Wahhabism , the dominant form of islam in saudi arabia , is hostile to any reverence granted to historical or religious places of significance , for fear that this may give rise to idolatry .
But , sadly , there is still plenty of " idolatry " about , just look at the current crop of investment bank forecasts , or the arcane rows that have broken out over models used to gauge the future macro-economic impact of the basel rules .
The relationship between china and the west has been fraught with ambiguity since the two opium wars in the mid-1800s , which triggered both a nationalistic reaction against imperialism and feelings of national self-loathing and idolatry for anything western .
