I don't wear a cross or own one. I have as a kid. I owned a really cool one with a minute, not very obvious, lense on the front and when you looked into it you could read the Lord's prayer (my sister and I shared this one, my sister eventually gave it to me as it was hers and I wore it the most and I remember when we both decided to give it to a friend in hospital...) and another that was given as a gift from a boy (aged 12 LOL...he'd been through some difficult things in his life, he had a close friendship with a young girl that died from cancer...I underwent a difficult life as a kid...the gesture was nice and there was a bit of a chat about whether I should accept gifts from boys or not at a young age LOL, and we decided it was okay)...and a little fillagree one from my sister (my first year of secular university..I'd bypassed the Christian one due to the fact that it was too much financial pressure for the family but it was a difficult decision and it helped because of the condemnation I felt)...all presents. Though my mother drew the line at one with a present and rather graphic Christ on it that had been given to me (religion teacher...it was something given to everyone) and said it was 'not right'..it was rather large and gothic inspired. So I didn't wear it.
I gave the others away long before I hit my mid-twenties...it seemed right and it's one of the few very personal things that you give people when they're undergoing huge troubles that people understand through a blanket of misery. One went to a friend whose father committed suicide. The other went to a guy that was depressed...who I wasn't interested in that way and wanted to do the right thing by, and it was all I could think of.
I find it painful that people would hurt someone's feelings over wearing a cross. It's not right to do that...whether they choose to wear one...or not. In the same way, I don't think I'd wear one if it upset others. The spirit in which you wear one is more important than the symbol...and .... the way in which you treat others on this is more important than the symbol.
In all things understanding and compassion.
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