NouveauDance said:

The main symbol of Christianity is the cross, and it is in effect the cornerstone of their religion. Jehovahs Witnesses regard Christianity to be a false religion.

Emporor Constantine (300+ AD) started merging the symbols of major religions in an attempt to consolidate all religion under Christianity. The most notable of these symbols were:

The Pagan Cross Of Tammuz - originally a pagan symbol existing centuries before Christianity. In order to increase the cross-over to Christianity, pagans were received into the churches and were permitted to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Pagan Cross was adopted to stand for the "cross" of Christ.

The Egyptian Ankh - also called ansate cross which the early Christians of Egypt adopted.

Basically Christianity is actually a bastardization of paganism and other religions.

Also there are Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland are arranged in the shape of a cross, but they were erected about 2000 BC.

Just in case u were interested.....after all, you did ask!

MrSquiggle said:

That damn Larry G

I remember Prince playing on some show (Arsenio?) where he had a gigantic prop on the stage curtain that said "Stauros". Fucker was pretty passionate about pointing that shit out.
I'm like, "great... now what am I supposed to use to scare vampires away?"

As creative as he is, he could've written a new song about his beliefs (which he did on The Rainbow Children)... but why mess up a classic song like "The Cross"???

It was like watching him in LA a couple of weeks ago. I'm singing D.M.S.R. with the lyrics I've been familiar with for the last 22 years... he's singing something completely different. Talk about confusing and alienating your audience. Sad thing is, he doesn't care, he got my money, that's all that metters to him.

No I haven't, but it I will now. It wouldn't surprise me....have u read any of Laurence Gardner's stuff??

Raijuan said:

That "damn" Larry G only furthered where Prince was going anyway...and playing fonky bass at the same time...Sly and the Family Stone were fonkay! Larry Graham left because Sly refused to show up at the shows! And this is while they were hot!

One look at the Rave CD where they jam bass together shows U that this is what was meant to be. Cuz Larry still looks good, plays fonky and provides a role model for not being drawn into the darkness of the music biz....

the lyric he changed was "Work your body like a whore." I appreciated that because if he's out promoting, bring your kids, why keep that lyric? Besides the fact that the lyric is pretty immature.

Also, if you've been into Prince for 22 years, you're definitely used to him changing stuff up.

'Don't cry, he is coming
Don't die, without knowing
The CHRIST...

We all have our problems
Some are big and some are small
Soon all of our problems
Will be taken by the CHRIST'

I thought I read somewhere that he ORIGINALLY wanted to call the song "The Christ" but that was too un-pc at the time, so he changed it to the Cross. The cross symbolizes Christ. If you read the lyrics, he is really talking about the Christ, not a cross. So, I think these "new" lyrics actually make more sense. People are just SO sensitive about religion, that it is "easier" to hear 'cross' than 'christ'.

As for JW, yes, this is an obvious influence. He doesn't believe christ was killed on a cross, so therefore, why use it as a symbol. Makes sense to me. These are HIS songs to do with/change as he pleases. If you don't like it, at least you have the original recording to listen to! :-p

'Don't cry, he is coming
Don't die, without knowing
The CHRIST...

We all have our problems
Some are big and some are small
Soon all of our problems
Will be taken by the CHRIST'

I thought I read somewhere that he ORIGINALLY wanted to call the song "The Christ" but that was too un-pc at the time, so he changed it to the Cross. The cross symbolizes Christ. If you read the lyrics, he is really talking about the Christ, not a cross. So, I think these "new" lyrics actually make more sense. People are just SO sensitive about religion, that it is "easier" to hear 'cross' than 'christ'.

As for JW, yes, this is an obvious influence. He doesn't believe christ was killed on a cross, so therefore, why use it as a symbol. Makes sense to me. These are HIS songs to do with/change as he pleases. If you don't like it, at least you have the original recording to listen to! :-p

The first time I heard the change was in concert in Tampa, FL. Before the song Prince gave the definition of Starros and then said "Maybe someone lied about the way someone died."

My first thaught as a christian was "How freaking idiotic!" Here is a guy that is trying to enlighten people and at the same time is casting doubt about not only the means of Christ's death, but quite possibly whether any of it is true.

I really wanted to shout out "Hey, Littleman, it ain't how He died but why he died that is important."

c this is what happens when u join a wacky ass religion..u tweak classics...or would b classics...c i could nnnnneeeeevvvvveeeeerrr ever ever ever ever ever ever! be a JW 2 me they're totally backwards...look @ this site i was on...
http://www.geocities.com/...asons.html i couldn't conform 2 all this weird stuff they believe about GOD...i'm 2 into the whole he died on the cross 2 save us from our sins thing.
[This message was edited Wed Jun 16 22:03:59 2004 by Moonwalkbjrain]

Why encourage people to visit an anti-JW site? If a person wants to learn about the beliefs of Muslims, Kabbalah, or Scientologists, wouldn't they go directly to those ones?

ninarockets said:

Don't cry, he is coming
Don't die, without knowing
The Frog...

We all have our problems
Some are big and some are small
Soon all of our problems
Will be taken by the Frog...