halacha - Should the Christian cross be seen as an idol?

As Christianity is Avodah Zarah, is a Christian cross which people kiss, pay respect to, and face toward when praying, considered to be an idol?

Here is a brief excerpt from a scholarly Christian source which sheds more light into their form of worship and how the cross is used:

Now, it was clear from the beginning that Christian prayer was not simply directed to God alone, but through Jesus Christ to the heavenly Father. This is precisely where the cross comes into play as a focal point. Thus, in the early church, not only heaven, but the cross, as well, was depicted in the apse, or at least placed at a high location in the apse. Everyone was supposed to be looking at the cross when they prayed. The best example of this arrangement is in the apse of the church of Sant’Apollinare in Classe near Ravenna, Italy, which dates back to the sixth century

Answer

Archaeological evidence suggests that the cross is actually not an invention of Christianity in the first place as It has been used since a long time to represent pagan idols as well as used as an accoutrement to idolatry. Specifically The cross represented the religious trinity of heathen pagan deities like Semiramis, Tammuz and Nimrod

Author Sam Wickramasinghe writes in his book Babylonia, the Cross and Crucifiction:

In pictorial history of bygone civilizations, the cross was found... as a symbol of life and regeneration (reproduction), and to its connection with religion... in Babylonia, Phoenicia, Assyria

The article which specifically deals with this issue, "The Cross was used as an Idol in Ancient Babylon" elaborates on the matter:

The archaeological findings of Ancient Babylon reveal that the "cross" was used on necklaces and earrings, in much the same way that people use them on jewelry, in imitation of their religious devotions.

These findings - show that the cross was used as a religious symbol long before Christ was born. The cross represented the religious trinity of Babylon with Semiramis, Tammuz and Nimrod as the originators of this doctrine. As an emblem of the union between the male and the female So it is clear from above on the aspect that the prayer is not directed to God alone.

The reason to introduce cross in this new religion of Christianity was done to pollute it with pagan ideas. This was done to make the transition from paganism to the new religion easy for the pagan followers.

The earlier Christianity themselves never practiced cross worship, and specially condemned it as wooden Idols:

"The representation of Christ's redemptive death on Golgotha does not occur in the symbolic art of the first Christian centuries. The early Christians, influenced by the Old Testament prohibition of graven images, were reluctant to depict even the instrument of the Lord's Passion." -New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. IV, p. 486

"Crosses, moreover, we neither worship nor wish for. You, indeed, who consecrate gods of wood, adore wooden crosses perhaps as parts of your gods. . ." -(The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, p. 191) Minucius Felix - 3rd Century

Hence for all practical purposes crosses are to be considered as Idols as they are considered so even by some Christian sects. The worshipers of cross don't realize it due to the ignorance on their part and this should not be a reason for us to remain ignorant about them.

The Christian sects which believe the cross to be an Idol are actually an extremely small minority overlooked by the majority Chalcedonian Christianity , The protestants , catholics and its sub sects belong to the Chalcedonian creed both of which consider it to be lawful, rather encouraged to use the cross to worship facing it.