Why Do Catholics Do That?

[Eliza Thomason]

The power of Christ is supposed to be in every believer, and god is supposed to be omnipotent. Christians are supposed to be saved by the grace of Christ, not through hand gestures or symbols around their neck.

Yes, we are saved by grace through the work of Christ, but unfortunately it takes a lot more effort to fight our nature and walk with the Lord and to keep Gopd's ways in mind and to ask God for the graces to become perfect - and most of us don't achieve that on earth. It takes a lot of graces to stay the course. Hand gestures and images are some of the things that remind us who we are and to Whom we belong, and images that remind us of our friends in Heaven who have run the good race and are near to us praying for us. All of these help.

Profession of faith is important but Catholics and Orthodox and some other churches put a lot of emphasis on what to do next. . .

The Second Commandment says that "You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them."

Beautiful, beautiful images. I copied your quote to repeat them.

It looks like you misunderstood the post. What was referred to is that Catholics and Orthodox have always made the sign of the cross, and always will, often, like before and after prayer, for example. Its either the small gesture with their fingers only on the forehead (like with the ash on Ash Wednesday) or the more common touching first the forehead, then down to the center of the chest/heart, then finishing by touching two points across the upper chest near shoulders like a cross, usually repeating, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

But again you sound so often like a Protestant apologist - or should I say Protester. You remember that I was raised Protestant and practiced Christianity as a happily not-Catholic Protestant, for a very long time before I unexpectedly converted to Catholic. It took a long time to get there - I protested it the whole way. I had to satisfy all of my deeply embedded Protestant protestations which I had accepted as a very much a part of my thinking for a long time, and this took abut a years's intense effort with much, much reading, before I would ever dream of becoming Catholic - which I was very motivated not to do. But these things are easily resolved, if one wants to know the truth - and I did (though I never dreamed that seeking the truth of these matters would make me Catholic!)

There can be many answers to the "graven image" protest, but to keep it brief I will give a single one: Why would God say that and then tell the Israelites to construct a tabernacle - for His tablets of the Ten Commandments, some Manna and I Aaron's staff - and give specific instructions for gold-cover statues/images from Heaven and earth to adorn it, when people would then bow before it? (hint: That should be indication that maybe there is another way top interpret this "instruction" other than what you put forth.)