Fortunately I'm not doing any such thing. What I am doing is testing the spirit, as we're admonished to do in the scriptures.
You see here, the problem is that I do believe there is a misapplication of the word "worship" here. The actions are essentially the same. You bow before God. You bow before Mary. You bow before the saints (in general, not you personally). However to distinguish "worship" from "verneration/honor" your church has simply instituted a word.
There are lots of things I do that apply differently in different situations. Some people bow to other people when they meet. Does that mean they worship those people? I don't think so. I do not bow to Mary, and I don't bow to saints. I do kneel in prayer before a statue of a saint or Mary, and ask that person, not the statue, to present my prayers to God.
I personally believe that the actions done are just as important as the thoughts associated with it. Let us consider the following text for example:
That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
Well, that's an instruction on how to worship Nebuchadnezzar's golden image. It's not an instruction of Christian worship.
Let's look at another verse:
And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit...But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
It does not say he bowed, or knelt, or anything else. He just worshipped Him.
Now you say that latria is what you give to God, while hyperdulia is what is given to Mary, and dulia is what is given to the Saints. Now latria is defined as the adoration that is given to God alone. If we apply that definition to both of the scenarios in the texts here, I think you'd be hard pressed to say that the Jews who fell down before the golden image were ascribing to it the adoration that belongs to God alone. You might have a case with the demon possessed man, but even there, it would be hard to say that the demons were adoring Christ.
I'd say that Nebuchadnezzar directed people to worship the idol. Whether they did or not, who knows? We know that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn't. At that time, and in that place, falling on the ground was considered worship. It's unclear how the man with an unclean spirit worshipped Jesus.
What we can see is that in both instances, worship required bowing.
Looking at more examples from the scripture,
And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
I don't think anyone believes that worship requires bowing. Certainly, worship can be done by bowing-it's an outward sign. But bowing is one way to worship. Not the only way, and bowing is not always worship.
Now in each of these case I would think, again, that you'd be hard pressed to prove that Cornelius and John were offering latria to Peter and the angel. It would be most likely that they were offering what you call dulia. In either case, they were both told "Don't do that."
Question is, what does "fell down at his feet" mean? I'd believe it was sort of a full-length prostration, with the worshipper's head at the feet of the worshippee. Our priests do that when they're consecrated to God.
Point being that the intent isn't what I take exception with. The very act of bowing down seems to be tied to worship. Saying latria, dulia, or hyperdulia, doesn't matter if the action you take along with those is an inappropriate one.
What matters is what's in your heart. Some people worship God by dancing. Some people worship God by singing. Some by kneeling in prayer. Some by how they live their entire lives. The point is that dancing isn't always worship, singing isn't always worship, kneeling isn't always worship. Even going to Church isn't always worship. So why is bowing always worship???
