Catholic Idols?

Why do the Catholics have a commandment saying "Thou shall have no other idols other than me", yet the virgin Mary and the Pope are hugely worshipped in their dogma, does this make sense to anyone?

They aren't worshipped. The Pope is considered a person to be respected as a leader, as is Mary and the Saints. However, nobody 'worships' them.

Then they sure fooled me, it seems they talk much more about their "leaders" than they do their God.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they pray to Mary?

Then they sure fooled me, it seems they talk much more about their "leaders" than they do their God.

Uh...what world are you living in? Every other goddamn thing they say is about God.

Originally posted by intrepid
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they pray to Mary?

You can pray to someone and still not worship them. Praying to your dead grandmother isn't considered worshipping her. It's simply the ability to put a face on who you're talking to, rather than a faceless entity such as God.

What is the definition of worship?

Originally posted by intrepid
What is the definition of worship?

According to dictionary.com, to honor or love as a deity.

In a college humanities class we all had presentations and one Islamic guy talked about his religion. When asked about Christianity there were some things he said that he didnt think were good about it, one thing that struck me is the cross is an idol. If they shot him would you wear a bullet around your neck?

Originally posted by jrod
In a college humanities class we all had presentations and one Islamic guy talked about his religion. When asked about Christianity there were some things he said that he didnt think were good about it, one thing that struck me is the cross is an idol. If they shot him would you wear a bullet around your neck?

Probably. God said not to worship idols. Having a reminder (such as a crucifix) of what had happened in the past is not an idol. The idol that God would have been speaking of would be like the golden calf, you know 'let's make ourselves a golden god and then worship it' sort of thing. Making an image of the cross the guy died on to remidn you of what happened is a far cry from actually *worshipping* that cross.

Methinks that this guy's problem with Christianity is just to reinforce his own beliefs by trying to show the other is false, much like a Christian saying Islam is heathenistic because of X, Y, and Z.

I was having a discussion with a Church of England vicar a few years ago, which went something like this.

Vicar: "Why did you leave the Catholic church?"

Pook: "I had a problem with transubstantiantion"

Vicar: "Don't we all ?"

The point is that the Catholic Church (alongside every religion) has things that appear strange to those unaware of the internal workings of that religion. I was raised a Catholic but realised early on that things within its dogma didn't gel with what I instinctively knew. So I left. There's nothing inherrantly wrong with the religion, I just didn't agree with it. There is something wrong with groups within the Catholic religion - Opus Dei, for example - having so much control in the world, but the religion itself is just another way of visualising deity.

[Edited on 7-1-2004 by ThePook]