My guess is that you being in the Military and all, that you must have bowed in front of a coffin of a deceased soldier in honor of his life?
We honor the Saints the same way,but the real Glory goes to Christ who created such Holy people.
A good analogy is when you see people in an art gallery gathering around a famous painting...people gather round and praise the painting and it’s beauty and so on,but In reality the real Glory is going to the artist who drew the painting.
God wants us to remember and honor and share the lives of beautiful people He created who live Christlike lives.
I find it hard to understand why people can’t understand this
“My guess is that you being in the Military and all, that you must have bowed in front of a coffin of a deceased soldier in honor of his life?”
Salute, yes.
In all seriousness, motive is critical.
My pastor was raised...barely Catholic? His parents went to Mass perhaps 2-3 times/year. However, he mentioned last week that they had several statues of saints in his house, and his parents would sometimes pray TO them. Not, XYZ, join me in prayer, but XYZ, do this for me.
They always had a saint statue on their dashboard, and at Christmas, they would join some other relatives and were supposed to pray at a wall of statues.
THAT is wrong, and I think you’ll agree.
But bowing in respect, or using a statue (or costume) to remember what someone’s life meant? That is fine by me - IF it is done to show respect and in thankfulness to God. If that is the motive, then anyone complaining about a bow is just ill-mannered, IMHO.