kurt vonnegut said:

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AGC said:

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kurt vonnegut said:

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AGC said:

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kurt vonnegut said:

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AGC said:

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So yes, the materialist orients his life around himself and his own judgment rather than God. I think it would be reasonable to argue self worship or idolatry is the inclination of the materialist.

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Is it a necessary characteristic of the materialist?

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There are a lot of materialists in the church too. But the materialist doesn't recognize the spiritual so the worship exists towards something else, as their life is fully oriented towards something else. It may be money, or experiences, sex, power, etc. but certainly the idea of self will governing manifests that does it not? Whose will do you follow if not your own?

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Maybe I'm holding on too hard to an aversion to the use of the word 'worship'. Ultimately, I generally agree with your statement. A materialist would not recognize the spiritual and what they value would be something else. Does your position suppose that everyone MUST worship or idolize something in their lives? Or can someone have nothing that they worship? Does the thing a materialist values the most (be it self or money or whatever) default to the level of worship and idolatry simply on account of being that which is most valued?

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Worship in our culture carries the connotation of going to a place on a day to do a thing. Or of the singing part of the service if you're evangelical. Or some sort of special act not found other places (like your shrine at home).

But the orthodox view sees worship in everything. In your work, your treatment of others, how you treat your body, your thoughts, your mind. It is how you live, not just whether you go to a place on a day to do a thing (which is certainly a part of it too). This wouldn't be foreign for the ancients either as the romans and others executed people for not worshiping their gods (not just street lynchings mind you but the king, the head of government, made this happen because religion was intertwined with government and all parts of society, down to the meat being sold in villages having been offered to gods as a sacrifice). That's what orthodox was alluding to in some sense as well.

So if that's worship, then yes everyone worships something. How you orient your life would indicate what you worship.

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Clearly put, thanks! Under that definition of worship, I suppose I would not be able to take any exception to how it was used.

I think maybe chalk this one up to words having too many different meanings.

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