Maybe it's because I live in the bright red heart of a regressive, corporate-owned, Christian-themed oligarchy, but I've been watching a lot of the late, great George Carlin on YouTube recently. When some alien race rummages through the crumbles of our lost civilization, they'll probably consider him one of the great philosophers of our time.
One thing Carlin always criticized was the creepy fascination humans have with worshipping symbols. Whether it was a flag, sports team logo, or statue of a man nailed to a cross, it didn't make a lot of sense to him. As he once said in a stand-up routine, "I leave symbols to symbol-minded."