Build-A-Bear Deity Kit: Modern Idols

When I was first forming my understanding of the contemporary world, idols were rare in the U.S., at least in the literal sense of the word "idols". Sure, it was easy enough for people to commit idolatry of a certain kind, putting something else in the place of God. But the kind where people constructed something and called it a god and worshipped it, that was rare. 

Again, it has long been a quip -- a barb, a joke -- that people make gods in their own images. Honestly, given how "understanding" works as we fit things into our minds, we could hardly make any other kind of deity than one that is in our own images. The characteristics must be brought from our own minds and our own understanding, and obviously reflect us. But often that had been meant as a critique of limiting our ideas to the ones already found in our own minds. 

What I have seen recently is the idea -- which some people I know take seriously -- that it is desirable to create a god in our own image based on what we wish that god would be. I have a friend who was  invited to create her own idea of God based on her own needs and preferences, who thought it was exhilarating to be free from all constraints and have a god about whom she had no doubts or reservations. There was even a paper-and-pencil exercise where she decided the traits and characteristics she desired her god to have, based on some reflective journaling. It didn't even seem strange to her. The awareness that she just made it up wasn't seen as a problem. It does not bother her that she prays to a god that she drafted in a journaling exercise. That this deity would never be able to have any insight for her, beyond what she had given it, would be a problem for another day (if ever). I can hope that her understanding of God retains some roots, though there is no guarantee of it. 

We all have misunderstandings of God. When the infinite God meets our finite minds, our mental images are all incomplete. But usually not intentionally so, or with disregard for the best common experiences of humanity through the ages. 

Our culture's relationship to truth and objectivity has changed much in recent years. As BK was posting over at CADRE Comments, there are new challenges calling us forward.