What is interesting to me is that most people see the faithful as "religious" - in the essence that they only see 'rules' & 'dogma'. But this is why I quite dislike this word. Because in truth, as
@Dado was trying to explain.. we undergo a metamorphosis that changes our heart & mind to 'desire' to do what is right.
It is easy to comprehend how in this metamorphosed state we undergo a great and powerful internal, spiritual shift in thinking which melts the gold commandments from constraints to liquid hearts desire. Through tribulation & leaning on God this liquifying process continues to purify our character, refine our strength, and bind our faith to the one who redeemed us from the fire..
And we will also all endure life's fires - whether we believe in God or not, no one is exempt, because of the free will we were all granted at birth.
That is the very strength of faith, itself though.- The assurance that, with him, we can survive the pain we all endure because we no longer endure them alone. The comfort that comes from never having to suffer alone and unguided from the moment we accept his hand, his love, and let him help us - far better than we can on our own.
Like a perfect father, he is always there. We will try to do things our way, stubborn & strong willed because we think' we always 'know' what's right. And sometimes we are right. But more often than not, we fail ( or people fail us ) big time.. and that is when our father is there to comfort, guide, and focus us in the right direction. He meets us in our
mess.. That's the beauty of it.
In these moments we are once again liquifued, humbled, and ready to accept the path we stubbornly rejected the first time. ( or 10 times if you're like me )..
God doesn't want our half hearted 'obedience' of Dogma'. What he does want is to let us let him change us, from the inside out, so that we start to
want to do what's right, from the heart, not because teacher is watching, waiting to smack our wrists with a ruler.
He wants us to finally
feel that deep inner peace, love, and hope for the future - even as the flames of life rise around us - that abides in us once we let him in. And once we do so we learn that like any good father, his rules' were created to spare us pain and give us joy, not steal our joy and cause us pain. His comfort and love is unconditional.
In life we often spend years searching for the ideal mate. I too believe in soulmates, yes. But even if we are so lucky in this often dark world to find such a being and be happily married, this being can die.
This means we learn through pain and loss, that in life there is no one we can truly depend on forever, because nothing is promised. Trusted people die, and sometimes other people turn out to be bad, or disappear & disappoint. But God, never. He's the one solid thing in this world. He is steadfast & never lies. He is the one we can always trust. I find
comfort in this, not dogma.
As far as our 'behaviour' / sense of "dogma" goes you can compare our 'obedience' ( which by the way even the best 'Christians' fail at every single day ) by using also marriage as another example.
When you marry a good man or woman you want to keep your promises to them. You want to make them proud, happy..so even when you are tempted to yell at them, get back at them, whatever it may be.. your love for them - that liquid, pure place in your heart you call love prevents the follow through ( most of the time ). It makes you
want to do what is right, even when tempted by anger and pride to hurt or spite them. To rebel against the 'commandments/ constraints' of your vows..
You are no longer keeping to the vows' or rules' of your marriage simply because of 'dogma'. You are trying to do so from the heart. From love.
This.. is what being faithful' is
supposed to be about. Religious' and faithful' are two seperapte planes of existence in this deeper context.
This concept is so easily seen in the parable of the tax collector and the pharisees. The pharisees out in the streets screaming of God and asking for money, pretending to be holy and pure of heart, but behind closed doors being full of greed and a closed heart to God.. condemning others. Whereas the tax collector was loathed, yet loved God and had a close relationship with him. Below is an excerpt from a cool site that explains:
What Did the Pharisees Believe and Teach?
Among the Pharisees' beliefs were
life after death,
resurrection of the body, importance of keeping rituals, and the need to convert Gentiles.
Because they taught that the way to God was by obeying the law, the Pharisees gradually changed Judaism from a religion of
sacrifice to one of keeping the commandments (legalism). Animal sacrifices still continued in the Jerusalem
temple until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., but Pharisees promoted
works over sacrifice.
The
Gospels often portray Pharisees as arrogant, but they were generally respected by the masses because of their piety. However, Jesus saw through them. He scolded them for the unreasonable burden they placed on the peasants.
Because they taught that the way to God was by obeying the law, the Pharisees gradually changed Judaism from a religion of
sacrifice to one of keeping the commandments (legalism). Animal sacrifices still continued in the Jerusalem
temple until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., but Pharisees promoted
works over sacrifice.
The
Gospels often portray Pharisees as arrogant, but they were generally respected by the masses because of their piety. However, Jesus saw through them. He scolded them for the unreasonable burden they placed on the peasants.
In a scathing rebuke of the Pharisees found in
Matthew 23 and
Luke 11, Jesus called them
hypocrites and exposed their
sins. He compared the Pharisees to whitewashed tombs, which are beautiful on the outside but on the inside are filled with dead men's bones and uncleanness.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:13, 27-28, Most of the time the Pharisees were at odds with the
Sadducees, another Jewish sect, but the two parties joined forces to
conspire against Jesus.
They voted together in the
Sanhedrin to demand his death, then saw that the
Romans carried it out. Neither group could believe in a Messiah who would
sacrifice himself for the sins of the world.
I know this is an abortion thread - but since a few of you seemed to want to better understand what
@Dado meant.. I think, all that? ^^
Perfect example of why people need to have the choice, if you ask me 