The troubled word Iconoclasm is summed up as the rationale behind-, planning and participating in the destruction of religious icons and symbols. The motives for doing so may be political or religious. All the three world religions have arguably all had one or more iconoclast periods.
As an art term, it has has sneaked into everyday usage. Today it is used in popular media to suggests that someone is attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices.
See also Aniconism, Icon, Iconostasis, and Iconography
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