Editor, Gazette-Journal:
An icon is defined as a being or thing widely admired for having great influence or sacred meaning in a culture or religion. Historically, icons and the images or symbols that represent them-such as a Christian Cross, a Star of David, a national flag, a painting of The Virgin and Child, or a sculpture commemorating a great leader or heroic sacrifice—have been revered. An iconoclast is an “image destroyer” as translated from the Greek word eikonoklastes.
Through the centuries, iconoclasts have destroyed that which others revere. In the 7th century, Muslims destroyed ancient Arabic and Persian art in Mecca because they were offended by it. In the 8th and 9th centuries, Greek Orthodox icons were burned by the Byzantine Emperor who was offended by them. Zealots of the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) smashed irreplaceable stained-glass windows and sculptures of saints in Catholic churches throughout Europe because they believed they were right and Catholicism was...