A long time ago there was a civilization that was chosen by God to be His covenant people. God performed miracles on behalf of these people and each of them knew it. After awhile, the people forgot about God and “gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, make us some gods, which shall go before us;” (Exodus 32:1)
So they took the golden earrings of everyone there and “made a molten calf: and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” How soon they forgot the God that actually saved them. And now they want to worship what? A golden calf?
The people got together and threw a huge party and “worshipped” the golden idol in their midst. Gosh humans are so weird!
Well…tomorrow you get the opportunity to watch a recreation of what happened in that Saudi Arabian desert about 3,500 years ago.
In a nation that was founded upon faith in the living God, it seem as if we’ve turned our attention to our “idols” in order to show us what happiness really is. To lead our exodus and to “go before us” and show us the way.
[adinserter block=1]It’s quite interesting to note the similarities between the two events 3,500 years apart. You have “stars” or “celebs” in both eras. Aaron and Miriam and the other “leaders” were looked up to by the masses at the base of Sinai. Tomorrow, you get to listen to Doogie Howser all night as you gaze up at your TV. Try and count the light-minded innuendos. You’ll likely run out of fingers. People will sit mesmerized on their couch imagining how great life would be if only they could be like them. $15,ooo dollar dresses that don’t cover the body. $5,000 dollars on the make up to ensure that you see no blemishes. Hundreds of cameras go off simultaneously. Everyone turns and gawks, and worships.
The etymology of the word worship denotes “dignity, glory, distinction, honor, and renown”. We pay homage to these people and they become philosophers and thought leaders in our society. We sing praises to their name, just in a different way. We know them, we study them, we love them, and we strive to be like them.
And isn’t it interesting that the ultimate goal ends with the leader holding a statue that is covered in gold high above their head. Ahhhhh…the coveted golden calf has endured through all the years. It has become more popular than ever in a nation once again that was chosen by God.
After the trophy has been paid it’s respects, it’s off to the after party where drugs, contraception, and alcohol will be plentiful. Everything is fun and games until Moses comes down the mountain and delivers a hangover to the party goers. Bummer. After all of the secrets and scandals, I guess happiness wasn’t to be found within the golden calf. It’s just another inanimate object to stick on the shelf and that moment of glory has already faded from the minds of those that were so quick to worship. But none of us see that side of the Oscars do we.
But I’m just a religious zealot. What do I know.
What keeps me coming back to your blog is how different our minds work. Keeps things interesting.
I applaud your condemnation of crazy spending habits and seeking after absurd levels of wealth… I look forward to seeing part 2 of this blog entry where you’ll criticize the LDS church for spending a couple billion dollars on a mall so we can shop at Tiffany’s, or spending $180 million on a new office building in downtown SLC, or buying 2% of the land in Florida, or building a 32 story residential tower in Philly, or $200,000 chandeliers for temples. Can you imagine the guy who gave the sermon on the mount giving his approval for these expenses?
You’ll talk about how disappointed you are in the corporate church and it’s drive to generate profit and acquire assets instead of putting those dollars into good use for the sake of humanity. You probably won’t enjoy writing it, but you can’t criticize a group you don’t belong to for something like this and not criticize your own group when it’s absolutely guilty of the same thing, right? Let’s be consistent.
Also, are you saying the exodus narrative with the golden calf is historical? Where did all the gold come from? How do hungry slaves dressed in rags wandering in the desert gather together piles of gold? Not only that but how would they acquire the resources and tools to make a molten calf in a temporary campground?
What you do not acknowledge is that the church does use funds to serve humanity. It does have a laudable and exceptional humanitarian service and is one of the first to aid in a natural disaster. What Mr. Trimble is discussing is the glorification and idolatry of hedonism and materialism, rather than praising the Being that provided it, or more simply put “not giving credit where credit is due.” Having money and engaging in business and economics is not necessarily bad. If it is for a worthy cause, i.e. building a beautiful tribute that has a certain use or earning funds to help sustain humanity regardless of age, race, gender, religion, or orientation, is it automatically disqualified due to organization status? I do not think so. I’ve seen the evidence, to me it points otherwise. I understand your position, but this is my own. I hope you understand my reasoning.