as a chinese,i read some buddhism scriptures before.and i have to say that these scriptures never talk about worshipping idols.Buddha himself was just a human being. for those ordinary ppl who know little about religion in my country,buddhism=worshipping idols;but for some intellectuals,buddhism is more like a kind of interesting philosophy.for example,as far as i know,famous chinese scholar Liang Shu Ming,he was very very interteted in buddhism,even once wanted to conver to it,but he never bowed or kneeled to those man-made idols.