zerobs

Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.  For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.  They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.  Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk.  Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good. -Jeremiah 10:1-5 NIV

Given that this was written before Christmas (but clearly not before the practice tree-worship), could someone offer me the correct interpretation of this verse?

[Thread closed.  Thank you for your time.]

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rationalhub: “I have no faith in the sense of comforting beliefs which persuade me that all my troubles are blessings in disguise. I do not believe that any facts exist, or, rather, are accessible to me, which give any assurance that my life has served an eternal purpose.I feel no overwhelming anxiety to find some creed to assure me that all has been for the best, which will tell me that I have only to follow a particular path to be consoled by eternal happiness.” - Rebecca West
zerobs
"Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions."
-Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right
flyingspaghettimonsterlover: Sorry, but…
SkepticallyYours