The Roots of Iconoclasm
In the beginning, people worshipped the Unknowable, the Unnamable, the Creator of Everything. Over time, this awe in the presence of Life and Nature morphed to worship of gods, and the gods took on specific forms, represented in sculpture and painting. Over time, man-made images acquired meaning by habit which became tradition, and talented artists made new images which were extraordinarily beautiful.
Artifacts became symbols. And those symbols became filled with meaning. And who could tell the objects from the gods, the angels, and the saints?
And then the disjunction between the physical objects and their spiritual meaning reached a critical point. Worshippers sought a return to the original disembodied worship of primal powers and turned against the physical images and destroyed them.
And so through history the worship of images alternated with the destruction of images, which is known as iconoclasm.
I’m reminded of the biblical prohibition of graven images, and the periodic fits of iconoclasm in the Byzantine Empire. I’m also reminded of today’s attacks on statues and other symbols of the Confederacy and anything that calls to mind Founding Fathers who owned slaves. What once was revered is now hated. Historical figures had become symbols and the symbols had acquired so much meaning that they needed to be destroyed, in an attempt to get back in touch with original principles and beliefs.
I wonder how much meaning is too much meaning? What does it take to turn a hero into a villain, to topple statues instead of erecting them?
