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Would you like to talk about something?

How about this. What does this mean?

"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waterunder the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them.." (Exodus 20:4,5).

Obviously, this commandment forbids the making of images for religious use. It also prohibits the worshiping of such objects.

sounds simple enough.

But what does this mean?

They do not forbid images of Christ and the saints. But to make and honor the images of Christ our Lord, of His holy and virginal Mother, and of the Saints, all of whom were clothed with human nature and appeared in human form, is not only NOT forbidden by this Commandment, but has always been deemed a holy practice and a most sure indication of gratitude. This position is confirmed by the monuments of the Apostolic age, the General Councils of the Church, and the writings of so many among the Fathers, eminent alike for sanctity and learning, all of whom aree of one accord upon the subject." - The Roman Catechism.

There is no *asterik* in the command of Exodus 20:4,5.

The only thing we are left with then is the old "everybody's doing it excuse".

Obviously, this commandment forbids the making of images for religious use. It also prohibits the worshiping of such objects.

I agree with you that it forbids the making and using of them as idols. It does not forbid the making of a statue for some other use, even religious.

Read this:
People who oppose religious statuary forget about the many passages where the Lord commands the making of statues. For example: "And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two gold statues of angels]; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be" (Ex. 25:18–20).

David gave Solomon the plan "for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. All this he made clear by the writing of the hand of the Lord concerning it all, all the work to be done according to the plan" (1 Chr. 28:18–19). David’s plan for the temple, which the biblical author tells us was "by the writing of the hand of the Lord concerning it all," included statues of angels.

Similarly Ezekiel 41:17–18 describes graven (carved) images in the idealized temple he was shown in a vision, for he writes, "On the walls round about in the inner room and [on] the nave were carved likenesses of cherubim."

During a plague of serpents sent to punish the Israelites during the exodus, God told Moses to "make [a statue of] a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live" (Num. 21:8–9).

One had to look at the bronze statue of the serpent to be healed, which shows that statues could be used ritually, not merely as religious decorations.

http://www.catholic.com/library/Do_Catholics_Worship_Statues.asp