We cannot worship something or someone without abasing ourselves. And we cannot abase ourselves without coming to resent that abasement. And so we come to hate what we worship.
There is a difference between appreciating and worshipping. Appreciation waters and tends a flower in the earth, worship plucks it and puts it in a jar on the mantelpiece where it inevitably dies.
Take the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church worships innocence. Central to its iconography is the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus. And yet the Catholic Church has overseen the orchestrated destruction of the innocence of children in its care. I'm not talking about paedophilia (though that is the unsurprising result of just this worshipping of innocence), but the psychological torture of children through the inspiring of feelings of guilt and fear of the torments of Hell. This occurred to me when watching the film "Liam", which dealt with the education of a child in a Catholic School just prior to the Second World War. Things may not be quite as severe now. I attended a Catholic School (as an unbeliever) for a couple of years in the Seventies and it was not as harsh as what was depicted in the film. But the principle is clear.
Many religious people believe that it is their duty to worship the diety in which they believe and/or the prophet around whose words their religion grew. This makes no sense. Only the psychologically insecure want the world to bend down and kiss their feet. And, assuming one believes in God, then to worship him is surely to cut oneself off from him in a very real way. To pluck him like a flower and put him on the mantlepiece in one's heart, only to shrivel and die.
Why was the movie "The Passion of the Christ" so popular amongst so many individuals who believe that Jesus should be worshipped? This was a movie devoted not to depicting the teachings or deeds of the man, but with showing his torture and crucifixion in excruciating detail. Is it possible that, in their heart of hearts, they have come to hate Jesus and wish to see him tortured all over again? On a concious level, of course not, but the most profound experiences of the human mind do not take place on a conscious level.
Why do we read all those magazines full of celebrity gossip? Do we love celebrities, or do we hate them and secretly glory in their misfortunes, because we began by falsely believing them superior to us?
Who killed Princess Di? Wasn't it those who doted on her - who bought every magazine adorned by a picture of her. It was to feed their addiction that the papparazi hounded her to her death.
Act from the assumption that we are all equal, and only good things can come of it. Act as if someone or something else is better than you, and you can do only harm to yourself and to them.
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