OK, iconoclasts. I'm familiar with that theology. It was a mode of thought in the early church (I think around the 6th to 7th centuries). I guess it's still alive and kicking even after all these years.
Anyway, you actually stated the same mistake of the iconoclasts in your post which I've highlighted. Iconoclast literally means "image breaker" and referred to a movement (inspired by moslem influence) which saw any and all images of human beings as inherently idolic and therefore abominable.
At any rate, in your post, you presume to know the inward intention of someone who kisses a cross. This is the problem. Kissing a cross, or kneeling before an icon in prayer is not worship of the icon. The icon is a sort of visual aid. As a well educated Catholic, I can say beyond the shadow of a doubt that religious icons are just that, icons.
Human beings are composite beings. That is to say, we are of spirit and flesh. When we worship, we need to engage both aspects of our being. Simply engaging our minds without the senses is incomplete. Complete immersion in worship and prayer is effected by the sights, and the "smells and bells".