Some relevant reads

Ha, that's funny how St. John of Damascus won by being in Muslim lands, won against the Muslim position. Anyways, its nuanced. I do think veneration is the same as idolatry, but I also can't be an iconoclast because I would never smash art. The paintings inside Orthodox churches are really interesting, sometimes even beautiful, but I don't see any need to bow and scrape before them. Just... Have art.

Admittedly, iconography was a very difficult hurdle for me when it came to Orthodox Christianity, but it occurred to me that, to deny the icon, is to deny the incarnation....which is what Muslims and rabbinic jews do. God, for his own reasons, decided to use the material to bring forth His divine revelation. This idea also coincides with the Holy Eucharist...it's not just a symbol but His actual body and blood.