Magic handkerchiefs?

[Leyla]

So, I'm watching TBN, a Christian Television Station, and they're banging on about Acts 19.

Long story short: The craftsmen of the temple of Diana were offended by Paul, who thought of their handywork as "the making of idols for profit." The town gets into an uproar, until the townclerk comes out to speak for Paul, saying he did not intend to blaspheme the Goddess.

Maybe Paul wouldn't Blaspheme the Goddess, but the folks at TBN felt free. The host made a great show of standing in front of a statue of Diana, mocking and sneering and pulling faces at it.

So, I go to the TBN web site, and sure enough they have link to their store, where they sell tons of figurenes, crosses, Jesus plates (so you can eat your spaghetti off of the face of Christ) religious figurenes, and so on, including a statue of Michael the Archangel which they claim will stand guard over you for the low low price of $29.95.

http://www.parable.com/tbn/item_M101502003.htm

Also on TBN, they're selling anointed handkerchiefs that promise to bring the TV viewer physical healing, get their loved one out of jail, make them win the lottery, and many other outrageous claims.

So..is the sale of idols wrong, or isn't it? Or, is the real problem that TBN feels it should have a monopoly on the profits?

[cainam_nazier]

It is just another case of the pot calling the kettle black.  Or, do as I say not as I do.  Which is one of my biggest problems with organized religion in general.

[Gandalf]

I really don't see the problem with 'idols' in any case. It is obvious that the statue or other representaition is there to represent the deity and provide a focus for the believer, just as a cross does.


I really don't have this odd fixation with finding 'idols' (love the negative terminology) 'evil' or wrong in any way. Its just a different system.

Much of it comes from the lack of understanding that christians have of other beliefs and earlier beliefs.

Many times i hear people brought up on christian bias to say that Greeks and Romans 'believed' that their statues in the temple WERE deities.

er no....
The statue was simply there to represent the deity and provide a focus for devotion. It doesnt mean that the statues actually looked like the deities. Rather they were a visual code for representing the power and function of the deity.

The beauty of a particular statue echoed the beauty of the divine being itself, but was not in any way meant to 'be' it.
Any more than a cross is meant to be Jesus.