Some of these definitions indicate, of course, that one word can have many shades of meaning. The worship of a god would fall under 1 and 2. The "worship" of a pop star, using a looser definition of the word, would fall under 3 and 4. I think its clear to everyone the term worship in this thread applies to the first two, stricter and more literal definitions of the word Oh people of hipforums, you never cease to amaze me with your ability to completely derail a thread by inserting a pointless semantics argument!
Very true! The nitpickers tend to zoom in. Here in the UK magistrates are referred to as 'your worship' in court. Does that mean people worship them? I think not. However I notice that it's not among the definitions given.
If you can't dazzle em with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. When people are merely running their mouths and not really discussing anything, nobody is actually listening and its easy to distract them. My argument isn't even a semantic one, but a contextual one, not that I expect anyone to understand the difference.
Idols are not God in itself, but it acts like a peg for the worshipper to fix his mind on God or divine qualities, which would otherwise be engaged in mundane materialistic activities oblivious of the Divine. For example, while walking on the road, I saw the picture of a cross in a car. Contemplating upon it , I understood it reflected the qualities of sacrifice and austerity. Contemplation of it also helped in strengthening these virtues in myself. A Sikh wears a steel bangle in his right arm. The bangle is not God, but it constantly serves him as a reminder to be performing good activities constantly in his duration of life on earth, which is its set purpose . Hindus wear ashes on their forehead and arms . The ashes similarly are not God or the Divine, but simply serves them as a reminder that the physical body will similarly end as ashes in a crematorium. This constant reminder of physical death helps in the expansion of consciousness. As Jaggi Vasudev stated, "[SIZE=10pt]It is only when you become aware of death that you want to know what life is about. Once you come to terms with death and you are conscious that you will die, you will want to make every moment of your life as beautiful as possible. "[/SIZE] So idols such as these are not evil in itself, imho. If a person can fix his mind on the Divine at all times even in the midst of his materialistic activities and work, there is no need of idols for him. But till he attains such a state, idols or aids such as these are a necessity for him as reminders.