This ain’t a sermon – so hang with me to the end, please.
And I’m going to raise some complicated questions that I don’t have answers
to. Just some deep, heavy, stuff …
We are in the midst of a contentious debate about statues.
Angry mobs are tearing down statues, upsetting people who revere these figures.
People are making value judgments of the people represented by these monuments,
based on current cultural standards and not the times when these individuals
lived. To the mob, if the person was guilty of one unforgivable sin or
discretion, then the statue must be destroyed, no matter how many good deeds
the person did. There is a whole lot of judging going on. In a quest to unite
us, it is dividing us.
It has sparked discussions about history, causing us to
each personally classify some statues as worthy of remaining and others ones as
disposable. But for a moment, let’s put all the inflamed emotions and rhetoric
aside. Let’s remove all the politics, and consider this peculiar question: Should
all the statues come down? Is there none worthy of remaining?
I know – a weird question.
Way, way, back in time, in the second tome of The BOOK, The
CREATOR warns us not to make gods to ourselves of silver and gold.[i] These are considered
idols, and idolatry is forbidden by the first big commandment[ii], which I would think is
first for a reason. Soon after that, the “golden calf” incident occurs,
displaying the natural desire in us to create such idols.
And this desire is universal since statues were created in
ancient Egypt, ancient India, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. The most common
ones being of kings. The practice of constructing statues is also enduring, and
I would assume that every country in the world contains at least one. The BOOK several times refers to idols as
“detestable”[iii].
Therefore, a substantial, eternal conflict exists. The CREATOR wants no idols,
and mankind continues to build them in large numbers.
This is a deep, heavy issue if these statues are truly
idols, so let’s discuss …
But these aren’t really idols, are they? They
are just monuments to historical figures.
The BOOK defines an idol as an image or shape formed like a
man or woman.[iv]
But these statues are not made of gold or
silver. An idol needs to be formed from this, correct?
The BOOK describes idols made of wood, stone, silver, and
gold.[v] And there is another
reference to “metal gods”.[vi]
But idol worship was just in ancient, olden
days. It’s silly to think we still worship idols today.
Every culture worships its own idols. It is so ingrained
and prevalent that you don’t realize it is happening every day. Our athletes
and entertainers are the idols of our age. We show our adoration by paying
tributes of vast amounts of gold and silver, wearing their jerseys and fashion,
and cheering them on in large gatherings. There is even a popular television
show dedicated to producing future American idols. We not only worship idols,
we do it in excess.
Our more recent statues are not of generals, presidents,
explorers, or politicians; these were the gods of our fathers. No, our modern
structures are of sports icons and entertainers.
As previously mentioned, idol worship appears early in The
BOOK and is a running theme throughout. The CREATOR repeatedly warns people not
to worship idols, the people keep worshiping them, and The CREATOR keeps
tearing them down. In the very last chapter of The BOOK, which has to do with the
future, there is one last warning against the “idolaters”.[vii]
But these statues were not intended to be worshipped.
They weren’t made by individuals; they were commissioned works that were produced
in facilities. They have historical significance; they exist to teach us
history.
Every one of these statues were made to honor someone for
something they did. It’s a fine line between honor and worship. Most of these
statues were paid for by collective (often public funds) and placed in very
public areas. The casting process, while improved by technology, is similar to
eons ago. The statues do have historical significance, but that value pales when
compared to the “detestable” standard. Maybe, history is best gleaned from the
Internet, with photos to show us what the people looked like.
It would appear that instead of fleeing idolatry, our
culture has run passionately into idolatry and is now paying the price. Who
realized there were that many statues around until the enraged mobs started
tearing them down? What is the punishment for worshiping idols? The BOOK says
the carved images will be destroyed. The cast idols will be burned in the fire.[viii] And dead bodies will be
piled on the lifeless forms of your idols.[ix]
But where are the piles of dead bodies?
The U.S deaths from the coronavirus now total 127,000. If
these were heaped together, it would make a grotesque, yet striking impression.
But the pandemic and the riots aren’t connected
in any way. It’s just a coincidence they are happening at the same time.
These two catastrophes are very much related. The riots were
the ultimate result of someone trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. Perhaps
if the economy weren’t in a deep recession due to the virus, the man would have
been able to work and pay for his purchase with legal currency. Also, people
were nervous, angry, distressed, etc. over the pandemic and the economic downturn.
The police brutality pushed them over the edge. And then, with the unemployment
rate so high, people had much more time and energy to riot, burn, and topple
statues.
And then there is the chilling passage near the end of The
BOOK, which says the people not killed by the plague continued to worship the
idols.[x] Maybe it is true: There is
no such thing as coincidence.
Many Questions – Few Answers
I don’t have the answers, just some questions. The purpose
here is to think about our predicament in different ways. There is a lot of
gray area here. You might argue it is all gray area, and I won’t challenge you.
But why is there this strong emotional (or is it spiritual) feeling (either
positive or negative depending on your perspective) when one of these statues
is pulled to the ground? The BOOK says that those who speak up in defense of
idols are blind and ignorant.[xi] We at least need to look
at this situation with our eyes wide open.
We are now critically judging every man who ever lived in the
quest to find the perfect human. To find someone who is deemed pure in thought
and deed. And many good and noble men are falling short of this standard. This
process has us searching for someone who was sinless, by both the morality of
his day and the morality of today. Which leads us back, to maybe just one, who
is worthy to be worshipped ….. Ah, so perhaps there is a purpose to all the
chaos after all.
[i] Exo.
20:23
[ii] Exo.
20:4-5
[iii] Deu.
32:16
[iv] Deu.
4:16
[v] Deu
29:17
[vi] Lev.
19:4
[vii] Rev.
22:15
[viii]
Deu. 7:5
[ix] Lev.
26:30
[x]
Rev. 9:20
[xi] Isa.
44:9
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