We often think of today's society as "modern, sophisticated." The people in the past are "archaic, primitive." What if Avoda Zara was not something archaic at all, but far more advanced than we can even imagine? What if our own distortions, our own Etz HaDa'at-tainted minds, have reduced us to an incredibly superficial way of relating to reality? What if Hashem is right in front of us, and we've just forgotten how to see?