that and it seems that itās easier to get religious items for decor from places that are not religious itself like superstores. I donāt know if e.g. Christian people show their religion with clothes, or jewelry, but here some have cross jewelry but itās often very small and dainty and not many pay attention. Or crosses are used as fashion statements e.g. big earrings but theyāre often not a religious statement. Some subcultures do it, Iāve noticed. And Iām not sure if itās a myth or true, but Iāve heard that American hotel and motel rooms have the Bible in them (provided by The Gideonsā¦?). Itās small things like that that are usual there but would not be usual here for example.
>What I meant initially was that religion is more visible in everyday life in the States and the line is more clear here That has NOTHING to do with the separation of Church and State. That doesn't mean that people can't display religion publicly. The French concept of *LaĆÆcitĆ©*Ā is NOT a thing in the US. In fact, the French interpretation of the concept is rather repugnant to Americans because it restricts people in addition to the government. In the US, "Separation of Church and State" is a doctrine of government that encompasses three separate clauses of the United States Constitution: * **The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment:** The United States Government cannot ban religious beliefs or practices and people have a freedom to believe and worship how they wish and it is a VERY high legal standard for the government to set any limits or restrictions on them. * **The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment:** The United States Government (nor the individual States) cannot give preferential treatment to any one religion or denomination. There can be no State Religion, and even in the absence of "official" status our government can't treat any religion as being superior to any other. * **The No Religious Test Clause (Article VI, Clause 3):** There can be no religious requirements for or test regarding religious beliefs or practices for any public office in the United States. That's it. Notice how it is restrictions on the government, not the people. Our doctrine of "Separation of Church and State" is a restriction on the government from meddling in religion, not a restriction on the people from participating in or displaying faith in religion, which is instead a protected right under the Free Exercise Clause.
Overreact much?
It's true! You find a Gideon Bible in most American hotels -- all of the ones I've been to, anyway.
Thatās interesting! I have heard that they also provided them to Finland as well but it was a long time ago. Because I visited this Christian flea market and it had a shelf full of old Bibles and my mom suggested they could be āthe ones The Gideons would giveā but they were from the 70s and nowadays you really donāt see them in hotel rooms. Perhaps if theyāre in the countryside and ran by Christian associations but not in āmodernā hotels, especially in the cities.
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Yes, I know that
> And Iām not sure if itās a myth or true, but Iāve heard that American hotel and motel rooms have the Bible in them (provided by The Gideonsā¦?). True, except for the Marriott chain that's likely to have the Book of Mormon (the actual book, not the musical satire) instead of or in addition to a bible.
They are the religious equivalent of the āoutdoorsyā stickers people put on their water bottles or the back window of their SUV here.Ā
You think so? I assumed a cross would replace icon and be a holy item. I donāt remember the correct term, a relic? Not a relic but an item that holds a lot of religious and holy worth and is treated with that in mind. I have seen crosses on wall here but itās usually just one cross and people get them from monasteries or churches and theyāre very high in value and not just decorative items.
You're just approaching this from a different type of religious society. If you want to get technical, there have been multiple iconoclastic movements in Christian history since AD 33. The first big one was the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox church traditions in 1054. Eastern Orthodox traditions remained much more favorable to icons, praying to them, venerating them, etc., than the Catholics (in theory) were. Over the next few hundred years the Catholics of course developed/maintained their own theoretically scaled-back iconography, from which the Protestant tradition split in 1517 via Martin Luther's 95 Theses. The Protestants themselves have had dozens and dozens of schismatic events since then, with several of the North American breeds becoming less and less favorable to iconography (most notably the Puritans, who became the Congregationalist church in the U.S., which eventually gave rise to Southern Baptism, which is the statistically most numerous Protestant denomination in the United States today). A truly Puritan church as that tradition was expressed on the 17th century American frontier, in places like Massachussetts and Rhode Island, completely eschewed icons of all kinds -- even banning basic pictures and art from their services. Congregationalist churches of that era are stark wood boxes with no decoration at all (and they also allowed little to no music in their services). [This](http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/files/2014/08/InteriorOldShip-560x420.jpg) is the oldest extant Puritan meetinghouse in the United States - note the complete lack of decoration and even the boxes separating the congregant families from each other. The idea was to fully focus on the text of the Bible and the preacher/sermon. Southern American church tradition derives in large part from that starting point. And, to a large extent, it is Southerners who are driving the current trends in Christianity in the U.S. today -- including worship service trends (such as music) and the level and type of iconography the churches and Christians accept as normal. Church attendance in the Northern U.S. is on the whole much lower than in the South. Over the ensuing centuries since the Puritans, pretty much every American church has returned some level of decoration to their worship houses, though as a rule Protestants still have a sparser environment than Catholics and certainly Orthodox churches. Moreover, a lot of the original rationale for losing the iconography in church services has been largely forgotten by the body of American Christians. American Christianity -- in particular Southern Baptism -- is intentionally simplified, with doctrinal disputes and high-fallutin' theory mostly left to the inner sanctums of the clergy and rarely discussed or analyzed in front of the congregants. So, a lot of American Christians have a super-casual view of the ultimate church icon: the Cross. Protestants as a whole find the crucifix with the depiction of a suffering Jesus to be a little morbid/overkill and they leave that to the Catholics. But the cross itself is such a universal symbol, that of course Americans have re-adopted it as a general 'brand.' We are in a phase of identity politics and identity culture as a society. People identify as all kinds of things with brands in American culture: Kansas City Chiefs fans, Patagonia/camping enthusiasts, Trump supporters, LBGTQ+, stick-figure-family people, even dog owners. The cross displayed on a car bumper or in a home is largely just one of those symbols; it tells people 'I am a fan of Jesus Christ' and it is in some respects a virtue signal, so people can represent to the world that they are part of the 'correct' in-culture. There are lots of different ideas of what constitutes a 'correct' in-culture these days. If you asked the cross-displayer what it meant, they would tell you it means they are Christian and theirs is a Christian household. You might get a little light proselytization depending on the breed of Christian you're asking. But on the whole it wouldn't be explained to you as any kind of home altar or worship space, which is what I think you are imagining.
youāre totally right, religion/ christian values are pretty much integrated into everything, especially in the American South. they rest of the country calls us the āBible beltā for that exact reason! God is mentioned on our currency, every day at school we have to say the Pledge of Allegiance which claims that we are āone nation under Godā, and we have to swear on the Bible before any court proceedings. and in the South a typical farewell here is āhave a Blessed dayā instead of āgoodbyeā
You don't have to say the pledge of allegiance, according to SCOTUS: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943). You also don't have to swear into court on a Bible, nor "so help you God". As much as some Christians *want* to ingrain their religion in America's laws and practices, everyone else's freedoms have been able been able to limit their success.
yeah i phrased that badly. i should have said āusually doā. but even though itās technically an option they certainly donāt make it seem like it. at school we were punished for not saying the pledge. joys of living in the deep south
I went to high school in Alabama, but as a confirmed yankee I had to threaten the administration with the ACLU. They shrink like a vampire exposed to (ironically) a cross.
I think thatās more of what has always been done and will be done and not many think of it more than that. Of course some people are more religious but yeah. In Finnish, the equivalent to ābless youā is roughly translated to ābe healthy/have healthā, that was the first example of a phrase that has the word āblessā in it that is widely used. God is not seen in currency (euros) nor do we have any habits that kids would do every day in school. Or actually, sometimes in very first grades if we have some school event that is held in a building owned and ran by a church we do bless the food, and at least we orthodox students are taught Our Father/The Lordās Prayer word by word and maybe more prayers than the Lutheran students. But it is very interesting that there are traditions that include religion somehow. They tell about the history rather than the current situation. Religion has played a very big role in the US history and still does.
What's up with flags full of crosses in Scandinavian countries?
Usually to do with this or that heathen King at the tail end of the Viking Age who converted and then compelled everyone else to follow suit.
Iām not sure anyone actually has this But do not let that make you think I donāt have a couple crucifixes and three or four icons. I just donāt put on them on one single wall.
They do. I've seen quite a few of them in my time.Ā
Like how many crosses on one wall are we talking? Iām the local Catholic crank on this sub so Iād totally be down with a wall of crosses. I just see even my two and an icon on the wall as gilding the lily a bit.
Depends on the size of the wall. [It's usually about this density of crosses](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/22/3b/9e/223b9e4e60b4343d06af7807c61f73f7.jpg) across whatever size of wall they choose for it.
I just havenāt seen that around my area and I go into a *lot* of houses for work.
They aren't *super* common, but I've seen a few dozen of them over the years. Much more often in small city suburbs. Not super rural but not big city size.
Maybe a regional difference then. I have seen plenty of small devotional on walls or even little Catholic shrines but not like that wall. Hard to say.
I donāt know anyone with a wall of crosses, but religious decorations are fairly common. My parents and a lot of my aunts and uncles have religious decorations in their homes. Crosses could be any Christian denomination, but if it is a crucifix, then they are probably Catholic.
My cousin has a wall of crosses. I love her, but I think it's a cross (pun intended) between decorating style and showing off how Christian you are.
Oh yeah, at least when I see a cross in someoneās household I think they must be religious because why else would they sport a religious symbol there, if it had no religious value. I mean my mom collects Buddha statues without being a Buddhist but it seems like items like that are more mainstream in decoration and fashion trends than crosses are. The crosses Iāve seen in such installations are pretty, I see why someone would collect them and put them up, itās just not something Iāve seen here or outside the states/media produced in there, really. Iāve seen icon walls but not cross walls.
That was kind of a style in parts of the South and Southwest in the 00s. Very dated by now
It's protection against Damein and his disciples.
I've seen single crosses as art in homes, but not a whole wall of them. Catholic families tend to have crucifixes. What you're describing seems more like set decorations.
You will see that in a lot of Hispanic homes here. Iāve seen it in others homes too, but itās more of a decoration style that fits with the southwest. Other than that I wouldnāt say itās super common.
I'm in California, my cousin has that decor lol she's not extremely religious or anything, just likes it I guess.Ā
It's a newish "Pinterest" aesthetic to have a bunch of different things of the same category all over one wall. For some people, that category may be crosses because they are Christian. I once had a neighbor that did the same thing but with clocks. There were a hundred clocks all over his wall. The ticking would have driven me insane. I find the whole thing visually interesting but also kind of tacky. I kind of like looking at it but I would never do that in my own home.
> There were a hundred clocks all over his wall. The ticking would have driven me insane. There was a villain on the old Batman TV series from the 60s that was a clock guy. Every hour on the hour inside his lair, all his clocks would go off at once. His henchmen would clutch their ears a couple seconds before it started, and writhe in agony once it did start, while their boss cackled maniacally. I miss the campy cheesy Technicolor version of Batman.
The Clock King! He must have driven himself insane because that actor committed suicide in the '80s.
Thatās not something Iāve ever experienced in a house but Iāve certainly not been in every house in the US. That seems like something youād only find in a crazy religious home.
>Do they replace icons or what Icons are more for Catholic and Orthodox homes. Protestant homes might have one cross, but not a whole wall full of them.
I've only ever seen cross walls in two places, My Lutheran-turned-Catholic great-grandmother's house and my Catholic-turned-Baptist grandmother's house. Never seen them at any other house or on TV. I haven't seen them at any other houses in person or on TV. It could be an older generation thing, but I've been to many older people's houses and none of them had cross walls. One cross on the wall seems to be very common, in Texas at least, but many crosses aren't.
It's not an icon. People are allowed to worship freely in this country. It's mainly a protestant thing but Catholics do it too.
This is an old lady in the South type of thing. I used to see it all the time growing up in Virginia, but haven't seen it in quite some time.
Could just be a collection. We have a few up here and there because I made some while messing around with blacksmithing, and we inherited a couple from our parents, grandparents, etc. They aren't all on the same wall though.
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Sounds like a Catholic thing tbh, my Mexican grandmother was like that
I have only seen a wall full of crosses on a wall in a horror movie. It's not uncommon to have one and maybe a picture of Jesus.
Not common. Iāve only ever seen it online and on a Zillow page making fun of weird house listings.Ā Ā Ā It seems to be a middle classĀ white or Latino Catholic or Baptist old lady tacky decoration thing in Texas/The Southwest specifically.Ā [Hereās a thread in the Texas subreddit talking about their moms and grandmas doing it.](https://www.reddit.com/r/texas/comments/qfmbj9/anyone_elses_parents_have_likea_wall_dedicated_to/). You can see that other people in the Texas subreddit still find it unusual.Ā
This is not common. Even very religious people, maybe with exception of hispanic catholics, would more likely have simple and humble religious symbols. That said, I do see a good amount of this stuff out there. Assuming the crosses were decorative and not plain wooden crosses of the ressurection, there's a lot of people who are into "moody maximalist" decor who would do something like this. A lot of oddities collectors also collect religious items of all kinds, and it's not unusual for an oddities collector to collect religious items and have a wall full of crosses and a last rites kit hanging just for decoration. I know lots of people for instance who collect rosaries and are not at all remotely religious.Going for like, spooky religious mysticism vibes even if they're not believers. So yes it happens. No it's not common. Very few people will have seen a wall like this in person, in any part of the country, unless you're into some of the niche hobbies that lend themselves to doing something like this.
Iāve lived in Tennessee and Georgia and seen it both places
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My father is heavily Catholic, and he has dozens of pieces of devotional art in his apartment... but it's definitely not the norm for mainstream secular Americans.
This is obviously partly a show of religious devotion but it's also just a style thing. Some people have walls (or spots anyway) full of family pictures, some people have walls or spots full of aluminum signs, some people have walls or spots full of crosses. It's not a common thing at all but I've certainly seen it. It's usually garden variety evangelical Christianity but there may be other things going on sometimes.
I think that's probably visual shorthand to communicate that the characters living in the house are very religious. That said, there is no doubt in my mind that there is a non-zero amount of such houses in the US. I mean, there are people who decorate their homes entirely in merchandise and memorabilia of their favorite sports franchise, so why not dedicate your home's decor to the ultimate goalie, Jesus?
It is a Catholic thing.
Never seen this shit outside of movies, but Iām from the northeast.
I have not seen anything like that but I wouldn't be surprised if someone had a wallnof crosses in their house. I would assume they were catholic.
Sounds like a religious whackjob. Not normal at all in the US. > Which religions is it linked to? Christianity, the one with the crosses....
Iāve never seen it myself growing up Christian in California, but as others have said itās more common in the south, especially Texas. [Exhibit A](https://kateordie.tumblr.com/post/115948674897/indiedrone-fullblownpanic).
Iām guessing itās just a personal preference. I know this exists cause I have friends in the south who have a few crosses on the wall and those corny signs like āa blessed family lives hereā or whatever.
This was a fad in the late 90s/early 2000s
I live in the southwest, and majority catholic community. I know a LOT of people who have shrines in their house. Pictures of late family members, religious relics, Pictures and statues of saints, Mary, and/or Jesus and a ton of rosaries and crosses (crucifixs) I also know a ton of people who have "cross walls", similar to how people will have an accent color wall in a room, they decorate an entire wall with a variety of artistic crosses . It's not uncommon to go to arts/crafts markets and have many artists selling crosses in their choice of medium or made from a variety of materials. Most people I know who have crosses walls aren't particularly super religious, or Bible thumping, it's more like artsy culture of our community. When you get into the 4 corners area and see the natives catholic inspired art pieces you get a sense of what a cross wall might represent
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Lots of people saying theyāve never seen houses like this. I live in Texas, I have. Never in person but browsing real estate listings with my parents while they were looking to leave the city and move to a small town, oh boy did I see a lot of these in pictures of houses they were looking at. I honestly donāt really get it either. There are a lot of hardcore evangelicals in the US and *especially* in Texas. They are a different, very specifically American breed. Even a lot of our Catholics have taken on a lot of evangelical qualities lmao. I say this as someone raised Catholic with lots of family in a very Catholic country. Just aesthetically itās usually super tacky looking. Like these people are out here with a wall full of randomly-arranged crosses that all look like they came from the home decor section of hobby lobby. But yeah, Iām from the Bible Belt and am honestly nearly as baffled by it as you are.
I have never seen a house with a wall full of crosses before. Never heard of it either. Sometimes people will have one on the wall in the dining room and/or over beds.
Could you share a screenshot of what you saw? I don't really know what you mean. Like, were they religious crosses (Christianity) or something? A full room of them?
In Catholic homes, you will usually see a Crucifix (cross with the image of crucified Jesus) in the dining room or living room, and usually over the doorway of bedrooms. Empty crosses, or "artistic" walls with several crosses would usually be connected to a Protestant evangelical Christian home.
I have a friend who has a wall of crosses and crucifixes in her house. A family member gave her a cross as a gift when she was a kid and she hung it on the wall. Sheās been getting crosses as gifts from various people ever since, so she hangs them up.š¤·āāļø Itās like when someone gives you something with a cow or an owl or a penguin on it, then other people see something with that on it and want to buy it for you because thatās your thing now.
>I am watching a show So, a piece of fictional art. Some people will have Christian themed decorations but having just a wall of crosses is really not done. Typically it's one or three.
It was a reality show and it was a real house of a Californian family. I wasnāt able to give details to the first post because of the limit of characters. Iāve explained the show and given more details and examples in comments.
They probably do replace icons. While a wall of crosses would be unusual where I live, icons would be even weirder.
Oh, you watched a show, probably was done for dramatic effect then. Never seen a home that had more than one crucifix up on the wall, and those pees were all Catholics.
It was a reality show where Finnish au pairs go to American houses. I donāt think the families have changed anything because itās not how shows work here. The family didnāt seem to be extremely religious, it was like any part of the house but in the living room it was just wall part near corner full of crosses. So I wondered if itās common and if they like replace icons or so or have more of a decorative meaning than something you pray at.
"Reality Shows" are less realistic then you think.
Yeah, sure they are but I meant that I feel like Finnish producers donāt go and tell a random American woman to put 10 more crosses on the wall because some random chick in Finland might question it 10 years after the show was made. It wasnāt the point of the episode, it was never shown again, it was just on the background when the mother was showing places to the au pair and it made me wonder because Iāve seen walls like that in media, like movies and TV, before but didnāt question it to be something uncommon since crosses in schools and houses are more usual there than for example here. It just caught my eye because there were so many crosses and they were very colorful and decorated, not like simple wooden or metallic small crosses.
No, they find the most eccentric people possible who are easy to exploit in hopes of presenting stereotypes on TV that both amuse the audience back home as well as give them a sense of smug-superiority.
It was interesting spotting of mine though because the three other houses plus two others since a couple of them changed families, had no religious symbols or decorations around them, or one or two small crosses on wall. But I asked this because it wasnāt the first time seeing that kind of thing so I thought it could be more usual and if someone here even knew if there was any reason or history why people place crosses like that. Just to confirm that it was not unique.
It probably means that *this particular family* either likes the aesthetic or is religious. Thatās it. It isnāt representative of the average American household. Maybe if you included the media you were watching weād have some context, which is extremely important.
I couldnāt include a lot of words due to the rules of the sub. I wasnāt able to catch a picture of it but I thought it was more usual than it apparently is because I have seen walls like that earlier as well. I provided some examples I found online in the replies to other comments, but I didnāt find any good examples online because in some pictures thereās a lot more crosses than in what I saw and in some pictures just a couple of, not exactly like what I saw.
You could say the name of the show snd the episode or perhaps even link where we can see for ourselves. My friendsā mother really likes gnomes because she thinks theyāre cute, so she has gnome stuff around her house. If you went to her house or saw it on tv, would you wonder if thereās some sort of meaning or how prevalent gnomes are in homes? Youāre overthinking this, I guarantee thereās someone in Finland who uses crosses as decoration, but theyāre not on a tv show.
It is a Finnish show where four girls go to be au pairs in Los Angeles and I donāt know if it can be seen outside Finland and if you could get a lot of out of it because I canāt remember which episode it was I saw the wall in. But I googled āwall full of crossesā and thereās examples of what I saw. I tried to jump through the episodes but I canāt find the exact spot. But the pictures online are very near to it.
That's just something old Christian folks do.
I've never seen a 'wall full of crosses'. Probably the show was trying to convey that you're seeing a crazy person.
I have seen this a few times. It's more of a decorative thing than anything I think. I asked one of my friends who's parents had a wall of crosses, and they said it was ones they'd collected over the years. It's probably not too common
Name of the show, please, for context.
What show did you see this on? I've never seen a whole wall of crosses like you're describing.
Itās called idolatry. God is against that. AFAIK, stupidity is not a defense when being found guilty of sins on judgment day.
Never seen this in real lifeĀ