I'll throw my overthought into this one as well.
Were one to consider the words and teachings of Jesus rather than just the last crappy, quiet day of His life, a few points on the crucifixion would become apparent that are fairly important. The most important of these is that the whole event was just he last, crappy, quiet day of Jesus' life, which lasted 30 years; was chock full of lessons on how to live instead of how to die; and was already a twinkly thought in God's head before the world (that is to say the laws of physics and everything that has occurred since they started acting on the universe's supply of matter/energy, regardless of the time frame you buy into) was created. Were I Jesus--despite having the perspective one gets from being around effectively forever--I'd be extremely upset that the part of my message everybody latched onto was not any of the paragraphs coming out of my mouth, but the big wooden exclamation point at the end.
Aside from that, the scripture is FILLED to the brim with invectives against wearing your faith "on your sleeve." Christians are to be recognizable by their actions and motives. Even in the old testament, the law included explicit remarks about the kind of punishment people would receive if they put up altars to God (hint: fast moving rocks were involved) composed of metal or wood, worked with man-made tools. Every time God commanded someone to make him an altar, they just stacked up a bunch of rocks that were around at the time, because the very Earth itself is to be recognized by true believers as being a testament to God's power, generosity and artistry. The exception to this was the temple and ark of the covenant, which were ordered to see that God's people have an ever-present focal point for their religious efforts TOGETHER. Hence the dramatic efforts to quell the building of substitute temples in "the high places" throughout the history of Israel. The other, non-commissioned temples separated Israel from itself and from its eldest, most studied theologians.
But I digress. The cross was not something that Jesus died on alone by a long shot. Hell, there were two other dudes being executed NEXT TO HIM at the time of his death. It was an instrument of torture and destruction, and as long as Christians associate it as the focal point for the most important event in history, then we will also extol torture and destruction, which is what has turned so many sensible people against us. I don't know what symbol I'd use to show it, but a greater emphasis must be placed upon the idea that before Jesus died for us (which is significant, but not the sum of his actions) Jesus LIVED for us, stepping away from the right hand of God to spend a life time amongst everything that is wrong with this world...us. That was the real sacrifice, and the time spent in it contained nothing but gifts both miraculous and philosophical. Perhaps we should all just carry around books....
