Are Buddhists idol worshippers and pagans since they pray and bow in the direction of statues?
Idol worship is a concept which exists in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These three religions worship the same deity in actuality, although their recognition on the validity of later prophets, revelations and religious laws differs. According to the Webster’s dictionary, an idol is “An image or material object representing a deity and worshipped as such; (in the Bible) a deity other than God.” Likewise, pagans are defined as “People observing a polytheistic religion; people who are not Christian, Jewish or Muslim.” These definitions in our own “English” dictionary clearly reflect the bias and illogical thought process to which the conclusion (that Buddhists are idol worshippers) is made: Any religion or belief, which is not one’s own religion, tradition or belief, is wrong and evil. This concept is due to arrogance and ethnocentrism; idol worship is simply a negative term that ethnocentrist apply to people of another faith. If idol worship is simply the “materialization” of somethin
