All gold and silver

Rather turns to dirt,

An ‘Tis no better reckoned

But of these who worship dirty gods.

— Shakespeare

Following up on what I wrote about God and gods and who or what people worship, I had to delve a little further and examine the various entities that people actually pay homage to. In churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, under tents and even open spaces, people will worship at the altar of their choosing.

They may even get married there, bless their children, and also take that final journey there. That altar is important in the lives of so many people, and many things have been said about it.

“At your spiritual altar you will be changed from weakness to strength, fear to faith, sickness to health, trials to victories, as you engage the God’s armies in your battles.”

“Every altar of wickedness that has been erected to truncate your life shall be silenced by the power of Jehovah.”

“For there is no defence for a man who, in the excess of his wealth, has kicked the great altar of justice out of sight.”

Altars are important symbols in people’s lives, and have been so since the dawn of mankind. Some are tangible, sound structures that are visible for all to see. But many are metaphorical, symbolic, not really visible but still worshipped and revered, sometimes with more fervour and zeal than those of a religious nature.

Worship at the altar, we’ll see who does it and which altars they really worship at, right after these comments regarding what I had to say about ‘Affairs of the heart’.

Hi Tony,

I would say that affairs are driven by hearts and minds. How they work in tandem is beyond me. Does the heart become consumed with passion and signals the brain to act, or does the mind become infected with desire and the heart pumps this desire through its arteries, causing the skin to be on fire? Does anyone really know? Perhaps Damian Marley knew when he sang Affairs of the Heart.

‘Affairs of the heart

Together we’ve grown

If things fall apart

And I want to know

Woman, your love is life changing.’

Carl

Teerob,

Affairs of the heart can prove to be the most destructive path that people can take. They make normal people do abnormal things and sane people teeter on the brink of insanity. They are perhaps the most powerful force on Earth, and have destroyed individuals, families and countries. There is no cure.

Lennox

Now, we’ve established that people worship at the altars of their choosing in conventional edifices and designated areas of their liking. But there are other areas that people worship without even knowing that they have fallen under the mesmeric spell of their allure. They become more than disciples, but actual slaves.

They are hooked and don’t even know it, and one very popular one is the altar of materialism. The numbers grow day by day as many are drawn to this magnetic pull to acquire things. This worship is more widespread than you’d imagine, and in fact it’s so pervasive that it can almost be classed as a religion, as some people worship so fervently that they sometimes speak in tongues.

“Gottahaveitreally wantitmusthaveithavetoacquireitneedabiggeronewantafancierone.”

“What is she saying? I can’t understand a word.”

“She speaking in tongues, for she worship at the altar of materialism.”

These people literally worship material things, and while it can afflict anybody, it’s mostly apparent in women, who somehow genuflect and worship at this altar. Here’s what one research said.

“Women feel empowered to meet their demands by purchasing what they want. It feels so liberating to buy yourself what you want, and when you want it. Women bond strongly when they shop together. Shopping happens to be one of the best and most favourite self-care rituals for a woman.”

Is not me say so, but expert research. And how can you spot these worshippers? Easy, they put material things first, in front of, above all, on top of fellow human beings. They would go and spend thousands of dollars on furniture, fancy appliances and other accoutrements for the house and for themselves and not spend a dollar on their children or sick parents.

We’ve all seen or heard of women spending thousands on weaves, wigs and other hirsute heady halos, and not pay the school fees for their children or take care of their ailing parent.

As for the men, they will worship at the altar of the motor vehicle, and all else comes a distant second, if it’s in the race at all. ‘Studies show that the majority of men tend to follow the utilitarian approach, while women are mostly hedonic shoppers. Men prefer a functional approach, while women enjoy the emotion of the shopping experience as a journey.’

Utilitarian: Resigned to be useful or practical, rather than attractive.

Hedonic: Of relating to or characterised by pleasure.

The top five things men spend money on are electronics, alcohol, cars, gambling, and sports.

“Look how that guy buy that brand new Bimma and neglect him pickney dem.”

“That’s because he worships at the altar of materialism.”

Adjacent to this is the altar of excess, but it’s still part and parcel of the altar of materialism, just on a larger scale. Not only must the worshipper amass stuff, but lots of it. It’s like hoarding, but on a fancier scale.

“We should neither worship at the altar of technology nor be frightened by it,” — Nate Silver.

Believe it or not, in this modern technological age there are people who actually worship at the altar of technology. They’re often referred to as geeks, and many of them are so immersed in their technological world, they can see nothing else.

Of course, technology is great, and has done wonders for our lives, trust me, I owe so much to my tech guys who have saved me countless times. But technology should be our tool and not an altar at which to to worship. What happens when the power goes, back to pencil and paper, back to the abacus?

Some people are so immersed in technology that they lose all sense of reality. They lock themselves away in darkened rooms living in a matrix, surrounded by bits and bytes, hard drives and software, that they have no use for human contact.

Then there are those who are fascinated by the new technological gadgets and as soon as something new hits the market, they have to acquire it.

“Look at my new I-P This and I-P That, it has one hundred gigabytes of memory with advanced CPU, RAM, API, ROM, algorithm, Boolean, latency, syntax, cybersecurity.”

“He’s in technology heaven and worships at the altar of technology.”

Let’s not forget those who worship at the altar of gambling. In this case it’s often difficult to discern if it’s actually worship or enslavement. But then again, all worship may just be a form of enslavement.

From this altar there is no escape, as the hymns of allure, enticement, mesmerise and entice the worshipper and the tithes are offered freely. Give generously to this altar, for the horses have to be fed and groomed, the cards have to be shuffled, the quick cash, pick this, scratch that, have to be assuaged, and there is no cure, for their appetite is relentless.

Statistically, more than 90 per cent of gamblers lose, that’s the nature of the game, but the worshippers do not care as they worship willingly, wantonly, winning nothing.

Then, of course, there are those who worship at the order of sexuality. Many men fall into this category of worshippers, with some taking it to the extreme.

Some worship at the altar of lasciviousness, lustiness and libidinous lechery. They really push the envelope until it bursts at the seams as they indulge in sexual behaviour with minors.

Those guys prey on young girls, and boys too, and have no conscience as they ruin innocent lives. When confronted regarding their behaviour, their reply is, “I just can’t help it, I worship at the altar of sexuality.”

But hear this now: “Many people might be shocked to realise that when they engage in the sex act, they are literally engaging in worship. Whether done in marriage or outside of the marital union, sex is an act of worship. Within the context of marriage, the sexual union is an act of worship to God. Outside of the marital union, sexual activity is an act of worship to self and Satan.” So said Alfred Horsford.

Whether he’s right or wrong is up for grabs, but if he’s right, many people are fretting right now. The truth is, many people worship at that altar and get great pleasure from it. Many get great pain too. There is an up and down side to worshipping at this altar of lust, lasciviousness and hedonism. I’ll always remember these words though, “Overindulgence is its own reward and virtue its own punishment.”

Judge not, but just leave the young girls and boys alone, lest you be judged at the altar of righteousness and retribution.

So as you can see, there are so many altars at which people worship, some are tangible while others are amorphous, including the altar of vanity which can be all consuming.

There are many altars and many worshippers who genuflect before them.

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: The Broadcasting Commission has issued a ban on certain types of music that they consider negatively influential, promoting violence and drug use. I would have thought that the radio stations would have had the moral fortitude to screen such music and not depend on a higher power. But that’s in a perfect world. Such music should not be played over the airwaves, but that being said, censorship does not work, it’s also dangerous. Historically other jurisdictions have tried banning books, plays and music with no success. I recall back in my early days at the Jamaica Information Service, they even banned the use of the word gun. Guns are still around.