WhiteKnuckle, whatever you were taught and believed and practiced about bowing---you then read in the Bible not to make statues, nor to bow to images, nor to bow to men and angels. When we read do not make statues, nor bow to any images.....does that mean for a church to go make statues and pictures and command the people to venerate them with bowing? No, that would be going against the Word of God. But, it is what the Catholic religion does.
You really can't read the word of God clearly and plainly about that? You really don't take seriously the word of God, and obey when God says not to make a statue and bow to it?
Some of you here can't seem to keep all the information together. Here, I'll recap: The Catholic religion makes statues and pictures; they also keep and display remains of the dead; they call the statues and remains "holy." The Catholics command that these things be bowed to, venerated, prayed to, and even kissed.
Now go read what the Word of God says, and believe and obey.
As I said, I completely understand someone not agreeing with me on this. What exactly is the difference to you? If I were in Japan and I bow to another person, am I worshiping them? They also bow before they enter Church. Are they worshiping the Church?
Do you put flowers on graves of loved ones? What about all the groveling at the feet of kings in times past?
As far as macabre, well, different cultures treat the dead in different ways. To most in the "west" it's a disgrace to be creamated or to have a corpse exposed after burrial. In many Asian countries specifically India corpses are dug up regularly. They pay rent on the grave, if the family can't pay rent the corpse is dug up and the remains are sold. Yes, sold, I worked for a place that bought them and resold them.
Churches made out of skulls,,, that may seem evil to some. It looks spooky and is very macabre. But what's the difference? If you die and rot and become dust and someone years later uses that dust to build a brick, is it truely any different than if they built a door jam out of your arms and legs directly?
What about viewing of loved ones in a funeral home? Don't we dress them in fine clothes, and construct fine coffins with silk and metals. Burry them with all thier araignments, gold earings, wedding rings, watches, necklaces, eye glasses? Don't we all sit around a gawk at them? Then one by one stand up and walk past them for a final viewing? With tears and a broken heart don't some even kiss the body, or hold their hand?
Do you know anyone who has an urn in their house? They're usually highly decorated and put in a place of honor. The ashes themselves are placed in high regard and the memories are honored by all those who look at the urn. Wouldn't it be an offense if you just grabbed the urn and threw the ashes into the yard? What about people spreading ashes?
Are we worshiping soldiers by draping the flag over their coffin? What about the 21 gun salute?
I think different cultures deal with death in different ways and have different ways of honoring the memory of the deceased. Many of them seem apaulling to us, and completely absurd, sick, or disgusting, even unsanitary.
The western culture isn't the only culture in the world. What seems insulting to us, or seems like worship to us, is normal and has nothing to do with worship to others of different cultures.
I think that's a huge part of Catholicism, in that there's many different cultures rituals combined with them, and they've added their own as well. I do believe that many of the reasons for the rituals have been lost through the centuries, same as with any other culture.
Many of us in the west don't understand other cultures, Catholics are a culture unto themselves, and those of us who are not a part of it don't understand sometimes. Not understanding brings a fearfull heart. A fearfull heart is the breeding ground for hatred and ignorance. Ignorance and Hate demand those around us to conform completely to our views and ideas in order for us to feel comfortable within our own understanding. These also give us confirmation that we are right and that there is nothing wrong with us.
