You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me. Exodus 20:3-5Let me start this post by emphatically stating this: the reason God stated for His ban on graven images is the only reason there is and that need be, and that, in spite of a title that suggests otherwise, there is no unmentioned or cursory or derivative reasoning that exists.
So, why suggest that there is another reason—an objective reason in addition to God's "subjective" reason? It's because I doubt anyone has this problem anymore, and yet the danger (or punishment, if you will) still very much exists—and that coming from demons. Let me explain.
As recently described in Second upside-down laundry-basket demon, demons prefer certain materials over others for possession [see also Strangest things, places demons possess]; it is their primary concern, in fact. Secondary to that, however, is the shape of the object to which the material belongs. The closer to the likeness of a given demon (e.g., head, arms, legs, etc.), the more suitable the object is for possession. In other words, carving wood or chiseling stone in the shape of even a human solicits or invites demonic possession into the carving or chiseling. Obviously, that's not what you want to do.
How does that factor into today, though? For one thing, it explains the possessed-dolly phenomenon, which started last century, and which is still going strong. The following conversation, which started with a post to Facebook by a reader concerned about a possessed baby doll, elaborates:
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| The doll that is the subject of my conversation with a Facebook reader, which was posted by a member of Facebook group, S.P.I.R.I.T (Do you believe?) | My first comment is omitted, which jokingly suggested a possible name for the doll: Betsy Had-A-Stroke |
...lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female. Deuteronomy 4:16