Dude I know exactly what it is that you are saying. Now that I have been studyin more and more of Torah I am coming to understand it's significance in the grand scheme of things. I have tried to share some of the material thatbi have been learning and my friends just don't want to embrace it it seems. I've shared truths about dietary law and how Yah is trying to protect us and care for our bodies but somehow it is just seen As some type of bondage to "the law" and the fact that we're "free" from it. I am greatly frustrated with it all and I'm speaking ever so clearly and straight-forward. Tough time in my life because I feel like bonds that were once stronger aren't as strong because I'm not willing to waiver And just settle with the name "Jesus" and be "free from the law." it is all so very frustrating to me. I'm quick to tell ppl now that I don't consider myself a "Christian" but it Is not bothersome to ms because I just can't deal with certain things that Christianity pontificates. I am rambling but this is good for me. Not many at all...actually none it seems understands the path that I'm on. I just wanna love Yahuweh the way He wants to be loved and that includes calling Him by name, diligently searching His scripture for Truth, as well as doing others things that ppl think insane for doing.

Shalom,

The Torah is a guide and a mirror. Without it we have no reference points and everything becomes relative and arbitrary. About 30 years ago I was engaged in a class discussion on promiscuity and I pointed out to the teacher that it is relative to each society. For instance, nudity, I noted, does not necessarily mean promiscuity as several "primitive" societies do not look upon the naked body the same way "religious" (Christian, Muslims, etc) people do. Even today in many modern Western societies and Japan, dressing (or lack thereof) does not reflect much on personal morality. Remember a time in Bali and the Pacific islands, toplessness was not a moral problem until the Christian and Muslim missionaries arrived. Today, the natives are covered up but the Westerners who holiday there are topless. So morality is always relative.

Without a fixed reference point everything becomes relative to the laws of each society. Today, man establishes the law in view of himself and not the Creator. In general, man seems to have a higher opinion of himself than the Creator. We find this across all religions, and the priests and imams and shamans put themselves in a position that usurps the Creator, defining what others should and should not do according to their beliefs. And in the case of secular humanism, even this relativity is lost.

So our fixed reference point is the Torah. There will be some Christians who ask whether the Torah saves us, and today instead of giving the obvious answer I ask if following the laws of the land saves us. It's usually easier to take up the discussion from that point.