***And when you bow to Mary and the saints, you make them gods.***
Do we now?
Does that mean that when someone of secular authority such as a monarch passes by and we bow, we are worshipping them? Or when performers on the stage come out and bow to the audience, they are worshipping them? Ever been bowed out of a New York hotel by the doorman? I guess that I have been made a god by the doorman, eh?
Bowing is a sign of respect or reverence. Prostrating one’s self, now that is worship.
Bowing is a sign of respect or reverence.
= = =
As with most things spiritual . . .
It DEPENDS on the HEART ATTITUDE . . . toward that which one is bowing to.
Did/do I worship the Chinese host/family/leader I was being introduced to as I customarily bowed?
NOT AT ALL!
Would anyone watching me bow have mistaken my bow for worship?
NOT AT ALL!
HOWEVER, such benign and accurate assumptions are NOT true with most bowings at most shrines of any stripe or flavor vis a vis RELIGIOUS RITUALS before them AND the heart attitudes too often prevelant in such rituals.
Ahhhhhhhhhh
So, NOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW you are confessing, admitting that prostrating one's self before a statue of Mary would be worship.
What a long overdue admission.
Are you really blind or unaware of the 100's fo thousands to millions of folks who do precisely that? IIRC, I even saw some do so in Rome.
[PRTTY's: Should be interesting to watch the convoluted rubber logic gyrations and rationalizationis dodging that one! LOL]