just a short sermon on a Sunday regarding idol worship

so it seems that, in the absence of a good record to run on, the administration is going all-in on "we must save our national monuments and statues"

this is unsurprising, given the affection the President has for authoritarian heads of state; it's also unsurprising that his evangelical supporters are willing to overlook it, despite the obvious conflict such a stance has with scripture, and specifically with Jesus. And yet.

And yet: these are the people who until quite recently were very eager to defend Judge Roy Moore's idolatrous monument to the Ten Commandments (which explicitly condemn: statues, specifically; not even the worship of them! literally, "don't make statues")

these are people who claim that they want students in public schools to read the Bible. imagine

now, look: I used to be Catholic, I know the gymnastics. I can justify the veneration of icons, I can justify the Miraculous Medal, I can justify my rosary. I am well-acquainted with the drill

but statues of generals? of presidents? of men, born needing forgiveness, needing always & everywhere to seek God, to beg His mercy, to repent of their mortal failings, which we all share, for which we are all culpable?

that, friends, is idolatry pure and simple: I don't need to jump through any hoops to prove it. You can't serve two masters, that's a pretty plain verse, it doesn't require a lot of parsing.

Icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the Saints are one thing: there's Church tradition going back over a thousand years explaining the difference between worship and veneration. We can quibble about this,

but to venerate statues of mortal men? to protect them, to spend our time & energy keeping them safe from the will of the people? to center this in any way?

Jesus had a Word about this.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I'll repeat that: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

If your treasure is in statues of Confederate generals and Presidents,

If these are the things you value,

God help you. /fin