True dat, and a point frequently made in the churches I attend.
See also “mammon”.
Another aspect is the belief that some object has spiritual power in and of itself - i.e. magic. If you use a cross or crucifix to concentrate your mind on the sacrifice of Jesus, that is one thing. If you use a cross or crucifix to ward off vampires, that is something else.
And I think the part that gets you beaten up in pissing on the flag or the cross or the Ka’aba is the symbolic communication being expressed. What is generally being communicated is “piss on the US/your religion/whatever and all it stands for”. We aren’t therefore worshipping the flag; we believe in what the flag stands for and are offended that you are saying that it is worthless or contempible.
Nevertheless, many Protestants have regarded the Catholic and Orthodox practice of praying to crucifixes and saints’ images as idolatrous. During the Byzantine Empire there was an iconoclast movement based on the same idea. And some religious sects, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, will not salute the American flag because they regard that as idol-worship.
Oh fine, so what *should * we ward off vampires with, then? Roman Polanski notwithstanding, it’s generally accepted that a crucifix is one of the most efficacious weapons against vampires. The important thing is to always remember that the power to banish vampires comes ultimately from God, and not from the crucifix itself. As to why it’s necessary to display the crucifix at all… well, there were probably some Hebrews who privately wondered why God specified that his altar be built only of dirt or uncut stones. But at some point they must have just shrugged and figured: he’s God, so he can make his own rules, even if they are massively weird. God doesn’t want stairs on his altar, because people might look up my skirt? Uh… gee, thanks for the concern, God.
Well, there are plenty, but considering that God ordered the Israelites to slay all sorts of people in the way about five minutes after handing this one down, this is not likely one of them.
Judaism still seems to take this rule fairly seriously, as does Islam. There are no representations of people or animals in any temple I’ve ever been in. When we came back from Africa, we brought back a little statue of the Virgin Mary for Catholic friends of ours. Our neighbor, a Cohen (position, not name) said we had scratch her nose to show that we weren’t worshipping her.
Crucifixes to me seem like a direct violation of the commandment, which doesn’t say of other gods. Hardly the worst - Christians threw out the Sabbath one ages ago.
Do you have a photo of a loved one, or a statue? Does that mean you are worshipping them? Do you fly the Flag?
Worshipping something is placing that object above all others. It is just foolish to think that someone is worshipping an object; that is just a reminder to those people of their God or person they admire and would like to emulate not the wall, photo or statue. I am not a Christian but I know that people pry to saints to ask God Or Jesus to pray for them …just as people ask each other to pray for them or their loved one who is very ill.
They are killing over land, Freedoms etc. Is that also worship?
I know a lot of Catholics and not one of them pray to a crucifix,they tell me it is a reminder of Jesus giving his life for their salvation,they know a crucifix is just an object and not a thing to worship.
I do not know where these silly ideas come from but I do know they are false.
For what it’s worth, I pretty much agree with the OP. Yeah, calling the Wailing Wall a graven image seems pretty silly, but there is more to idolatry than sculpture.
Then you would say that people who go to the cemetary and talk to their deceased (because they feel closer to their loved one’s are idol worshipers because their tombstones are their?
Jews are not worshipping the wall,any more than if some one goes to a church to pray because they feel closer to their God.
Inasmuch as you would be showing in a symbolic manner extreme contempt for the most deeply held beliefs and values of others, why do you presume you shouldn’t get beaten up? If I call your mother a filthy name and you punch me, am I an innocent victim or did I go well out of my way to provoke you needlessly?
Also, the current movement to forbid “desecrating” the flag implies that the flag is to be worshipped. Tom Toles had a cartoon about it, with two guys:
“We’re gonna make it illegal to desecrate the flag.”
“You’ll have to repeal the First Amendment.”
“Yup.”
“Wait a minute, ‘desecration’ means that the flag is sacred…
You’ll have to repeal the First Commandment.”
And in the little bottom strip:
“How many states have to ratify that?”
Like amarinth and others mentioned, in my religious education it was emphasized that “idolatry” is placing anything in the place reserved for God. “You will [love/serve] God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Sounds like anything else of this world, material or not, is supposed to be at best a distant #3.
So on the one hand, YES you CAN be idolatrous towards any of the objects and concepts mentioned, and many others – Icons, holy sites, holy artifacts, flags, scriptures, money, sex, ideology, nationalism, addiction, leaders, the Packers, the Marine Corps, Tyra Banks, Cecil, etc. OTOH the holding and cherishing of any of these as something of significant value, to which you will not tolerate insult lightly, is not intrinsecally idolatrous. It contains the temptation to idolatry and it’s up to the believer to resist it.
Yes, One can worship an object, but I think you could count on one hand the people who are dumb enough to think any object is worthy of worship. In olden days they did believe things had special powers and some did worship idols, but most people with half a brain know better now days. And in my opinion if A God is so small that it bothers him to see some one worship some one other than himself he isn’t worthy of worship either.
This is a fallacy. It’s not about God’s ego, it’s a commandment against self-delusion. It’s not for God’s benefit, it’s for yours. Basically if you think that God is present more in one spot than another, you are deluded as to the nature of God. God is everpresent.
As for all the comments about the altars of the jews, I believe that the commandment to make the altars out of rough stone or dirt shows that there was an accounting for idolatry as part of the altar making process, as they were forbidden to make it into something that they would be sad if they lost. I believe the point was that the altar would be replaceable no matter where they were or their financial status.
