IDOLATRY AND DOGMATISM: THE VEILS OF MAYA

Not surprisingly the charge of idolatry is often leveled as part of a campaign of conversion, invasion and conquest. It has been used as an excuse for smashing statues, robbing and demolishing temples, for plunder and genocide, all conveniently done in the name of God. Such a God is but a personification of intolerance and his worship is built on the blood of innocent people.

Anti-idolatry religions have not only been opposed to the use of images, they have often regarded it as a virtue to take offense at the use of images by those outside their religion. They have at times made it their divine right to interfere with the religious practices of others, if such practices involves the use of images, and to force others to worship God in the correct (their) way. They often spend more time criticizing the idolaters than seeking God.

Western missionaries through time, and Christian fundamentalists today, have used a charge of idolatry to misrepresent Hinduism and other Pagan religions. Such people are passing on superficial distortions which are intellectually misinformed, if not dishonest. They never mention that the images are looked upon only as vehicles or communication devices, not as real in themselves.

Their statements would be equivalent to Hindus calling Christianity a religion of human sacrifice for the holy communion ritual of drinking the blood and eating the body of Christ. Hindus use various images in their religious worship - which may include statues and pictures, anthropomorphic forms of deities, and great teachers and avatars who may be regarded as the Divine in human form.

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