Idolatry

[poliphilo]

Someone swung from a flag depending from the side of the Cenotaph, someone else chopped up the famous Glastonbury thorn. Cue widespread outrage.

The flag swinging was the exploit of a silly young ass high on adrenalin and who knows what else. No damage was done. The attack on the Glastonbury thorn may have been an act of revenge on the owner of the land- who is currently implicated in a case of serious fraud. The thorn has been chopped down before- and replanted. The current tree on the site- far from being of great antiquity as its mourners tend to assume- was planted in 1952- which makes it younger than I am. 

I despise cultural vandalism, but the best way to be defended against it is not to turn things into idols. The Cenotaph is a big block of stone, the Glastonbury thorn is just a tree. They are not the things they represent.  An idea- if it's a good idea-  survives the desecration of its symbols. 

Comments

[chiller.livejournal.com]

Yes, this, totally.

I always thought Christianity had an actual commandment forbidding idolatry, yet it seems very attached to its idols: trees, crucifixes, crying statues, bones in boxes. I've never understood how that sits alongside the destruction of the golden calf.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

All the Abrahamic religions have injunctions against idolatry- which they manage to get round. Christianity has long since given up even the pretence of keeping the commandment, Islam has replaced the idolatry of the image with the idolatry of the book. The Jews probably do best- but they too have sacred scrolls and holy places.

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

I don't think that it's so much that "they get round the injunctions" as that it's a constant problem to distinguish between respect for the symbolic representation of ideas, and putting the symbols in the place of deity - which is idolatry
Look at the word worship - its root is surely worth? So worship/respect should surely be measured by the worth of its object?
There is a huge difference between respect/recognition of worth,as represented by ideas or objects, and respect/recognition of deity

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

"There is a huge difference between respect/recognition of worth,as represented by ideas or objects, and respect/recognition of deity"

Yes, and we're always in danger of confusing the two.

I like the Orthodox idea that the art work is a window through which we perceive divine reality.

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

Absolutely agree that ideas survive desecration. In some cases, it's even arguable that desecration creates memories that strengthen the idea.
About idolatry - I've never understood the "relic" thing either, but I don't see it as idolatry.
Idolatry, AFAIUI , is the substitution of recognition/worship of deity with other ideas or objects
No-one, as far as i know, has ever suggested that relics take the place of deity - isn't it about (possibly misplaced) respect for the body as the temple of spirit?
As for trees and crucifixes - they aren't two separate things - they remind us of the ideas and ideals of the past - the "groves" of ancient Judaism, once despised, but now respected, and linked with later martyrdoms on trees, as part of the history of Judaism and Christianity.
None of those ideas, to my mind, equates with idolatry. indeed, the recovery of respect for "groves" and trees represents, to me, the recognition that they aren't idols, but a representation of ideas

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm using "idolatry" in a fairly loose sense.

A young man swings on a flag at the Cenotaph. No particular offence was intended. No damage was done. He's a high-spirited young idiot. Those who have reacted with spluttering fury are according a lump of stone far more respect than is right or proper. He didn't insult the war dead, he swung on a flag. When we invest stone and cloth with this degree of significance we go wrong. Our values are askew. And I can't think of a better word for this deviation than "idolatry".

The same with the Glastonbury thorn. One spokesperson is reported as having said that the vandals "struck at the very heart of Christianity". Oh no they didn't; they cut down a tree. There has been a similar over-the-top reaction from some pagans. I deplore what happened, but let's have a sense of proportion about it.

[ooxc.livejournal.com]

Besides, there is very little evidence that the thorn has any real connection with Christianity