“When people got upset over the P**s Christ “art”, designed to offend Christians, I said “It is ONLY a piece of shaped brass in a bottle of urine. Nothing more!””
Actually, it is something more.
“Even St Paul did not get upset over the nude statues of the Roman gods in Athens,”
Apparently you’ve never read the Bible. Acts 17:16: “While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.”
“but used the one empty alter “To the unknown god” to proclaim Jesus.”
Altar, not “alter”.
“As I’ve said many times, the line between veneration of a statue and worshiping the statue is very fine.”
No, it is not. There is a huge difference between being struck by lightning and being struck by a lightning bug.
It is still nothing more than shaped brass. Break it apart and you will find brass. Nothing more. No deity hiding inside.
Take a doll, place a veil on it and proclaim it a religious statue, and someone will soon light a candle in front of it.
Now take a Barbie doll, place a veil on it proclaim it a religious icon and again, someone will light a candle and kneel before it.
Again, it gives the APPEARANCE of idolatry.
I often wonder, when Cortez forbade the worships of Aztec gods because it was Idolatry, then set up a small statue of the Madonna between them, and fell down before it in veneration, not worship, what did the Aztecs think?
“He worships his goddess, but we can’t worship our goddess”?
Again, just where is that fine line between honor (veneration) and worship of a statue?