To put Exodus in comfortable idiom:
“I am the one true God and brought you out of Egypt.
There, they worshiped statues and people as Gods.
That is not right.
People are not Gods
Statues are not Gods.
Only I am God, and I proved it by saving you.
Don't make me annoyed, you won't like it at all.”
Slightly irreverent, but it gets the point across, especially since at exactly the same time Moses was receiving the Commandments the Israelites were busily making a golden calf to worship.
These people had seen the power of the Lord first hand and STILL fell off into idol worship almost immediately afterwards.
Not surprising we needed that rule, because we do tend to do that. Put people, things and ideals on a pedestal and make them the focus of our lives, when God should be the focus.
Heck, think of the fuss a couple weeks ago when Newt and Perry attacked Romney about Bain capital. People were reciting “Capitalism” like a mantra, as if it was holy. It is a tool, not a god.
Think of the atheists you meet online - and you will have, we all do. They obsessively worship the scientific method. Again, a tool, not God.
Yet one of our joys as people is being able to create object not just of use, but of beauty. That ability is God given, and all of us have it to some extent.
To me, the purpose of the Second Commandment is a stark reminder - “Yeah, you created that. Nice job. Remember, I created everything so don't get uppity.” Really hope someone with more wisdom chimes in here!
Don’t you love it when you hit post instead of spell check?
As I understand your comment, “So what is the intent ? I don’t trust you enough to go directly to you ?”
it is not about trust. Catholics have the Virgin and the saints as someone to talk comfortably with. As metmom said, we all need people to talk to.
God is always there. But, sometimes, he is a little intimidating - kind of like facing your Dad with a report card full of D’s. He loves us, yes, but he is going to be very disappointed in us.
The saints are a way of hiding behind someone while we present that report card to Him. A way of making it a little easier to admit our sins and failings. A way of talking and admitting our sins to ourselves.
God always knows what we have done and what we need. He doesn’t need us to tell him. He needs us to tell ourselves. That is - or can be - very hard to do, as we are pretty good at fooling ourselves.
Now, I’ll not deny there are some Catholics that, to my mind, get very close to idolatry, especially about the Blessed Virgin. Or relics, for that matter.
Ain’t none of us perfect.
Hope that helps a little!