Iconoclast

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

"Iconoclast" originally referred to a person who destroyed icons, that is, sacred paintings or sculpture. An example is Byzantine emperor Leo III, who ordered the destruction of all icons of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints in his empire. For more discussion of historical iconoclasts, see iconoclasm.

The more common meaning in current usage is that an iconoclast is a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.[1]

Modern iconoclasts may carry out symbolic or quixotic acts of protest against authority figures, the connotation being that the iconoclast opposes the imposition of authority itself rather than any particular policy or action.

Things known as Iconoclast include:

• Iconoclast — a Southern Californian anarcho-punk band in the 1980s.
• Iconoclast — one of the names of a Cyberpunk MUD and Role Playing Game.
• Iconoclasts — the name of a Sundance Channel show where "ground-breaking" celebrities are interviewed.
• Lisa the Iconoclast — the title of an episode of TV animated series The Simpsons which deals with the value of truth versus the value of meaning in the celebration of Jebediah Springfield, the fraud town founder of Springfield.
• Iconoclast — a major Texas newspaper in the 1890s known for being critical of powerful institutions and figures. The newspaper ceased to exist when editor William Cowper Brann was shot in the back for exposing scandalous activities at Baylor University.
• Iconoclast — A former guild in the computer game World of Warcraft, on the Mannoroth server.
• Iconoclast — The third part of the 1971 song "Tarkus" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
• Iconoclast — A computer demo by Andromeda Software Development (ASD)
• Iconoclast — А destroyer class Chaos warship in a tabletop wargame Battlefleet Gothic.
• Modern Iconoclasts A song by the band Behemoth

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