on the topic of “idolatry” –
it annoys me when I hear people speaking of how other people of cultures other than their own are in to “idolatry”, yet they them selves have statues, or statuettes, or what ever physical objects they apparently “worship”.
NO one, no matter their beliefs, their religions, superstitions, gods, demigods, what ever, worships physical objects. the objects are representations of peoples’ favored gods, deities, spirits, ancestral spirits, what ever, and they are using these objects to help them focus their thoughts on the intangible, NOT on the physical form, whether rendered in wood, stone, marble, what ever, standing before them.
let’s get it straight - ALL people, no matter their beliefs, are using these physical objects to help them meditate, if you will, on what it is that object represents. and is not meditation a form of magical practice? a way in to the subconscious mind, from which springs all thoughts and ideas magical?
these objects are as keys fitted in to a lock; and when, with a simple twist and turn of the key, one opens the lock and enters, timidly, per haps, in to the deep and cavernous rooms of the mind, who knows what possibilities lay waiting in the darkest corners of the house of the subconscious…
so please, people - no more talk of how every one else is in to “idolatry” all the while you your self are standing before a statue, knowing full well it’s not your statue, no matter how beautifully rendered, that you’re worshipping, but rather, the spirit the statue represents to which you’re giving your attention. let’s not be hypocrites, shall we?