Lifeless and Powerless Substitutes

 I've been reading through Deuteronomy but much of what I'm reading I don't understand. So I bought some books to help me understand the culture, context and history. The quote below is from Christopher Wright's book, Deuteronomy.The tragedy of polytheism and idolatry is not the arithmetic (many gods instead of one), but that they exchange the only true source of salvation for lifeless and powerless substitutes, and in doing so, introduce injustice, bondage, and cruelty into human life (Romans 1: 21-32). (Wright, 11)Okay now go back & read it again. And again (because it's profound and deserves some pondering).Now consider how does idolatry introduce injustice, bondage and cruelty into human life -your human life (or the life of someone you love)?Looking forward to hearing from you.