Religous Liberties

The World Overcomes Outreach Ministries of Memphis, the pastor of which is “Apostle” Alton R. Williams, can be easily found at the intersection of Kirby Park and Winchester, due to the recent addition of a 72 foot tall likeness of The Statue Of Liberty. The church also boasts a school, bowling alley, roller rink, bookstore, and according to the pastor, 12,000 members, predominantly black.

Dubbed The Statue of Liberty Through Christ, the statue holds a cross instead of a torch, and in the other arm, a tablet pair on which is engraved the Ten Commandments. According to the pastor, the statue was originally presented by France as a welcome to freedom for Americas recently freed former black slave population, and was only after received changed to represent a welcoming of immigrants.

Aside from this rather interesting historical revision, the statue seems to represent exactly what one would expect, the idea that America is a Christian nation, it’s laws were based on Judaeo Christian philosophy, etc. All of which is true, of course, but only partially so, I would submit only minorly so. But why quibble?

I am no expert, but if I recall correctly, one of the commandments on the tablet the lady holds in one arm has the admonition, “thou shalt make unto thee no graven images”. It goes on to explain that this is not a reference merely to human figures, but also to animals, birds, fish, and creeping things of the earth. Although the commandment states that you should not bow down to worship them, every word of this comandment was taken as a separate law unto itself, was believed literally, and for the most part adhered to rigorously.

A time traveller from today to ancient Israel in the time of King David, for example, would be hard pressed to find any statuary. In fact, it would be impossible to find any, not only in any public buildings or parks, but not in any private homes as well. Nor would you find any depictions of any kind of living thing in any kind of artwork whatsoever. The one sole exception seems to have been the two winged cherubim that rested atop the arc of the covenant, which of course was unavailiable for viewing by any save the priesthood, at least after the first temple was buildt.

Our hypothetical time traveller would likely even be stoned were he to present photographs from his wallet of himself and his family, for making a god of himself. Yes, I’m serious. They were that serious about these laws in those days, which all the more leads me to wonder why Christians today make such a big deal about displaying the commandments. Very few Christians actually observe them in the intended way, even the very fundamnetalists who want to force them on everybody else. For that matter, the vast majority if not all Jews no longer follow to the original intent this old prohibition against idols-which according to the original intent of the scriptures is what this and other such statues most surely are.

Now I know a good many Christians will object that ordinary statues are most certainly not idols, and they will vehemently deny that the Statue of Liberty or this likeness of her are idols as well. They will point out that no one worships the statues as though they were goddesses. They are symbolic representations of an ideal, which we can look upon and use as a channel to reflect upon that ideal, as a means of inspiring us to strive to be worthy of it. To which I would reply-

EXACTLY RIGHT!! AND THAT IS EXACTLY HOW PAGAN IDOLS WERE USED.

They as well were not actually living deities in and of themselves, but represented the god or the goddess and the ideals that diety represented, and by reflecting on them, in meditation, you sought to attune with the deity and those ideals, which you would hopefully be inspired to strive to be worthy of in some small way.

Sure, you can split hairs and point out the obvious differences, but it doesn’t matter. Acording to Mosaic law, a graven image of any kind was a potential idol, and held the danger of drawing you into idolatry. The good pastor of this church- the “Apostle” Williams- should reflect upon that the next time he gazes upon the likeness of the Goddess of Liberty.

And, by the way, Pastor Williams- should you by chance happen upon this post- kindly give my regards.