Point of View

Don Walton is founder of Time for Truth Ministries and a full-time evangelist and conference speaker. For more information visit www.timefortruth.org.

The second commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” is not just designed to prohibit idolatry, but also to prohibit the profaning of the sacred. Any attempt by man to depict the divine always ends up trivializing and desecrating it. Thus, man is commanded by God to keep his hands off the sacred, lest he commit sacrilege.

Still, sinful men, in complete disregard of the divine prohibition against playing around with the sacred, are constantly found attempting to reduce the hallowed to a form they can manufacture and market. How else can you explain things like today's popular "Jesus" action figure? Along with their Barbie dolls and G. I. Joes, today's kids can play with "Jesus" as well. Is there any wonder that a foul-mouthed Communist, upon observing the crass commercialism of today's church, quipped, "Christ died on the cross, but today's Christians are making a living off it"?

There seems to be no depths to which man’s profaning of the sacred will not sink; equally, there seems to be no price too high for man to pay for today’s sacrilegious trinkets. Take for an example the $69,000 bid submitted on eBay for Diana Duyser’s cheese sandwich. According to Mrs. Duyser, her ten-year-old grilled cheese sandwich bears the image of the Virgin Mary.

The sandwich, made on plain white bread with American cheese and cooked with no oil or butter, has been kept in a clear plastic box with cotton balls for a decade. To prove the sandwich’s mystical powers, Mrs. Duyser brags about the fact that it has never molded. Molding does tend to diminish the credibility of a religious fetish; after all, if it can’t keep itself from molding how can it keep you from harm?

As additional evidence to the miraculous powers of her cheese sandwich, Mrs. Duyser offers the story of her good luck at a local casino, where she gambled her way to $70,000 in winnings. There was, of course, little risk involved, since her cheese sandwich was on her side.

It seems to me that Mrs. Duyser’s sandwich should be bologna, not cheese. This way her sandwich and religion would go perfectly together.

However, a lot of folks today are just like Mrs. Duyser; they’ve got cheesy religion. This explains why the sale of Mrs. Duyser’s sandwich received more than 1.7 million hits. It also explains the popping up on eBay of a Virgin Mary sandwich toaster. 

If you ever purchase one, permit me to make a suggestion. Only use Limburger cheese, because cheesy religion reeks to the high heavens.

Don Walton is founder of Time for Truth Ministries and a full-time evangelist and conference speaker. For more information visit www.timefortruth.org.