steve, forgive me, cause I'm about to get preachy here.

So, I know I'm late to the party here. Originally I wasn't going to join in this conversation at all. They're not my cup of tea. Everybody always wants to over analyse what is said, pick the conversations apart and find faults in it, and then attribute those faults to the people who post. It always happens. It's always frustrating. Here I am though, but I'm not going to focus on semantics, origins of religious law, or anything of the sort. I just want to look at things from spiritual health aspect. At the end of the day, that's what religion is about.

Above all, it is important to remember that God forgives. He forgives us of all our sins great and small. This forgiveness comes by both faith and by deeds, and if you keep your heart open and honest, they become one and the same.

Religious laws, much like secular laws, exist for a reason. They're there to keep us healthy, keep us safe, keep us productive, and on and on. We read about it all the time, how courts and judges follow the letter of the law and not the spirit and the outcome can often be unfair and unjust. The same can be said of Religious laws. If by following a religious law you cause yourself or others to suffer, you're doing both your fellow man and God a disservice. This can obviously be argued by degrees, but you get my point. If, for some reason, that you feel by breaking a religious law you'll be doing someone a service, God will forgive you. He knows what's in your heart. To Him, that matters more than anything.

So this brings me to what I really want to talk about here . . .

I went to a meeting last night about "defending our religious freedom". It was exactly what I expected: Some speeches about how the evil people in the world and in the government were going to squash our right to worship. There were many, many examples discussed

This meeting came about because the people who decided to hold it are feeling a lot of negative feelings. They're feeling scared. They're feeling frustrated. They're feeling disrespected. On and on. Heck. You're making this post because you're feeling negative feelings. You're feeling conflicted, confused, and a little lost. All of that is OK. For both them and you. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Negative feelings, like positive feelings, are a tool to help us gauge the world around us so that we may better navigate through it. We have them because they motivate us to try to find ways to avoid situations that cause them.

What's not okay though, is letting those negative feelings overwhelm you. This is where faith and deeds go hand in hand. If you let yourself be guided by your negative feelings, you're going to be more prone to act negatively. You need to open yourself up to your faith and the love that it brings you. Think positive. Feel positive. Give and be glad. Support others around you and offer them strength and by sharing their burdens, you'll make yourself stronger. Hate and anger multiplies. So does love and joy. What do you want to share? Who do you think God appreciates more? A man who follows his word to the letter, but brought others harm? Or a man who is flawed, but shared God's love.

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Matthew 7:17-20 (Of course he's referring to false prophets, but it also speaks to our actions as a whole.)