Intermediaries or idols? I've gotten this schpiel from a Mormon boy before when I said, heretically apparently, that God sent the whale to focus Jonah's prayer, and be the church he could not escape from. My idea was that Jonah was running and hiding, and God's message is that he is what we run to, what we shelter in. The mormon stated that the church was the congregation, and when I said that Jonah as a recluse was the only church he had afforded, he said that this would make the whale an idol. That was the point where I said 'Well, I'm Catholic.' and pussied out, but I think there is a distinct difference between worship and communication, glory and request, fundamental sin and process. The saints and Mary are not gods before God, he is simply the God behind them all. I'll look into the actual forum on this for some answers.