Tom Ford Jewelry - Should Christians be offended?

Nah!  I don't think so.

The designer, Tom Ford is not religious - he is spiritual.


In fact, there is no mention of his religion anywhere online - at least any that I could find. It doesn't matter however, since he has clearly made statements such as, "I am a spiritual person in an eastern religion kind of way."  And, "Nature is the closest thing to God and I don’t mean God by any sort of religion but by the connection to the universe, which I think we have lost."  Sounds clear to me - he's not interested in organized religion.

I would like to suggest he is neo-pagan - his religion is materialism, his spirituality is nature based.


I think many post-moderns are spiritual but not religious, in the same way. I'm not a philosopher - and I'm not an academic - but this type of neo-paganism seems to me to be rather pervasive among celebrities and people in the arts - and more pointedly, Tom Ford's spirituality seems typical for gay men. I'm speculating of course, but Ford's new jewelry line is more suggestive of ancient phallic cult symbolism than Christian iconography.


In the ancient religions, the phallic symbol represented fertility and "cultural implications with the male sexual organ". Today these cultural implications clearly represent male to male sexuality, as well as the pervasive influence of pornography, not to forget the popularity of erotic sexual aids, as well as all sorts of penis enhancement medications and or surgeries.

So - back on topic.  Should Christians be offended that Tom Ford made a phallic amulet in the form of a cross?

Why?  St. Paul tells us the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.  What can one expect?

I'm not a Ford customer of course.  Just remember, fashion is fickle.  Like cosmetics, it is an industry which lies to those who consume it - and it is fleeting; like Tom Ford's youth.  Tom Ford is not very kind to his clients - and he also restricts his clientele.  He very famously said he doesn't design for fat people.  Hence, he doesn't have to try very hard to offend anyone outside his purview or interest.

I'm going with 'No' ... I doubt Tom Ford's phallic 'cross' is meant as an insult to Christians.  I'll bet he is not even interested in Christianity enough to harass religious people.  I would refer to his amulet as a fascinus instead of a cross.  Fascinating - comes from the Latin fascinus, BTW.

In Tom Ford's line, I'm guessing it's kind of gay.  Gay jewelry - with a hefty price tag.

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. - 1 Corinthians 1

"Yeah ... but ..."