Idols and giving them up

"Idolatry may be considered anything that we as human beings create and then worship, forgetting that we are the ones who created it to begin with," I suggested. "It is part of our alienation from our divine nature."

.....

"That means," I went on to say, "that ideologies that animate vast numbers of human beings, be they nationalism, communism, patriotism, religious fundamentalism, capitalism, or any other 'ism' are in reality idols. We first construct them collectively. They become objectified, external realities out there. We create these realities but soon forget that we did so. We then internalize these idols which literally take possession of our hearts and minds. then we kneel in front of them and worship them as if they are real gods. A simple example is the worship of flags of various nations that stir up so much nationalist fervor," I went on speaking like a sociologists. "People are ready to kill and be killed for these idols in the same way that people have been killing each other over the ages for their religious idols."
Kyriacos Markides, The Mountain Of Silence, p.75

One of the things I like about Unitarian Universalists is that we are too cynical to have any idols. Just when someone says this is Truth with a capital T, UUs either laugh or look skeptical and pensive.

Frankly as a former Roman Catholic I miss the dogma and the infallible Pope and the icons and the mysteries of the sacraments for about 10 seconds and then I catch myself and say to myself, "David, it's bull shit. It's not God."

And I return to my efche prayer which is, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

I do believe that Jesus became one with God as far as that is possible for any mortal human being. And in that achievement I take numerous examples and I admire it greatly.

The idol worship though that passes for religion in the United States and probably around the world is astounding. What many people don't understand is that God is in their hearts not in some religion. It seems though that more and more people are coming to this conclusion quietly in their own way. So many people say to me, "I'm spiritual but not religious." They are very skeptical of any organized religion even Unitarian Universalism. For me, Unitarian Universalism has added a lot to my life. I am grateful for the support to give up my Roman Catholic ways and move on in my spritual journey to find God.