Will Bassing - Imagery in Religion

In The Sacred and Profane Beauty Van Der Leeuw discusses the prohibition of images in religion.  I personally agree with the Islamic faith that images of the Lord should not be displayed.  When I am in church I do not genuflect and pray to the crucifix itself but what it resembles, however I also do not think that God should be portrayed as anything like man.  We have countless flaws and problems, so I find it disrespectful for us to portray the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator as anything like man.  I think it is every individual’s responsibility to have a relationship with the Lord, in whatever form he may be in, it could just be some force that is all knowing.  I do not agree with the worshipping of material objects however, and I feel that some individuals may forget the meaning behind the crucifix.  Especially as generations pass.  Even myself, I will admit that I had no desire to go to mass when I was younger, I didn’t understand the purpose, and it was time that could have been spent sleeping.  I just went through the routine of going to mass and the procedure of the mass; the kneeling, praying, singing, and consuming the host.  Over time it was just something that I did because it was what I had always done.  But when I came to college I had time to think about what my faith meant to me and work on my relationship with the Lord.  And to me, that is exactly what it is, it is my relationship with the lord.  I don’t pray to a great man with a huge beard, or a cross.  I pray to the meaning behind the crucifix, and I hope that most religious people do this.  I also understand why Middle Eastern religions find that displaying God is disrespectful.  Because God is greater than anything we can imagine, and by personifying him like ourselves we are disrespecting him.