Idolatry, Faith, and Responsibility

Many forms of Christianity place the same stern strictures on idolatry that their Jewish predecessors did. Ironically, many of these same religious factions continue its practice to this very day. Statues of Jesus, hanging forever on his cross behind alters in churches all over the world bear witness to this idolatrous behavior.

Year after year, decade after decade, century after century, he hangs there morosely. He is continuously made to pay for the sins of these people who idolize him for doing so. When will man take responsibility for his own actions?

To me, this is by far the bigger problem. It is not just the idolatry of it, but the continuing need of such a scapegoat that is most disturbing. It is the lack of responsibility for ones actions, and the abandonment of faith in ones self that make such things abhorrent in my eyes.

I feel far too many religions, not just Christianity, place far too much faith in some God, or series of gods and goddesses, for that matter, and far too little in themselves. For in the end, are we not all our own potential saviors if we have the proper faith in ourselves to be? Conversely, do we not also cause our own pain by choosing not to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions toward others?

A saying we hear quite often comes to mind, "Let Jesus into your heart." How can one let Jesus into their heart, if they don't first let him down off his cross so that he can get there. If he returned to this earth right now, would he be please at seeing his image, still suffering in perpetual agony on a cross for the sins of a people whom he plainly told to "go and sin no more"?

When the idols have all crumbled and fallen, when the Gods of all religions have gone back up on high, what do we have left. All we have in the end is our faith in ourselves, and in mankind as whole. All we have is the sense of goodness we feel when we've take full responsibility for the terrible wrongs we have done, as mankind, throughout the whole world.

Has man fallen so far that he can't do that one small thing for himself? Oh, ye of little faith, have a bit more in yourselves. It's not some idol you have hanging in a church that can save you, it's you and only you.

Image Credit : Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain, Author : Petey21