[marsh_of_mists]

I can’t understand how you claim one thing as idolatrous, and the other as not, yet doing both, claim you do neither!

It's a matter of what's in the heart. If a Catholic actually believes that they are worshipping Mary or a statue of Mary, they are indeed committing idolatry, and are also in error according to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. As for "thronging" to kiss a vial of dried blood, if you believed it was the blood of Christ Himself, wouldn't you at least be intrigued by it? Kissing it, again, is a way of showing reverence to the man the relic come from. It is also a way of getting as physically near as possible to Christ as we can on Earth.

[netmilsmom]

>>It’s a matter of what’s in the heart.<<

This is the missing puzzle piece. (wow you put that well!)
Idolotry is what other think about what we are doing, not what we believe we are doing. God knows the truth and I don’t care at all what any one else does.