Elder Holland wants people to be killed by seatbelts as he suggests following authority explicitly. However, he does not feel the same way about crosses.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comment ... dX6MlsAQAA
From the reddit post:
So, what does the cross mean to you?Jeff Holland is one of 15 men who believes he was called directly from Jesus to be an apostle today. He believes he tells the church what is most important "for our day." So in a time where there is famine, drought, wars, pandemics, poverty, political and social unrest, etc.--he prayed to know what Jesus wanted him to tell the church members (and the world, since they view themselves as prophets, seers, and revelators to the world, not just the Mormon church). And what did Jesus tell him was the most important thing Mormons needed to know for the next 6 months? STOP WEARING CROSS JEWELRY!!!!!!
Brigham Young's wives and daughters wore crosses. In 1916, the LDS church filed a permit with SLC to build a giant concrete cross on Enisgn Peak (it was obviously never built, but was replaced by the This is the Place monument in 1917, that's shaped like a cross). In the 1923 general conference it was announced the Hawaii and Alberta, Canada temples were designed around the shape of the cross. The LDS church cattle brand used to have a cross on it. Mormons actually wore and displayed the cross like other Christians until the 1960s.
So why don't Mormon's really wear the cross? It's because David O. McKay served as a European Mission President in the 1920s and developed personal prejudices against the Catholic church. In 1957, he decided he didn't like local department stores advertising cross jewelry because it reminded him of Catholics. Based on his anti-Catholic prejudices, he asked stores to stop advertising because he didn't want people confusing Mormons with Catholics. Also, Mormons completely misunderstand how Christians view the cross--it has nothing to do with a "dying Christ" but Mormons sure like to repeat that lie. It's easier to repeat platitudes than educating themselves on Christianity (and why many Christians don't view Mormons as fully Christian).