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May 27, 2004 Modern churches have presented me with an interesting observation. Millions of dollars are spent to build large “sanctuaries” that house thousands of worshippers, grade schools and high schools that shelter children from the influences of the outer world, and family life centers where parishioners can come to work out and participate in non-secular athletic leagues. But for all of the money that is collected and spent to build these Christian microcosms, there is very little about the architecture of the modern church that appears uniquely Christian. In fact, if it weren’t for the occasionally-encountered cross on the roof or in the courtyard, these facilities would look no different than secular auditoriums, schools, and community centers. The symbols of the Christian faith are strangely absent. With the exclusion of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Western religion seems to have rid itself of many of its icons and symbols through centuries of iconoclasm. As early as the Second Century A.D., Church Leaders called for the systematic removal of the majority of religious images in the Christian Church for fear that the images and the icons would become objects of worship instead of God. There are no religious images in Islam, even of its founder, Mohammed, for this very reason. However, one can observe that the Eastern traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and even the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church and the Gnostic Church abound with images and icons. For these traditions, the way to deeper spiritual insight is through pondering these religious symbols. The mandalas of Buddhism are a representation of the journey of the spirit into Enlightenment. The paintings in and around the temples of the East show the great stories of their respective traditions. Eastern Orthodoxy displays its gilded icons prominently so that the worshipper may consider the deeper meanings of Biblical characters, stories, and traditions. While we have removed all but a cross or two from most churches, I don’t believe that we have removed the desire for symbolism from the hearts and spirits of Western faith practitioners. The Sistine Chapel, while located inside a Roman Catholic cathedral, holds a place in the hearts of even the most dogmatic of Fundamentalist Christians. And hidden in the traditions of Alchemy and Christian mysticism have existed symbols that we have long forgotten and have tried to deny. One could even argue that the wearing of crucifixes and crosses on necklaces and the proud display of the fish symbol on automobiles represent our desire to have symbols associated with our faith... It seems that that which is denied by society merely goes underground and awaits its time to resurface. What has the persistent iconoclasm of the West accomplished? Has our faith, or more importantly, our spiritual progress, been helped by this lack of visual representations and “objects of worship?” Or have we short-circuited our own efforts to come closer to God? C.G. Jung, modern depth-psychologist and Gnostic scholar, believed that there exists a “collective unconscious” into which all humans are plugged psychically. Through the aeons of development, humans have built up a database of images that communicate to our spirits called archetypes. Humans can call upon this reservoir of images to evoke a specific spiritual message. Taking Jung’s views into consideration and taking into consideration what appears to be our persistent need to display symbols of our faith, one could say that it has been an unhealthy move on a psychic and spiritual level to remove these icons from our religious field of vision. In demonizing the symbols of faith, we have demonized what appears to be as much a part of our make-up as our need to believe in a Higher Power. In truth, I find modern churches to be uninspiring, faceless, and altogether unworthy of being called the houses of God. They are only places of worship at prescribed times, usually only on Sundays and Wednesdays. The wonderful aroma of sweet incense no longer hangs in the air and reminds us of the passage in Psalm 141:2, “May my prayers be set before you like incense.” Worshippers cannot come and meditate in the sanctuaries. In fact, the “sanctuaries” are hardly places to ponder anything. They are merely auditoriums where the bands play and the ministers act out their lines with as much passion as possible. One could even argue that the litany of the modern Church and the structure of its worship services have broken down into a weekly pep-rally, where hands are clapped, emotions are worked into a frenzy, and the political and social opinions of the ministers are presented to the audience as Biblical fact. From this point of view, it is no wonder that many westerners are turning from the religions of their parents and seeking deeper spiritual truths in the esoteric practices of the East, or worse, turning their backs on religion altogether. Is this widespread apostasy the result of the malevolent being, Lucifer, or is it the result of the lack of spiritual depth that people associate with the western Church? Once emotional frenzy fades, one is still faced with the harsh reality of an unbending world, and if the practitioner has not been equipped with the spiritual tools needed to face this world and has instead been handed a CD of inspirational songs, how can they be expected to maintain their faith? With the elimination of the symbols of Christianity, it is very likely that we have cut ourselves off from one very important means of communicating with the Divine. At the most basic level, aside from the visually impaired, humans perceive the world through images. If you say the word "horse" to someone, they will see in their mind's eye the image of a horse. The image of the horse may be unique to that particular person, but the fact remains that they will envision the horse before they will think about the word "horse" or think about the sound of a horse neighing. This is why the visual images in and around the temples of the East are so important. The temple may display the images of both saints (bodhisattvas) and fierce protectors (myo), Buddhas and monks. And while most Westerners may be under the impression that practitioners of Eastern beliefs are worshipping the images and statues themselves, this is not the case. The images are merely vessels of communication between the Divine and the mundane. I have even encountered Fundamentalists who honestly believed that Catholics do not believe in Jesus Christ but worship the Virgin Mary instead merely because they see statues of Mary prominently displayed in Catholic Churches. While I am not Catholic and cannot speak for them, I would suggest that this is a false notion. And if my experience with the ministers of Fundamentalist churches is any indication, the ministers themselves are actively spreading this very misleading belief. Many years ago, I attended the church of a girl that I was dating at the time. It's a small church with the capacity for a little over 100 people, and it was being led at the time by a man who was seeking his theological seminary degree. The parishioners there were simple people -- farmers and factory workers who were not highly educated. One Sunday Pastor Steve said one thing that I will never forget, and that one thing has encouraged me to question everything that comes down from the pulpit since. He said that because the Methodists did not fully submerse themselves during Baptism, they were going to Hell. Had this been a joking statement, I would've laughed. But it wasn't, and the members of the church were in no position to question what was said. And so, this is how the sordid history of Orthodox and Fundamentalist Christianity has progressed through the centuries. Ministers of supposedly higher educational backgrounds minister to the flocks of the churches, who are not as educated and put total trust into the words of the ministers. How could the average person know that they were being kept from such powerful spiritual tools? How can they tell the lie from the truth when the very ministers of the truth have become untrustworthy? Even now, some will read what I have written here and criticize me rather than question the leaders of their churches or the doctrines to which they have aligned themselves their whole lives. Of course, at this point, the leaders of those churches are hardly to blame anymore. They are merely regurgitating what they have learned from their predecessors.
“What would Jesus' reaction be at this point?”
one might wonder. His mission was clear to those
who have read his words -- to release us from our
dependence upon the established dogma of the
Temple, to by-pass the age-old veil that
separated all but a few priests from the presence
of God. Perhaps he would suggest that each of us
examine this situation ourselves, rather than
relying on the biased and outdated opinions of
our Church leaders. If his image or other symbols
can help you communicate with the One True God,
then use them.
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