One day during the Covid-19 pandemic, someone asked someone: Why should people going at churches should kiss the icons anyway? They are just objects. They are not needed to prove that you believe.
The comment was answered rather dogmatically by others: “Because icons are part of the christian faith. Refer to the ecumenical synods and what they said about the matter”, someone commented.
What a dull way to answer.
Reminds me of the bibliography one uses in his phD. “This was said by that important person and whoever wants to challenge it, he cannot” kind of ‘argument’. It is really amazing how simple questions questioning things we take for granted to-day are so difficuly to answer by most.
The reason?
Simple: We cannot answer things we do not know.
And most of the things we know, we do not know.
This was just an example of how people tend to believe things without being able to understand or support them on their own. From religion to science, from medicine to politics, topics of such nature and people of such nature are pretty easy to find.
We all look up to geniouses who think of things.
We all wait to see what our great spiritual leader will say.
We all admire great politicians who take a stand.
We surely all think highly of great scientists who change the future.
Surely we do.
Surely they deserve our admiration.
Because of what they did.
Because of what they say.
Because of what they know.
But we do not.
And until we do, we are nothing more than parrots.
Repeating.
And repeating.
And repeating.
Whatever we have heard. Whatever we have been told.
Without knowing why.
Without caring why.
Why does the Michelson Morley experiment results in the special relativity? Isn’t there any other way to interpret it?
No! Einstein said so!
(Well, actually there is another way. And even Einstein admitted it – see here)
Why do we need icons in faith?
Well, the ecumenical synods said so!
(Well, actually there is a great dispute over this. But even your common logic might have something to say on the matter, despite what the ecumenical synods said…)
Parrots.
All they do is repeat what they have been told.
So fun…
Oh, look at that beautiful colorful bird.
Listen to it crying what it has heard…
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
So cute…
So deadly…
PS. I am not at all implying anything regarding the matters mentioned above as examples. There might be a very good reason to have icons in christian faith and, to be honest, by discussions I have had I do know of arguments for them. However these discussions were made with people with an opinion. Not with… parrots.
