Idol worship and modern society:
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The following transcript of an interview Erich Fromm granted to Frederick W. Roevekamp in May 1968 to be published in a print medium.
Roevekamp ?Idol worship? sounds strange in modern society.
Fromm It does because we do not recognize the symptoms. Modern industrial society is highly idolatrous in two major ways One, and here many theologians would agree with me, is that God, to many people, has become an idol. He is the super power that runs the world and they think it would be kind of stupid not to be aligned with Him. We don?t really love Him, we want to use Him.
The other aspect of contemporary idol worship is that we have submitted to the products of our hands and minds--machines, money, pro- duction, the corporation, the labor union, the state, the flag, the race, the class, the party. As you notice, these are all dead things. We don?t call them idols; we call them ?national interest?, ?class interest?, ?patriotism?, ?communism?, ?capitalism?, ?inevitable development?, ?pro- gress? or what have you.
But we think so much of these idols, these dead concepts, that we sacrifice human beings to them?spiritually and physically--just as the Aztects sacrified to their gods as many as 25,000 human beings on one day because they thought it was necessary to get the cosmos to run. In fact, I think they had a somewhat better reason than those we cite for our wars today. What is characteristic of worshipping idols is that we submit ourselves to them. We sink into a state of inner passiveness; in worshipping things, man transforms himself into a thing. http//www.erich-fromm.de/e/index.htm
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Peace,
Respect.I've noticed long time ago that we worship money more then anything else, we kill for it, we die for it, we keep money in a highly secured vaults but we keep fellow humans on the streets, we call them homeless, even though that is a lie, there are millions of homes, empty, we are just waiting for the eagerly awaited idol $$$$$$$$$$
I guess we can be happy at least that we have recognised the sympotms and now the healing can start. We need to be aware of The Real God, we must pray and read Quran every day, we must remind each other of doing good and avoiding evil and of course this is just the beginning.
I recommend these movies Strange Days, Sphere, The Abyss, I, Robot and Get Shorty.
Don't forget to pray evening prayer and read The Quran.
Peace. -
Salaam alaikum.
The other aspect of contemporary idol worship is that we have submitted to the products of our hands and minds--machines, money, pro- duction, the corporation, the labor union, the state, the flag, the race, the class, the party. As you notice, these are all dead things. We don?t call them idols; we call them ?national interest?, ?class interest?, ?patriotism?, ?communism?, ?capitalism?, ?inevitable development?, ?pro- gress? or what have you.
12/40 You do not serve besides Him but names which you have named, you and your fathers; Allah has not sent down any authority for them; judgment is only Allah's; He has commanded that you shall not serve aught but Him; this is the right deen/life-transaction/power-relation but most people do not know.
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Peace,
Respect.It's okay to have a huge home, awesome car, the most beautiful wife, plenty of kids, several loaded bank accounts, this, that, third, everyhting, just don't forget God. Keep up the prayers, do not forget to pracice Quranic duties.
Remember what happened to people before .....Peace. group
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Interesting post. Personally, I'd say idol worship has gone much further than this in modern society. Now we are encouraged to worship other people as idols sports stars, actors, musicians, successful businessmen (however unethical and corrupt they are), and general "celebrities". "Celebrity Culture" as it's called.
We seem to be in the "McDonalds" era of interchangable and disposable idols to worship, too. A few years ago it was the "big" movie and pop stars people worshipped. Now programmes like "American Idol" raise and exhort a boy-or-girl-next door to worship today, only to be replaced and forgotten tomorrow. And so the cycle is repeated.
Slightly tongue-in-cheek, but at least the people of old picked/invented gods to worship, and with the intention of doing so permanently. Since then it's all gone "downhill" to worshipping minor dieties, then mythical creatures, then popular leaders, and lately to popular celebrities, any celebrities, and now it seems even the person on the street. giveup
Of course, the latter is all about the real "god" that those behind modern celebrities worship money.