The Christian symbol if Jesus wasn't crucified

[CACTUSJACKmankin]

What do you think the symbol of christians would be if jesus was executed by a method other than crucifixion?
Here's what I have:
Electric Chair:
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/7508454e783c2e7f4.bmp
Quartered:
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/7508454e783c30efa.bmp
Keelhauling:
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/7508454e783c33609.bmp
What do you guys think?

[Cello Man]

It reminds me of a rant that the late great Bill Hicks had...I'll paraphrase as best as I can from memory.

"A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. You think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to see another f***ing cross? That's kinda like walking up to Jackie Onassis with a rifle pendant on. "Just thinking of John, Jackie. Just thinking of John."

[trvlr2]

Well, keelhauling is good, especially done the long way.
Maybe very similar to water boarding, which may make a prettier icon.
Or ,lethal injection?.
Say, how about the representation after being eaten by lions? That'd be easy-just a little pile of dung.

[Dorian Gray]

What if Jesus had died of AIDS?

[geni]

Most likely that fish thing.

[Earthborn]

The Flemish cartoonist Herr Seele (or was it Gumbah?) once did a cartoon on this very subject. The "gaschamber pendant" was especially funny.

[bobcarp]

It could be this, but I guess it could apply to any religion.

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/6172454f95bd08eed.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=2471)

[Ioudas Omnis]

What if Jesus had died of AIDS?
It'd be a phallus, obviously.

[Darth Rotor]

What do you think the symbol of christians would be if jesus was executed by a method other than crucifixion?

The Crescent.

Without Christianity, you and I would be speaking Arabic today.

I think the particularly brutal execution method crucifixion was a key part of the message that fueled the appeal of the new religion to one of its most important advocates: Constantine. John the Baptist was beheaded. Is there a following of Johnianity? Johnism? Nope. ;)

Disclaimer: I owe some of my prejudice to that to James Carroll's "Constantine's Sword."

DR

[Marc L]

I seem to recall that the old symbol was the Good Shepard. I could be wrong, though.

Marc

[Ryokan]

I seem to recall that the old symbol was the Good Shepard. I could be wrong, though.

Marc

I believe the earliest Christian symbol was a fish. The cross came later.

[geni]

Is there a following of Johnianity?

I think there are a few around although it isn't called that.

[Upchurch]

The Crescent.

Without Christianity, you and I would be speaking Arabic today.
Say, what now? Why not Hebrew, Egyptian, or Roman?

[Darth Rotor]

Say, what now? Why not Hebrew, Egyptian, or Roman?
No, none of them, as Hebrew was waxed and slammed by the Romans. The Romans put paid to themselves, via internal rot. Egyptians were overcome by Islam/Arabic, in terms of cultural tools: written language.

As I see the progression of history, it was a bit lucky for Europe that there was in place a fairly coherent societal structure (however oppressive and woo, if you like to see things in those terms) that allowed for a well structured "We versus They" mode of facing the invasion of the Islamic monotheists.

The jihadists, in their varying waves, and the missionaries, did extremely well in lands where multi theism and animism held sway, but ran into a bit of a bind versus the Christians of Central France, of the Byzantine era, and later the Hapsburgs.

Likewise, no Mongolian as our language, as I think the Crusaders put a crimp in the MOhammaden's style when dealing with the Mongols of Hulugu in the 1200's.

The Crescent got to tours, and Vienna, and if you look hard at how Islam was confronted in Europe, it took the organizing cultural influence of Christianity to bolster the various feudal bickerers. Even so, Christianity was hardly monolithic. The Serbs, once conquered at Kosovo, swore fealty to the Turks and aided in the defeat of the Flower of Christian Chivalry at Nicopolis. Without Christianity as a social glue, however, there would not even have been a contest.

Had Europe still been pagan at the time of the great Mohammaden awakening, I'd suggest the Faith of the Prophet would have trumped paganism nicely, and over time, to this date, spread over all of Europe. Thus, we would be discussing Allah, the sign of the crescent, and all atheists would be dead . . . perhaps.

As with a number of other "what if" speculations, this is hardly air tight, but I'd bet the over on it.

The continued successes of the Hindi in resisting the spread of Mohammadism is a testament to the strength of their cultural model (for all of its curious weaknesses.)

DR

[Glen.Nogami]

How about drawn? That one might be a bit graphic though.

[Morrigan]

But would there even be Islam if there had never been Judeo-Christianity?

Anyway, I once read a cool fantasy series (called "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" by Tad Williams) where there is a worshipped martyr with a few similarities to Jesus, and he was hanged. The sacred symbol was thus a tree, and people wore chains of the tree. Also the "cross" symbol people do superstitiously was actually some "tree" symbol one drew in the air.