I wasn’t raised catholic but my grandparents are and I attended mass quite a few times. The part that always struck me as a little idol-y wasn’t the statues of Jesus or the cross, but the ones of Mary (who is prayed to) and saints. The rosary is also puzzling to me. The cross gesture when praying. I don’t think I could ever embrace it, personally.
Yeah - your basic “there’s a statue to help us remember” thing I can understand. A strict reading of Exodus may preculde it, but still…
I haven’t seen it in the US, but in Peru there are several named “images”, with entire festivals dedicated to them where they are carried around the streets and such, many with claimed special properties, like protection from earthquakes and such. That seems excessive to me - although the “alfombras” that people make for the procession to walk over are really cool.
Granted, a lot of those are claimed to be of divine origin, so get around the whole “do not make” thing…
Yeah, I feel like a lot of ancient statuary was devoted specifically to gods and myths? So worship and make statues were more similar at the time?
On the other hand, I think any kind of memorial implies some lesser degree of worship. Visiting a statue to remember and admire some hero who won you a war is fundamentally similar to prayer and devotion. (That is, assuming you actually do that. If you’re just like “whoa cool horse statue bro” then it probably doesn’t overlap much.)
Also, only having Jesus statues definitely elevates the status of Jesus. Besides rare excursions to church which make no sense to my daughter, her main encounter with religion is asking what’s up with the statues.
Yes, my grandmother’s maid had a whole lot of little statues of saints, and she prayed to them. Maybe she didn’t technically worship them? She had brain damage from measles as a child, and I doubt she understood the distinction between “worship” and “non worship prayer”, honestly.
Wow this has gone off the rails fast. Doesn’t this belong in the “my fellow Catholic” thread? Anyway as a Catholic I can say without out hesitation out religion doesn’t have the same stigma with icons that some other Christian faiths do.
The dirt ball explanation to understanding praying to saints (or dead relatives for that matter). Think of it as hiring an attorney to talk to the judge. If you want a longer explanation try this one. Why Do Catholics Pray to Saints? | Catholic Answers
Probably not, since presumably most of the people on one side are not “fellow Catholics”. It should be in it’s own thread if people want to continue the discussion though.
I can move the relevant posts to a new topic if people want.
Is it even worth mention that Trump called McConnell a “dumb son of a bitch”?
Some loyalty. Like even if you’re a politician who agrees with all of Trump’s positions, how can you not see that he will stab you in the back in a heartbeat over basically nothing?
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It was McConnell who turned on Trump after Trump’s speech that led to the Capitol storming.
- Trump is not loyal to anyone. Loyalty is for lap dogs (his words, in my head).
- I don’t think he agreed with “all” his positions. I think they only agreed that they should have the power, and to own libs while doing so.
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Interpreting McConnell’s eminently reasonable reaction to both the election results and the insurrection as “turning on Trump” is… I’m having trouble verbalizing just how ridiculous that is.
I think the real issue is that McConnell put on his big boy pants and admitted that Trump actually lost the election.
I didn’t mean McConnell. I just mean that if Trump will turn on McConnell and Pence… how can anyone think that being loyal to Trump is a good idea?
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There are always idiots who say “this time it will be different”
Interpreting McConnell’s eminently reasonable reaction to both the election results and the insurrection as “turning on Trump” is… I’m having trouble verbalizing just how ridiculous that is.
Doesn’t sound that ridiculous to me. Though I agree, I wouldn’t want to work for anyone who uses “destroying American democracy” as a loyalty test.
I agree on how crazy it is to show him loyalty, the trouble is as long as you do show undying loyalty to DJT you do get rewards. Look at how successful pro-Trump politicians have been. Trouble is you can’t expect any loyalty back.
Look at the type of politician that gets rewarded by showing loyalty.
Exactly, these type of people wouldn’t have had a hope in hell if they hadn’t gone the loyalty route!