Idolatry?

I was thinking today about the way that anarcho-capitalists, Adam Smith fans, Cato Institute libertarians, and other assorted “free market” types might be guilty of idolatry, at least according to a careful reading of the Bible.


These people have an absolutely unshakeable faith in the so-called “free” markets, which they imagine as a force that will ultimately create jobs, reward hard work and punish sloth, protect true believers against the loss of any wealth that they have earned by their own inventiveness and cleverness, and guard against creeping socialism. And all we have to do is worship it, say only nice things about it, venerate it at every gathering of men, and smite down any big-gummint meddlers who want to restrict or hinder its wonderfulness.

They remind me of the rats who used to fawn around the Trash Heap in “Fraggle Rock.”

Wikipedia has a lot to say about “idolatry,” but this section seems to sum it up best:

“In addition, theologians have extended the concept to include giving undue importance to aspects of religion other than God, or to non-religious aspects of life in general, with no involvement of images specifically. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship...Man commits idolatry whenever he honours and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money etc."

Or the Invisible Hand of the free market. Am I right or am I wrong, Dude?

Now I realize that many of the same Bible belt types (who like to ridicule Democrats, progressives, and liberals as Muslim terrorist Communist Nazis) would say that Catholics are idolaters anyway, because we have statues in our churches. Or just because they don’t like Catholics. But the Catholic definition seems pretty close to the one that Jews use. So it’s good enough for me, since the Bible Belters like to take their versions of Old Testament interpretations on subjects like homosexuality (but not adultery, apparently, so relax, Newt).

Anyway, I think it’s kind of funny that it’s OK to worship the great and powerful Hand, and never OK to doubt it, but this doesn’t strike any of these guys as idolatry.