So given that we have decided to give vampires the benefit of the doubt, that they can intend to hold God close, commandment two is the logical extension of the first: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.” What does “making idols” have to do with vampires? For normal humans, idols take many shapes – easily recognizable shapes. They are things that can be readily bought with money; cars, homes, laptops, you know, pretty stuff. Humans worship this stuff. Before you argue with me, ask yourself how many hours of your life go into acquisition of this stuff. Understand that time is the only medium you really have, and you have chosen to exchange the precious medium of seconds, minutes, and hours for stuff.

Vampires, for the most part, don’t make the same exchange. They can get stuff simply by investing in property or stocks and having the investment grow. And they have plenty of time to allow their money to grow since they no longer have expiration dates limiting their lives.

It could be argued that blood is their idol as well as their food. Certainly it is the source of their undying un-life, and as such totally necessary to their survival, as food and water is to a human. Yet in most of the literature (both prose and poetry) it seems to have more value than simply sustenance. We see Erzebeth Bathory bathing in blood (historical), Dracula cutting a wide swath through the humans he came in contact with, killing them in order to continue his existence. They appear to worship the blood, and the eternal longevity and power it transmits to them. The latter is as important these literary vampires as the blood. Perhaps an analogy would be that blood is the money with which they can purchase super-strength, mesmeric ability, transformational ability (and all the other traits) which is their version of stuff?

So, even if they aren’t physically manufacturing the idol, are they taking a pre-existing physical liquid (blood) as their idol? Just askin’.

Are we making them idols? And this is beyond Matinee idols.

Is their eternal youth, eternal health, eternal freedom to accumulate stuff and experiences becoming an idol in our society? Are they creating idols for us to worship as we worship their eternal youthful appearance and good looks? And does that constitute them bowing down to worship themselves when they create more of themselves to be idolized?

Well, if you were sitting in my classroom we could hash this out. I simply want thought to be happening. On to the 3rd Commandment: Swearing?