Idolatry

[whitefork]

Why not idolatry?
It's a very old religion, perhaps the oldest, since it's condemned by just about every other religion.
It has a tangible god that you can see and touch. No one can deny that your god exists.
You can choose your own idol - if you worship a dragon, you have perhaps thousands of images from which to choose. Images of Cthulhu are more limited in number.
You can credit your idol with the good things that happen and blame it for the bad.

Many churches covertly sanction idolatry: images of the Buddha, the crucifix, the Virgin Mary, statues of the saints, holy relics of all kinds.

Are there any idolators out there? Fetishists? (J-Lo does not count)

What are the arguments against idolatry, other than the prohibition of graven images? (somewhat vague, and taken to an extreme by Islam)

[Stig]

Randi is my idol:)

Stig

[CWL]

Originally posted by whitefork


Are there any idolators out there? Fetishists? (J-Lo does not count)


[poor and obvious joke]

What about Britney?

[/poor and obvious joke]

[whitefork]

Britney counts?

"Only to ten, Mudhead"

Randi? If you have a photo or a statuette, maybe. I don't believe that idolatry covers the worship of a living being, but only of graven images.

[CWL]

Originally posted by whitefork
Britney counts?

"Only to ten, Mudhead"

Randi? If you have a photo or a statuette, maybe. I don't believe that idolatry covers the worship of a living being, but only of graven images.

I hate to introduce more obvious material into this thread, but given the above criteria, how about Cthulhu (http://www.toyvault.com/cthulhu/plush_cthulhu.html)?

[whitefork]

We believe that we know the provenance of Cthulhu as a fictional character in the Lovecraft stories, so Cthulhu-ism is more like the worship of Sherlock Holmes - maybe practiced by some people, but not, I would suggest, too devoutly.

Compare and contrast to Exador's worship of OJ Simpson in Mork and Mindy.

I have in mind something like the worhip of images of Ba'al or al-Lat, al-Uzza, Manat or The Black Stone of the Kaaba.

The real ancient ones.

Or even that Swedish invention that I take out once a year, the Angel Chimes. Candles and everything. They seem innocuous, but there's something deeper going on, I suspect.

[Tricky]

Eric, from Monty Python. Oh yeah, and the guy who sang "White Wedding".

[whitefork]

Billy Idol = William Broad.

Now, the worship of broads is a matter for another thread. Take your Britney-ism over there.

[CWL]

Ok. How about the traditional Maypole that is raised by Swedes all accross the country every Midsummer (http://www.skansen.se/eng/evindex.htm). Although Sweden has been a formally Christian country since about 1000 AD, this ancient phallic idol is still going strong today.

http://www.skansen.se/evenemang/bilder/midsommarliten.jpg

[whitefork]

Yes - the Maypole. I had that buried in the recesses somewhere. Is that some fertility cult holdover?

I really need to dig out my copy of The Golden Bough again.

[CWL]

Very little is known about the origin of the Maypole, but it is most likely a pre-Christian symbol of fertility.

[whitefork]

Is there any Swedish fertility cult extant today?

Tricky, you have a Wiccan wife - is there any idolatry at work in the Wiccan religion?

[CWL]

Nope. The Christians did away with the old Norse religion. All that remains, more or less, are the myths and some practices related to Midsummer and Pre-Christian "Christmas" (or "jul" as we call it = Eng. "Yule" ).

[Tricky]

Originally posted by whitefork
Is there any Swedish fertility cult extant today?

Tricky, you have a Wiccan wife - is there any idolatry at work in the Wiccan religion?
Surely you jest. Nobody worships idols like pagans. The maypole is a big one. It is a Beltane dance that supposedly has fertility ties (pun intended). It is actually a lot of fun, and getting tangled up with an attractive, naked lady is always a plus (although getting tangled up with a man is always a danger).

They do things like have a stag king, who wears antlers and is pursued by maidens. (The role of Stag King is highly coveted). Of course, the fire is very symbolic too. Trees are frequently worshipped too, especially by Druids.

My wife has this thing for the Green Man and has casts and pictures of him everywhere.

Basically, no matter what idol you've got, some pagan somewhere worships it.

[whitefork]

No jesting intended actually. According to what I know of Paganism, idolatry is not necessarily involved
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/robotics1/pagan.htm
although idolatry may have pagan components.

I can't type PAGAN with a straight face you know - after that Dragnet movie.

But that's not important now.

Do the Wiccans actually worship the idols, or do they worship what the idols symbolize, or do they make a distinction?