9-18-1
Active Member
One simple association one might make to anything that might be considered 'idol worship' is attachment. Even to borrow from the crude and mundane notion of idol worship as being limited (or solely related to) physical objects; figure(ine)s, symbols etc. How there is an underlying phenomena that appears before such mundane manifestations initially arise; that is, one of attachment.
When thinking of attachment it is first and foremost necessary to consider the concept of polarization(s): the dichotomy of there being two ways to become attached; that is, both positive (perhaps love) and negative (perhaps hatred). In either case, there is a polarization which 'binds' a person to someone or something.
In this light hatred can be understood as a form of idol worship, and is necessarily destructive. It is easy to call upon many examples of institutionalized hatred, not the least of which are religious institutions that indoctrinate people to naturally being polarized against another group or faith.
In a political arena, this view can be applied to the phenomena occurring with POTUS Trump. There is a massive 'following' of Trump but from two opposing polarities: those who are on board with his MAGA (Make America Great Again) platform, and those who stand as a kind of militant opposition.
In either case, regardless of how one is polarized and to what, it is interesting to observe how hatred is intentionally generated as a means of controlling people. If one has the ability to generate attachments ie. profound hatred or profound admiration, this would grant them power over those who form an attachment. This is, as I see it, precisely how idol worship works and is the same fundamental basis of idol-based institutions which use a central figure as a model.
In this way the general susceptibility of one becoming 'polarized' and/or 'attached' is proportional to the degree to which they are impressionable and adopt a polarized view. This manifests generally as the dichotomies of East/West and/or Democrat/Republican (Liberal/Conservative). Such dichotomies both and each have their own extremes: extremism itself being the unifying factor, which returns full circle back to the extent to which one is polarized.
This undoubtedly relates to the Biblical myth of the tree of knowledge of good and evil wherein indulging in its fruits which are pleasant to the senses manifests death. Indeed: polarizing one way or the other without finding the unity in all things manifests death, precisely in the same way hatred always necessarily leads to it, along with the various other forms of human suffering so derived therefrom.
When thinking of attachment it is first and foremost necessary to consider the concept of polarization(s): the dichotomy of there being two ways to become attached; that is, both positive (perhaps love) and negative (perhaps hatred). In either case, there is a polarization which 'binds' a person to someone or something.
In this light hatred can be understood as a form of idol worship, and is necessarily destructive. It is easy to call upon many examples of institutionalized hatred, not the least of which are religious institutions that indoctrinate people to naturally being polarized against another group or faith.
In a political arena, this view can be applied to the phenomena occurring with POTUS Trump. There is a massive 'following' of Trump but from two opposing polarities: those who are on board with his MAGA (Make America Great Again) platform, and those who stand as a kind of militant opposition.
In either case, regardless of how one is polarized and to what, it is interesting to observe how hatred is intentionally generated as a means of controlling people. If one has the ability to generate attachments ie. profound hatred or profound admiration, this would grant them power over those who form an attachment. This is, as I see it, precisely how idol worship works and is the same fundamental basis of idol-based institutions which use a central figure as a model.
In this way the general susceptibility of one becoming 'polarized' and/or 'attached' is proportional to the degree to which they are impressionable and adopt a polarized view. This manifests generally as the dichotomies of East/West and/or Democrat/Republican (Liberal/Conservative). Such dichotomies both and each have their own extremes: extremism itself being the unifying factor, which returns full circle back to the extent to which one is polarized.
This undoubtedly relates to the Biblical myth of the tree of knowledge of good and evil wherein indulging in its fruits which are pleasant to the senses manifests death. Indeed: polarizing one way or the other without finding the unity in all things manifests death, precisely in the same way hatred always necessarily leads to it, along with the various other forms of human suffering so derived therefrom.