False Idols Come In Many Guises Analysis

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In “False Idols Come in Many Guises” columnist Henry G. Brinton calls into question the idols or counterfeit gods created and popularized recently by the entertainment industry. Brinton argues that the protagonists in many modern television series idolize things such as money, power, and even children by putting them before god. The author claims that idols like these can become a dangerous obsession when not treated carefully. The article continues to state that Americans follow after these characters in worshiping idols that distort their sense of place in the world. The overall focus of the article is that following an idol instead of god can never lead to anything good. Mr. Brinton defines an idol as “anything more important to you than god, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than god” (Brinton, par. 6), he often insinuates that commitment like this is common, this is not the case. To idolize something the way he defines it can be difficult; one would have to accept everything about an idol and live their lives in the pursuit of pleasing or acquiring it. For a person to idolize power for example they would have to …show more content…

Brinton evens goes so far as to bring up a 2013 poll that states “61.5% of Americans believe in heaven and think they are going there. Only 1.5% believe they are going to hell.” (Brinton, par. 9) he implies that this a surprisingly large number. His source is the True Life in God Foundation; this poll was conducted on people of the Christian faith. Of course they believe they are going to heaven, some have spent their entire lives in preparation for it. To say what 61.5% of Christians believe is the same as what 61.5% of Americans believe is rather presumptuous. There is also no mention of where the poll was taken, or where the other 37% went. Credibility aside, his poll tries to prove that Americans think of themselves as good people that deserve a good afterlife. Brinton takes issue with this for reasons I cannot

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