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"You do understand for something to be an idol it has to be worshipped, do you not?"

Are you preparing to insist to me that Roman Catholics do not worship their statues and images? If so, I would reply this way: American Roman Catholics would always try to insist to American non-Catholics (I am not Protestant either, at least not in the Geneva sense) that they don't actually "worship" the images and statues. But this is only because there are sufficient numbers of non-Catholic Bible-believers in America to influence you into this argument, taking you to task if you would admit to "worshipping" these man-made things.

Remember that American Roman Catholics are far outnumbered by third-world Roman Catholics, who are under the authority of the very same King Benedict. And if you travel into the villages of, say, the Philippines, and ask a Filipino Roman Catholic whether he is worshipping that statue of Mary, he will answer with the Tagalog equivalent of "What's wrong with you, Man, of Course I am!!"

And NO Filipino Roman Catholic priest would correct their parishioners for describing what they do at the statues and images as "worship."

Your opinion of what Roman Catholics do with idols is out-voted by the members of your own church outside of the United States.

Have you heard of "worship" in terms of dulia, hyperdulia, and latria? There is a difference, you know.

Your opinion of what Roman Catholics do with idols is out-voted by the members of your own church outside of the United States.

I am neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant but I recognize God as the only One worthy of worship and I know Jack Chick claptrap when I see it.

And if you ... ask a Filipino Roman Catholic whether he is worshipping that statue of Mary, he will answer with the Tagalog equivalent of "What's wrong with you, Man, of Course I am!!"

I don't know the Tagalog language, but I would caution you against jumping to the conclusion that the man was actually adoring a statue; you may well have run into some ambiguity in the definution of the word "worship."

It's a problem that certainly comes up in English.

"Worship" causes semantic complications because in the 19th century and before, it commonly meant the kind of "high honor" that is not exclusive to God. In the Anglican wedding ceremony written by Cranmer we find the words, addressed by the bride and groom to each other: "With this Ring I thee wed, with my Body I thee worship, and with all my worldly Goods I thee endow..."

"His/Her Worship" is an honorific prefix for mayors, Justices of the Peace and magistrates in Commonwealth Realms. In spoken address, these officials are referred to as "Your Worship."

The style "Worshipful" is also prefixed to the names of certain corporate entities in London, eg.: The Worshipful Company of Grocers. It simply means eminent, honorable, or venerable.

I'm explaining this, not in order to be pedantic, but to illustrate how easy it would be for us to misunderstand one another, based on an English word which has decisively changed its connotations in the space of only 100 years. How much more likely are misunderstandings based on discussions involving Tagalog - English translation!

Having said that, let me say emphatically that you are quite right: anybody who "worships" a statue is disobeying the First Commandment and is in extremely serious error.

This is something that Catholics and Baptists strongly agree on.