This is Ember Saturday in September. The readings include a passage from Daniel, telling of the three boys who were thrown into the furnace because they would not worship Nebuchadnezzar.
...This is the single most frequently represented Biblical story in
pre-Constantinian Christian art, since it reflects exactly the situation
of the Christians in the Roman Empire, who were persecuted for refusing
to worship the statue of the Roman Emperor. (Already in the New
Testament, Babylon, the persecutor of the Jews, is twice taken as a
symbol of Rome, the persecutor of the Christians, in 1 Peter 5, 13, and
six times in the Apocalypse.)...
Failure to worship the god of The State remains the very best way to secure martyrdom since Babylon.
As a result, there's a good deal of State-Worship going on. Whether that 'worship' consists of ignoring The State's crimes (such as funding abortions) while taking The State's lucre (for various 'good' causes), or whether it's a bit less sophisticated like, for example, worshiping The State by turning over selection of Bishops to that State.....
Sometimes, ya'know, getting martyred isn't foolish, nor is it stupid. And sometimes, avoiding martyrdom is the Ultimate Stupid.
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