Extremist

 In the wisdom of the World, to be a religious extremist is a very very bad thing. Now, nobody in their right minds likes or should like the idea of using hijacked airplanes to blow up buildings full of civilians. These were very very bad religious extremists indeed. However, the prevailing culture paints every expression of religion that seems to them extreme, with the same brush. Extreme beliefs, extreme lives, extreme thoughts. If say you are a Christian and go to Mass 3 times a week, you are in danger of becoming a terrorist, or at least in danger of promoting things that are "unprogressive" to the larger society. Which nowadays is almost the same to some.

Indeed to some nowadays, believing in the G-d of Abraham at all and following His ways, is a transgression.

Now, what Bible passages can we use to justify moderate religion? Someone who is religious but it's not THAT into it? You know, they keep it on the lowdown. They go out, they have beers with the boys on the weekend, maybe gamble a bit, tell a few white lies, maybe has slept with someone other than their wife a couple times. But they go to church on Sunday, put a twenty in the collection plate. What passages in the Bible can we use to justify that kind of religion?

Essentially none.

Now, G-d has used people like that. If He couldn't use a man like that, He would be very limited in the kind of people he could use lol. 

David was a man like that in some ways, though more after he became King than before. Power does that to people. The Biblical Judge Samson was also not a person of exactly sterling moral character. Also, G-d can call people from all conditions of existence, as He certainly did me. I was called out of basically heathenisms of various kinds, alternating periodically with atheism. However, it is one thing to say that G-d can use people like that, and call people out of conditions like that, and it's quite another to say that this is what G-d is calling them TO.

Samson, let us remember, met a bitter if useful end. David bemoaned bitterly his sins and his son Absalom turned against him and rebelled against him, and he was forced to send an army to kill his own son. So arguably David's fate was not optimal either. He paid for his lack of, lets say fundamentalism, in certain areas. He paid bitterly. Moreover his son Solomon fell into accommodation or actual embrace of polytheism, so perhaps David was not a very good teacher to his sons. Or he just had bad sons, that's possible too.

What is G-d actually calling us to?

G-d is calling us to a consuming relationship. It's not like a relationship with a friend or even your spouse. It is a consuming transformative relationship. Now, you can be truly devoted and still talk to your neighbors about the weather and go grocery shopping and talk shop and talk politics, you don't stop being a human being.

You may appear as an extreme human being when the talk comes around to certain topics:

"Why can't you work on Saturday, Bob?"
"Well it's the SABBATH. I keep the Sabbath."
"You don't actually believe all that bunk, do you?"
"I sure do believe in G-d and G-d's Law for humanity, thanks for asking."

And that does make you a freak, an extremist, in the World's eyes.

If you had a friend, who you say is your very very good friend, and this friend says, "do this simple thing for me, it's very important: set aside this one day for me." and you say "well ya sorry I have things to do with my other friends," and he keeps asking and you keep saying no, well, you're not a great friend are you?

You might still be friends, but not very good ones. You aren't being a good friend.

How much more should you be loyal to G-d who is not a man but the Creator of all and the One who gave you everything you have? He should be absolutely tip top Number 1 in your book, right? I mean, if you actually believe that and are not lip-synching faith, if you actually believe that He is the creator of the universe and the One who gave you EVERYTHING, I mean, He would be super high on your list of priorities, right? He'd be the first.

TO BE ACTUALLY RELIGIOUS IS TO BE AN EXTREMIST.


Moses was called

"Friend of G-d."

How devoted do you have to be to be called the friend of The Eternal?