To worship the cat god is idolatry
but to deny the cat spirit is iconoclasm.
o
The spirit of something is its essential nature,
its character or personality.
o
An individual cat has a particular spirit,
but it shares the spirit of catness with all cats.
o
More abstract categories
also have their own spirit.
o
The spirit of Englishness
is in this green and pleasant land,
o
in the English hymnal,
the sound of leather on willow and the lark ascending.
o
The list is not exhaustive,
indeed cannot be exhaustive.
o
The spirit is not in the list,
but it animates the list.
o
To worship Englishness is idolatry
but to reject the spirit of Englishness is iconoclasm.
o
An idol is opaque like a stone statue
but an icon is semi-transparent like stained glass.
o
The idol points to itself
but the icon points beyond itself.
o
Paganism tends to idolatry
and monotheism tends to iconoclasm.
o
But this perennial feud is instantly over
as soon as you understand
o
that icons point to the spirit
and that all spirits are part of one spirit.
o
Monotheistic iconoclasm is worship of God the Father
without the Holy Spirit.
o
Animistic idolatry is worship of the Holy Spirit
without God the Father.
o
Those who worship both are the true children of God,
in communion with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
the way of the holy mushroom 