If you were to see the Marines in their Dress Blues do a flag ceremony (raising the colors, presenting of the colors, etc.) you would agree that it is ritual which shows reverence.
But we 21st Century Americans are not living in a culture which has a wealth of ritual, and an elaborate code of forms of honor. This is a pity; in this we are much poorer than many other cultures. We tend to see two ends of the spectrum --- vulgar, cheap and banal on one end, and religious adoration on the other ---- and nothing in-between. No continuum, no gradations.
When I was a child, we were taught to get to our feet if an older person came into the room. Can you believe that? We said "Yes, sir" and "Yes ma'am" and did not call adults by heir first name. But no more.
But that's why anything that isn't common and banal tends to get misinterpreted as worship. Because we don't have anything near an adequate culture of legitimate, recognized "intermediate honors" for parents, grandparents, elders, teachers, judges and doctors, let alone angels and saints.
Nope. I worship and pray only to God. I acknowledge Mary was the mother of Christ and she is blessed among women for this. I also acknowledge that Paul was the writer of the bulk of the NT. However, I do not worship or pray to Mary or Paul or any other Christian. Nor did Mary, Peter, Paul, etc. Do I respect what Paul, Peter, James and the other apostles did? Yes. Do I respect what Mary did? Yes. However, my respect for Mary is limited to what the Bible teaches about her. I do not accord her anything beyond what we have in the Bible.
If you were to see the Marines in their Dress Blues do a flag ceremony (raising the colors, presenting of the colors, etc.) you would agree that it is ritual which shows reverence.
With all due respect to the Marines and others in uniform and who are serving and have served (which btw, I have seen these ceremonies and they are awesome and very moving), I do not offer prayers to them. That is the difference.
But we 21st Century Americans are not living in a culture which has a wealth of ritual, and an elaborate code of forms of honor.
Disagree. Reference the paragraph regarding the Marines. We also have 21 gun salutes, state funerals, protocols when the president shows up, etc.
However, I will not kiss the ring of the pope. Regarding this business of kneeling and praying/worshiping Mary we would to well to follow the example of Peter when Cornelius fell down to worship him and Peter told him to get up for he was just a man.
We should also look to the example of John when he fell at the feet of an angel and he was told to get up. So here are two verses from the Bible addressing how we should respond to fellow Christians and angels.
This is a pity; in this we are much poorer than many other cultures. We tend to see two ends of the spectrum --- vulgar, cheap and banal on one end, and religious adoration on the other ---- and nothing in-between. No continuum, no gradations.
When I was a child, we were taught to get to our feet if an older person came into the room. Can you believe that? We said "Yes, sir" and "Yes ma'am" and did not call adults by heir first name. But no more.
I was raised the same way. I still do these things. However, I don't pray/worship people in these cases.
But that's why anything that isn't common and banal tends to get misinterpreted as worship. Because we don't have anything near an adequate culture of legitimate, recognized "intermediate honors" for parents, grandparents, elders, teachers, judges and doctors, let alone angels and saints.
Again, the main difference here is that we don't pray to elders, judges, teachers, etc. Respect them? Yes. But no prayers, no assigning mythical aspects like the RCC does with Mary such as the immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, and all the other non-Biblical teachings regarding Mary by the RCC.
You are aware that the RCC is considering elevating Mary to co-redemtrix?
In August 1996, a Mariological Congress was held in Czestochowa, Poland, where a commission was established in response to a request of the Holy See. The congress sought the opinion of scholars present there regarding the possibility of proposing a fifth Marian dogma on Mary as Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate. The commission unanimously declared that it was not opportune, voting 23-0 against the proposed dogma.
By 1998 it was doubtful the Vatican was going to consider new Marian dogmas. The papal spokesman stated "This is not under study by the Holy Father nor by any Vatican congregation or commission". A leading Mariologist stated the petition was "theologically inadequate, historically a mistake, pastorally imprudent and ecumenically unacceptable". Pope John Paul II cautioned against "all false exaggeration", his teaching and devotion to Mary has strictly been "exalting Mary as the first among believers but concentrating all faith on the Triune God and giving primacy to Christ." When asked in an interview in 2000 whether the Church would go along with the desire to solemnly define Mary as Co-redemptrix, (the then) Cardinal Ratzinger responded that,
the formula “Co-redemptrix” departs to too great an extent from the language of Scripture and of the Fathers and therefore gives rise to misunderstandings...Everything comes from Him [Christ], as the Letter to the Ephesians and the Letter to the Colossians, in particular, tell us; Mary, too, is everything she is through Him. The word “Co-redemptrix” would obscure this origin. A correct intention being expressed in the wrong way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-Redemptrix#Proposed_dogmatic_definition