STATUE: It's still idolatry

In her June 14 column, "Sculptures exhibit faith shared," Sholeh Patrick makes a couple of common mistakes: She fails to differentiate between religion and idolatry, plus she mixes religions and philosophies as though they were equal.

A religion should have some elements of truth to it - real, demonstrable truth. (Recommend reading "The Defense Never Rests" by Craig Parton and "The Case for the Real Jesus" by Lee Strobel. The authors are a lawyer and an investigative journalist respectively; both used their skills to challenge Christianity from a non-religious, logical viewpoint. Both came away believers.) Just carving a statue and bowing before it does not a religion make - at least not a serious one. That's called idolatry; the golden calf didn't work for the Israelites and today's idols don't work either. This is serious business; we're talking here about our eternal life, so homemade religions aren't going to work.

Some human life philosophies sound interesting as they "tickle your ears," but they have nothing to do with religion, with the supernatural, with eternity. They emphasize the ultimate superiority of man, hence their popularity. But it takes more than sitting in a circle, singing kumbaya and embracing the philosophy of Rodney King ("Can't we all just get along?"). As for the absurdity of "something good in all religions," when one says kill and the other says love, they can't be blended by wishful thinking.

As Patrick asks, "Why not go all the way?" You invent your religion and I'll invent mine and we'll both be happy - for a little while. Freedom of religion should certainly be observed, even to the point of idolatry and the homemade, but the participants are taking an eternal risk.

HANS NEUMANN

Spirit Lake