So Jesus said it was ok to make for oneself some graven images out of trees? Can you show me this in the bible, thanks in advance.
So......er.......will you be heading to Washington to blow up the Lincoln Memorial and Abe's graven image? How about a trip to South Dakota to lob a few grenades at Mt. Rushmore? Away with the "graven images"!! Or is it only the "graven images" of holy men and women to which you object? Seriously, this is Taleban mentality.
I can think of no finer example of the confusion into which one is led by "the Bible sez......." lunacy. After all, what is the purpose of these images? Is it not to make present to us those whom we consider to have done great deeds and whom we consider worthy of imitation? I'm talking of both religious and secular spheres here.
Do you perhaps carry an image of a spouse or child or another loved one around with you? Would your spouse, perhaps be jealous of the picture in your wallet? Could she believe that you actually love the photo and not her? That you are depriving her of honor due to her and instead giving it to the "graven image"? The very idea is asinine, isn't it?
Similarly, does a statue of The Sacred Heart or a crucifix with a corpus on it, somehow anger God and make Him feel that we are denying him worship? On the contrary, their purpose is to remind us of Him, just as Abe's statue is meant to remind us of his accomplishments in the secular world.
When Scripture refers to "graven idols" it is pointing to gods which are man made. Gods of our own construction which come between us and the true God and which we place above God. For many, money is their "graven idol", for others it is the flesh. God is no more angered by our statues of holy men and women who have labored valiantly in His vineyard than he is by Teddy Roosevelt's mug on Mt. Rushmore.