One good reason that the WT demonized the cross was/is the fact that it was a pagan symbol LONG before it was theirs. Just like pretty much everything else. You can find crosses from many many cultures in Old Testament times, and it can be found even in pre-Biblical cultures. I'm sure the Romans weren't using that formation as a means of execution out of any respect for religious symbology, but out of expediency or efficiency in putting these people to death in this very public humiliating way.
The Bible sayes to tear down the "Asherah Pole" mentioned 14 times. Making the pole or stake which the Insight on the Scriptures Vol 2 page 1116 says, "In classical Greek the word (stau ros') rendered "torture stake" in the New World Translation primarily denotes an upright stake, or pole, and there is no evidence that the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures used it to designate a stake with a crossbeam." So with your logic than the stake is equally a pagan symbol and should not be used either.
- Deuteronomy 16:21
[ Worshiping Other Gods ] Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole [ Or Do not plant any tree dedicated to Asherah ] beside the altar you build to the LORD your God,
Deuteronomy 16:20-22 (in Context) Deuteronomy 16 (Whole Chapter) - Judges 6:25
That same night the LORD said to him, "Take the second bull from your father's herd, the one seven years old. [ Or Take a full-grown, mature bull from your father's herd ] Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole [ That is, a symbol of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in Judges ] beside it.
Judges 6:24-26 (in Context) Judges 6 (Whole Chapter) - Judges 6:26
Then build a proper kind of [ Or build with layers of stone an ] altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second [ Or full-grown ; also in verse 28 ] bull as a burnt offering."
Judges 6:25-27 (in Context) Judges 6 (Whole Chapter) - Judges 6:28
In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!
Judges 6:27-29 (in Context) Judges 6 (Whole Chapter) - Judges 6:30
The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it."
Judges 6:29-31 (in Context) Judges 6 (Whole Chapter) - 1 Kings 15:13
He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
1 Kings 15:12-14 (in Context) 1 Kings 15 (Whole Chapter) - 1 Kings 16:33
Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD , the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.
1 Kings 16:32-34 (in Context) 1 Kings 16 (Whole Chapter) - 2 Kings 13:6
But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole [ That is, a symbol of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 2 Kings ] remained standing in Samaria.
2 Kings 13:5-7 (in Context) 2 Kings 13 (Whole Chapter) - 2 Kings 17:16
They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal.
2 Kings 17:15-17 (in Context) 2 Kings 17 (Whole Chapter) - 2 Kings 21:3
He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
2 Kings 21:2-4 (in Context) 2 Kings 21 (Whole Chapter) - 2 Kings 21:7
He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.
2 Kings 21:6-8 (in Context) 2 Kings 21 (Whole Chapter) - 2 Kings 23:6
He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people.
2 Kings 23:5-7 (in Context) 2 Kings 23 (Whole Chapter) - 2 Kings 23:15
Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin-even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also.
2 Kings 23:14-16 (in Context) 2 Kings 23 (Whole Chapter) - 2 Chronicles 15:16
King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley.
2 Chronicles 15:15-17 (in Context) 2 Chronicles 15 (Whole Chapter)
These were taken from the NIV and the links will take you to the verses on Biblegateway.com.
If the stake is so correct and the cross is so wrong, why does the WTS have to misinterpet those that say that Jesus died on a cross? Why can they not find enough support for the stake and just present that information?
Also when Jesus selected the WTS as the only true relegion, they taught that Jesus was crucified on a cross and Rutherford had the following to say in The Harp of God:
"And Pilate, more righteous than the clerics, posted over his cross the sign: 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.'" (page 136)
"When Jesus died upon the cross of
"The ransom price was provided at the cross. The cross of Christ is the great pivotal truth of the divine arrangement, from which radiates the hopes of men." (page 142)
"In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow'ring o'er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime." (poem quoted on page 143)
