Icon worship
idolatry and iconolatry

Back in the 11th century, word on the street was that Jerusalem had the ultimate holy souvenirs - like pieces of the True Cross - and a direct line to God via the most exclusive prayer hotspot in the universe. So off they went on their trusty steeds in the hope of scoring some divine memorabilia - at the expense of tens of thousands of lives.

Even today, there are Crusading 'Christians' who suffer a really bad case of “Religious Monopoly Syndrome", and kill people - directly or indirectly - in the sincere belief they're doing God's work whilst ignoring a basic Commandment "Thou shalt not kill". 

Consequently, it's not surprising that most Christians ignore another: "Thou shalt not make to thee any graven image". 

This prohibition of idolatry is usually interpreted with some flexibility. Eastern Orthodox churches display icons; Roman Catholic churches contain statues; the pope hired Michelangelo; Protestant churches hang drawings; and most churches display one or more crosses.

Since pre-Christian times we've wanted to see God. But we cannot physically see into a different dimension, so we erect effigies of what we think God looks like. Or rather, we erect effigies of what we want God to look like, and that entices us to worship the effigies as idols. 

An idol is something coveted, like a statue, a cross, a Bible, a stained-glass window. It can be a deep green, ecological perspective of the earth; not far removed from Nature Worship.

Consider the millions of pilgrims, who for decades have touched the spiritual grotto at Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France. And since many have physically and spiritually benefitted from the visit, it's hardly surprising that people revere the place.

However, there's grave danger that we push God to the side by placing undue attention and importance on idols.

If idols have any supernatural power at all, it must be the power to trick us into believing that we're not really worshipping them.

The most popular idol does exactly that: The "I-dollar". Without being aware, we sacrifice our time and energy, our family and friends, to the I-dollar. Eventually we might discover that this money-god doesn't love us or even like us, but usually we're oblivious to Idollartry [sic] and carry on worshipping it.