Idolizing the idols?

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 I was unable to read Diana Eck’s “Seeing the Divine Image in India”, though I did watch the three overview videos on oncourse about her book and examples of some Hindu rituals including darśan. I wasn’t aware of the western religions disapproval of the use of idols in worship. I had known beforehand of the use of idols in hinduism and how prevalent it is in their rituals, and never questioned how that could be perceived differently by others, specifically other religions. 

From http://dailydeeperlife.org/folly-of-idol-worship/ 

As someone who is nonreligious, the use of idols in rituals and worship seems like a perfectly acceptable concept. To have something you can physically interact and connect with would in my mind help you to form a closer connection with your beliefs as a whole. To know that you can speak to, touch, or make offerings to an idol that represents so much more than what its physical form constitutes would make the connection to that spiritual figure seem that much more personal and close. I think the belief that you can form a spiritual connection with a god or being, without having those physical idols to interact with is perfectly reasonable and possible if you put enough energy towards it, although adding in the aspect of an idol could assist in the formation of that connection. It does not take away from the trueness of the actual God and their form if you are using it for the purpose of respecting and worshiping them and their beliefs. The west seems to believe that it is disrespectful and is an attempt at replacing God, the creator of all, with something that God has created. I understand that to an extent, although if God created it and gave it to you in that form, then why should it be considered disrespectful to use that creation to further the connection to God in their original form? You are not worshiping the idol for being a statue or a picture, you are worshiping it in the context of it representing God or other spiritual figures. 

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