Good points, Mrs. Don-o. As Jude said of the fallen angels, they “did not keep their proper domain”. That’s my concern in all this about Mary. Principalities whose God-given identity and place has been abandoned, will foment deception in kind.
We talk a lot on this forum about distorting Mary’s God-given role. The flip side, as you alluded to, is a disrespect of God’s “humble servant”. We believers know that Satan is behind the scenes trying to force us into error either way.
That's an interesting point as well.
One could totally dichotomize the extreme positions as "Mariolatry" and "Mariaphobia," but I don't want to do that because it always ends up caricaturing and distorting, and doesn't contribute at all to a good and God-honoring view.
I think one point of incomprehension between "factions" is a very deep one, and that is our respective views of "honor."
The Bible often sketches out a picture of gradations of honor.
I would say, then, that one side feels free to rejoice a vast Heavenly Kingdom in which many, many --- in fact all --- of its citizens are honored, angels and archangels, seraphim and cherubim, kings and queens, priests, patriarchs, prophets, virgins, martyrs, confessors, mothers, teachers, holy men and women of every description, and saintly children too. All full of honor, and our joy is in honoring them.
But anther side does not see all this as a very celebration of the magnificence of God, thee overflowing of the glory of His heavenly reign, but rather as a vast over-extravagant, frankly Hindu-ish, quasi-polytheistic rivalry which all takes honor away from the One True God.
It is a real contrast in cosmologies, which has consequences not only in how we treat those in Heaven, but also in how we treat each other on the earth below.
I could go on (and on and on....)but haven't the time right now.
What do you think?