Problem is, the second commandment deals with actions, not just the heart. The command is to not make graven images and to not bow down to them.
Interestingly, God did not say not to worship them, but not to bow down before them.
Always understood that to mean don’t mistake the image for the real thing. The image is worthy of respect, not as an image, but for what it represents.
Was blessed with the chance to go to Paris a couple years back and see The 3 Graces in the Louvre (skip Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, you only get two minutes from about 10 feet away)
I crossed myself and gave thanks when I saw them. Beauty is sadly rare in this world and worth celebrating. Was not reverencing them, but the man who made them, and the One who made the man. How often do you see perfection?
Does that make sense?
Same trip, I attended Mass at Notre Dame. Now THAT is a place designed to throw you onto your knees. Glory to God, written in stone by devout experts.
Betting that most Christians here wear a cross. No one reverences the cross they wear, but what it actually means. I don’t revere my rosary, God is not hiding in some wooden beads and a silver cross, but I treat it with respect always.
Intent counts.