Symbol Analysis
Just like his use of Classical imagery to show how very trivial his society was, Pope uses a lot of religious imagery to demonstrate pretty much the same thing: people like Belinda, the Baron, and their friends have seriously skewed priorities, taking their appearance, their clothes, their romantic conquests, and their social victories more seriously than their souls.
Canto I, Lines 121–128
Belinda at her dressing-table—surrounded by her jewelry, makeup, and hairstyling tools, assisted by her maid—is in this extended metaphor likened to a priestess conducting a religious rite, or a nun saying her prayers.
Instead of God or some gods, however, she worships "a heav'nly Image in the Glass" (I.125): her own image. The dressing-table is an "Altar" (I.127), and Belinda getting ready for the party is observing "the sacred Rites of Pride" (I. 128). Talk about narcissism. It's probably the ultimate slap in the face to true belief and faith: worshiping your own self instead of a higher power.
Canto II, Lines 7-8
What's up with the "sparkling Cross" Belinda wears around her neck is one "which Jews might kiss, and Infidels adore" (II.8)? Our speaker appears to be telling us that even the cross, that most meaningful symbol of the Christian faith, becomes trivialized out of its deeper meanings and reduced to just a pretty necklace.
As with so much of Pope's imagery, though, the meaning is double: do you suspect he might also be saying that Belinda is so beautiful, religious faiths can set aside their differences in her presence? Maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.
Canto II, Lines 35-46
The Baron's "altar" here to love, built out of French romances, garters, gloves, and love-letters, counts as Classical imagery for its reference to the burnt offerings of classical epic heroes to their gods, but it also belongs here with the other religious imagery in the poem.
The Baron's altar is the twin of Belinda's own "altar" of a dressing-table in Canto I: like her, he makes a mockery of true faith by worshiping himself, but through his romantic conquests rather than his appearance (even though, we suspect, the Baron is probably quite fond of how he looks as well).
Canto III, Lines 105-110
Another altar scene here. But this time, the altar is a fancy lacquered table, and the service/sacrifice being performed is the grinding of coffee beans and the brewing of coffee and tea. Will these people ever sort themselves out? (But then again, there've been times that we have felt like singing Hallelujah over a Starbucks caramel macchiato.)
Canto IV, Lines 27-30
This personification of "Ill-nature" as the handmaiden of the Queen of Spleen has her looking a lot like a sour nun, doesn't it? Wearing black and white, and full of hypocritical prayers on the outside (while on the inside, we're told in line IV.30, her "Bosom" is filled with "Lampoons"). Another instance of how Pope felt that people in his day misused religion: by using it as a vent for their bad tempers, and for a cover-up for their hypocrisy.
One of the stereotypical effects of too much spleen on certain kinds of women, was that it would cause them to get overly religious, devoting too much time to praying and fasting, and even causing them to see false visions. More warping, for Pope, of true belief and faith into something self-serving and trivial.