On Idolatries

May 6, 1984
Lakeland

September 1984
Port Charlotte

Sources of the Living Tradition – IV
On Idolatries

“(The) sin of idolatry is the characteristic religious temptation of the 20th century.” This sentence, written by Robert McAfee Brown, a Christian theologian. It appropriately introduces this fourth in the series, Sources of the Living Tradition. The living tradition we share draws from humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.

In attempting to deal with this subject, [we will consider] the definition of idolatry along with its extensions of meaning, what humanist teachings are, and why they are a proper method and guide in assessing the many claims of truth that are constantly thrust upon us.

Idolatry is the worship of a man-made image as a god. Archaeology, scripture, and history point to many instances. There was the sacred stone, such as the Kaaba of the Moslems. Other religious cultures carved stone or wood in human or animal shape, the image of the god. Sometimes the image was anointed with oil to appease the appetite of the good spirit or spirits. The sacrificial practice grew; ritual sacrifice of animals and persons were performed to placate the god so that the god’s power would be beneficent, not cruel. Priests became the proper ones to offer sacrifice with ritual words, ceremonial chants, beseeching prayers. As nomadic peoples became more settled, shelters were built to protect the god from rain and wind. Thus the first temples were built.

But excessive veneration or adoration of the idol became more important than the reality it represented. A human-made object became the recipient of ultimate loyalty. The source was forgotten; the image was feared and the ceremonies were conducted with awe. The idols persisted long after the death of the ideas which gave them birth. The stone, brass, and wood were adored; the creative spirit was ignored or debased.

The revolt of the Hebrews against idolatry represents one of the enduring contributions of Judaic religion. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them ....” [Exodus 20] Many other prohibitions against idolatry are found in the Torah (Ex. 20/23; Lev. 18/21; Lev 26:1, Num. 35 51/53; Ps. 97/7).

However, idolatry is not confined to a golden calf or a brass Moloch. There are many idolatries of mind and spirit. Think how this scripture is for many an idolatry. “The Bible says ....” And what it says become[s considered to be] without error. The scripture which revolts against idols becomes an idol. If there is anything which is assured, it is that history and culture are dynamic, changing. True, there is wisdom in the scripture (as well as a great deal of folly); there is inspiration for many circumstances; there is literary excellence (as well as an abundance of literary mediocrity). There is understanding to be gained of the times, tensions, and issues which produced the various writings. But to believe that everything was said for all times is idolatry. Robert McAfee Brown notes “At no time is the church in greater peril than, when fighting idolatry without, it succumbs to idolatry within.” (THE SPIRIT OF PROTESTANTIM, p. 44). Or as Reinhold Niebuhr put it, “We must fight falsehood with our truth (but also) we must fight the falsehood IN our truth.”

But there could be no greater error than to believe that idolatry is confined to religion. There are many idolatries.

Is there not for some an idolatry of money, of possessions? We remember King Midas in Greek mythology and Silas Marner in George Eliot’s fiction. But the myth and the story represent authentic pitfalls. I read that someone saw a bumper sticker on a luxury automobile in Southern California [which read,] “Prosperity – A Divine Right.”

I do not object to economic well-being, self-sufficiency, or living graced with the necessities and comfort that a fair income brings. Most people I know earn the rewards an occupation or business brings. But prosperity as a “divine right” - that is idolatry. If one is blindfolded by thousand-dollar bills, sun and light and other persons are shut out.

Nationalism can be idolatry. Not our country right or wrong, right or wrong our country. When the nation is an idol; the mistakes, misuse of power, and self-centeredness become idolatry – excessive veneration. The best use of nationalism is to defend and promote the ideals of liberty, life, and citizen government. The Statue of Liberty is not an image to be worshiped but a symbol of our historic welcoming of the dissenter, the poor, the exiled. The awe-inspiring statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial is not an image to be worshiped, but a stunning reminder of a life devoted and sacrificed for union and emancipation.

We stand in peril of an idolatry of escalating nuclear weaponry. We are urged that if we make the proper sacrifices that idol will take care of us. Idol worship of chain-reacting destruction will no more save us than the heated brass Moloch could save the [CJW note: Canaanites] Phoenicians when they tossed their children into the gaping red-hot jaws of that ancient idol. Ortega y Gasset noted, “20th century man is become a technologically competent barbarian.”

I believe any one of you could create your own list of idolatries – whenever fanaticism squelches openness, there is idolatry.

[CJW inserted: In this election year, we are conscious that the political managers are more worried about a candidate’s image than substance. A candidate who may have been perceived as lackluster or humdrum has to show in a debate that he has “fire in his belly” by aggressive jump-ups in a debate or strong statements in a TV commercial. Another candidate projects the image of one with new ideas. Still another projects the image of affability and international statesmanship by strolling the Great Wall of China or shaking hands with the Bishop of Rome. Yet another projects the image of a “Rainbow Coalition” - gathering, we are supposed to believe, supporters from all ethnic and social groupings. I guess I must have been 11 years old when Calvin Coolidge’s picture wearing an American Indian war-bonnet was in all the newspapers and news-reels at the movies. I still don’t know what Cal in a war-bonnet was supposed to demonstrate. But it was a forerunner of the deluge that TV has brought. I’m afraid many of us are idolaters because we fall for the image instead of seeking substance relentlessly.]

The sources of our living tradition also propose that humanist teachings will counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, as well as warning us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.

What are humanist teachings? Although this may be repetitious to many of you, there seem to be such lurid lies and unconscionable distortions of humanism that have been reported to me by some of you that not to re-emphasize humanism’s teachings would seem to soft-pedal this humane emphasis.

Robert Ingersoll summarized a basic stance (in his rather florid 19th century oratorical style), “Investigate, not follow. Do not be cringers and crawlers. Do not throw away your reason to save your soul; you will lose it, you will become an intellectual serf.”

Humanism is not a dogmatic absolute. It can never be. Humanist teachings affirm [that] the sources of our knowledge are human inheritance and human experience, and that humane values are the guide to our conduct. Humanist teaching is a method wherein the world of human transactions, as persons understand and perceive these, are the basis for coming to conclusions, establishing and defending values. These teachings, guided by reason, take seriously thought, emotion, history, intuition, imagination, learning, and culture, guided by reason (deductive = conclusion follows from premises; inductive = reasoning from part to whole, particulars to generals).

Perhaps a story I read can illustrate good reasoning from fallacious reasoning. A U.S. citizen and a Soviet citizen were arguing about the freedom each possesses in his own country. The American says, “Why I can stand on Pennsylvania Avenue in my nation’s capital and shout ‘The President of the United States is a jerk!’ The Russian counters, “I have the same freedom. I can stand in Red Square in Moscow and shout, ‘The President of the United States is a jerk!’ and nothing will happen to me.”

If one is guided by reason, the faulty premise is readily apparent.

We are guided by science. Not science as an absolute. That, too, would be idolatry. Science is a method of discovery and verification. The scientific method would include:

Sensitive curiosity concerning reasons for happenings. [CJW note: “You don’t scratch if you don’t itch” - Einstein].

A) Careful and accurate observation. Careful and accurate use of pertinent data gathered by others.
B) Patient collecting of other data.
C) Persistence in the search for explanation.

Delayed response – holding views tentatively for suitable reflection.

A) to permit adequate considerations of possible options.
B) a plan which looks forward to a prediction of the probable outcome or solution of experiment or research.

Weighing evidence with respect to its
a) pertinence,
b) soundness,
c) adequacy.

Respect for another’s point of view – an open-mindedness and willingness to be convinced by evidence.

This scientific method (it could be phrased different ways) has achieved discoveries that beggar any adjectives one could string out. Historian Barbara Tuchman (BIBLE AND SWORD, p. 148) noted, “Not God, but gravity, Isaac Newton discovered, brought the apple down on his head.” The law of gravity is a grand instance of uniformity in our universe.

In 1650 AD, Archbishop Ussher studied the Bible and figured out that the world was created 4004 BCE. Then in the scientific age, geologists studied the earth and the oceans. They demonstrated that the deposit of sodium chloride in the ocean indicated that earth cannot be less than 100 million years old. The geologists studied the strata of rock and showed Earth’s age to be not less than 300 million years. Further studies, disintegration of radio-active elements, e.g., indicate Earth is even more ancient.

Then along came the paleontologists whose studies of fossilized remains and human artifacts have dated human appearance on this planet at least 3 million years ago. Most persons in our tradition put much reliance on the findings of the scientists and no reliance on Archbishop Ussher’s pronouncements 350 years ago.

Similarly, we are guided by the astronomers, astro-physicists, physicists, and chemists in the basic knowledge they are achieving about the physical, chemical, electrical structure of the universe. [CJW note: Oppenheimer - “good morning”]

But the rules of reason and the methods of science are not gods, not absolutes. If they were so held, they would be idols and that variety of idolatry is little, if any, more attractive than other idolatrous perversion. The other values we have discussed in this series are essential – the worth and dignity of persons, justice, acceptance as persons of each person and by each person, the responsible search for truth, the right of individual conscience.

To uphold and support these values, Unitarian Universalists may or may not hold to a traditional image of God or any idea of God. Have you ever thought that it must be an immature conscience that holds that men and women would not be good except for the monitoring of a stern, hanging judge in the sky? It is as if they really did not believe good was good, and [it] had to be coerced.

The keystone values overarching all others are the value of justice, human fellowship, and human dignity. John Lovejoy Elliot, who was a well-known Ethical Culture leader, once wrote, “I have known good men and women who believed in God and good men and women who didn’t, but I’ve never known a good man or women who didn’t believe in people.”