One of the strangest features of Catholicism is its functional worship of Mary. No official Catholic source (at least that I know of) says Mary should be worshipped, and most Catholics will roll their eyes if you say they worship Mary. Catholicism artificially distinguishes between three categories of devotion: Latria (owed only to God), Dulia (owed to Saints and angels) and Hyperdulia (owed specifically to Mary, being higher than all saints and angels). God alone is worshipped, they say, while the Saints, angels, and Mary, are merely "venerated".
Functionally, however, "veneration" is just worship by another name. Particularly regarding Mary, we see that Catholicism has added a lot of Christ's attributes to her. It claims, for example, that she was free of sin (CCC 491-493), that her prayers and good works are immense, unfathomable, and of pristine value to God (CCC 1477), that she holds saving office and makes intercession for us so she can hold the titles "Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix" (CCC 969), that she is Queen of all things (CCC 966), and that the second commandment even forbids misusing her name (CCC 2146).
Furthermore, there is no shortage of images of Catholics actually bowing to Marian idols, which one could argue should never exist in the first place. Scripture explicitly forbids the creation of, and bowing to, graven images in the famous Decalogue, which it is worth noting Catholic citations typically erase. Ex-Catholic testimonies often feature this fact.
Actual servants of God, such as the angel in Revelation 19:10, refuse to be bowed to, stating "...see that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant (...) Worship God!".
With all of the above, which is a mere brief summary based upon the Catechism of the Catholic Church alone, it is little wonder non-Catholics tend to believe Catholics worship Mary. Indeed, many Catholics flat out admit this. Pope John Paul II, for example, said in 1997 "it is possible to understand the authentic meaning of Marian worship in the ecclesial community ... which furthermore is based on the will of Christ". Now, I can promise you, Marian worship in any community, much less the ecclesial community, is far removed from the will of Christ. Jesus was a terrible Catholic in the way He viewed Mary. He did, however, expect us to worship Him. How? By hearing and obeying His word.
In both John 14:21-24 and 1 John 5:1-5, we are effectively told that obedience to Christ's words are how we prove our love for Him. "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me." "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"
"Red Letter" Christians may be tempted to point out that the former verse is directly quoting Jesus. However, due to the God-breathed nature of scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17), the red-letter mentality is extremely strange. See, first of all, as Catholics agree, Jesus is God Himself. Therefore, if the Bible is the word of God, the Bible is the word of Jesus. It should not, therefore, matter that John's epistle also happens to be the word of John.
But also, pay attention to what Jesus says when He promises to send the Holy Spirit in John 16:12-15: "“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."
Do you notice that? He will not speak on His own authority, He will take of what is mine and declare it to you. And of course, He related that back to the Father, which is not surprising, given that He says a similar thing of Himself in John 5:19-23.
But I would hope I'm preaching to the Catholic choir on that one. They should already know that God is Triune, and that therefore, the God-breathed Bible is the word of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But what that means is that when Jesus says those who love Him will keep His words, and those who don't love Him will not, we really need to pay close attention. You literally cannot claim to love Jesus if you do not love the Bible.
It boggles my mind, therefore, how often I, personally, have been accused of making the Bible into an idol for trusting it over the Catholic Church. I've even been called "...one of those madmen afflicted by Biblical Religious Obsession". And this isn't remotely uncommon, nor is it just me.
Now, to be sure, there are some very strange people out there who genuinely do worship their Bibles. It is not uncommon, for example, for KJVOnlyists to admit they believe the KJV is better than the original autographs. When you say human attempts to translate the word of God are better than the actual word of God as written by the hands of His prophets, you are worshipping the Bible instead of God. But to merely call the Bible the word of God, elevate it above man-made tradition, use it as a source of doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction (2 Timothy 3:16-17), or just about any other form of trusting it as it is, is not worshipping the Bible instead of God, but worshipping God by listening to His word.
Tell me, even lacking the explicit statements of Christ, how is this not just common sense? Are there any other scenarios in which you can claim to love someone without listening to their words? I certainly wouldn't be thrilled if someone claimed to love me yet ignored everything I said. How much more worthy of our attention is God?
It cannot be denied, looking at what the Catholic sources say about Mary, that this particular religion is dripping with Marian worship. You cannot bow to a statue and tell me that is the one time in history God is pleased with such an act. You cannot give Mary the title of a Goddess God punished Israel for worshipping and have me believe she is not your idol. You cannot transfer several of Christ's unique attributes to His human mother and expect me to just accept your made up word "veneration". That is worship, plain and simple. But when Catholics attempt to flip the script, claiming that because I heed the word of God as delivered to us by the hands of His prophets and Apostles, I am therefore worshipping a book instead of God, they really take the biscuit, and the tea and milk with it. They worship a statue for no other reason than that a heretical Church told them to. I keep the Bible because Jesus says those who love Him will do so. Anyone who calls that idolatry, by the logic presented in the same passages, does not love Him. No wonder they think they need Mary to intercede with Him for them.