Anastasia,
I agree with the points you made, but this last one is more of what I was wondering about. If a Protestant is a catechumen but really struggles with an area of doctrine or practice, such as venerating icons, well I understand what you say about that they can be received into the Church even though they are honestly struggling and seeking for the Lord to open up truth to them in this area.
My concern is when one is sitting in on a talk/catechumen class geared toward those seeking Orthodoxy and the majority of those in attendance are Protestants (as was my experience) and one of the participants brings up the subject of venerating the saints and the Theotokos through the use of icons, the priest's response seems to downplay the actual doctrine of the Church by making a statement that you don't necessarily have to venerate icons to be Orthodox. Now, I'm sure that the priest is hoping that, over time, after the catechumen is received into the Church and he/she strives to live an Orthodox life, that the Holy Spirit will work on their heart on this matter. Forgive me, because I don't intend to be judgemental against one of God's annointed and I'm confident that clergy seek wisdom from God when a catechumen comes upon a stumbling block that they seem stuck on as to how to counsel and direct them. To me, though, making a statement that seemed to downplay a point of practice seemed to come across as not being totally truthful and it concerned me and, in thinking it over, I started to come up with all sorts of questions on this matter and confusion set in for me.
Forgive me, a sinner.
I understand wanting to explore it more fully. Sometimes it takes asking questions to dig into the nuances. That's why I was kind of all over the place with my replies, trying to find the thing you needed to explore.
I understand too. I was told within very short order by two different priests that it was not a requirement for Orthodox to ask intercession of the Saints, and I didn't even ask that question directly (though that kind of question was part of my wide base of questions at that point). But the fact that they both brought it up, and in the same kind of statement, has stuck with me these several years.
And in a sense, I would question the answer. While it is not strictly required, how many of the prayers and hymns of the Church would have to be skipped, in that case?
So I will say that I understand it is a valid question, trying to step to your side on a similar issue.
I hope that makes sense.
Venerating icons, btw, I think is even less an issue than asking intercession (because intercessions are direct or implied in our prayers and hymns). But I suppose it's possible to enter or leave a Church without venerating icons. I'm not sure if people would notice. (I do see people leave without doing it, but there's a bit of a "traffic jam" at leaving that only happens then ... I imagine they venerate them when they enter, but no one polices that.)
Anyway. I'm not sure if I'm in a position to give much more in the way of an answer, but hopefully we've gotten the question.
I do think it's the heart again that matters. In our parish, many of the icons are out of reach to be venerated. But I have looked at certain ones, thought about their lives and example, felt great honor and love for them. In a sense, the heart, I think, can "venerate" even if the body doesn't. That actually means more, I would say, than if someone perhaps passed by an icon and kissed it out of habit without a thought of the one it depicted. Not that we can know anyone's heart, but just to say the actual act of veneration could possibly mean nothing. (Having experienced all of these ways, including carelessness a time or two, I confess, the full benefit is found in actually being able to physically venerate the icon while also allowing the spiritual reality to touch the heart, so that is of course the fullness we hope for.)
Just as prayer (speaking and asking) somehow sometimes implies "worship" to Protestants, so can kissing somehow imply worship to them sometimes, and it can be near-impossible for them to see kissing an icon as anything other than worshipping an idol (though it might help to have them consider what kissing a Bible or a photo of an absent loved one means). But while they are in that mindset, if the priest insisted they MUST venerate the icon, they would be violating their conscience - they would in a sense actually BE worshipping idols - and surely no priest would ever want to put any person in that position.
I think I'll stop there. Those are some of the thoughts I have so far.
Excellent question, IMO.