Q&A: On Religious Commitment
On Religious Commitment
Question
Suppose I believe—am convinced—that God exists, and I even accept the revelation at Mount Sinai as a historical event. Fine, then what? Just because something created a world that we are part of and at some point decided to command certain instructions—why does that obligate me? Why should I care? I don’t feel like following these laws! If He gave people free choice, that’s His problem! In other words: I’d be happy to hear a logical reason why one should keep the commandments, especially if we take the issue of reward and punishment off the table (at least according to the view that this is not the real reason). Thanks in advance.
Answer
First, because it is the truth. It is the right thing to do. It is the right way to live. In addition, there is the duty/commitment to the divine command; on that, see here: https://mikyab.net/%d7%9b%d7%aa%d7%91%d7%99%d7%9d/%d7%9e%d7%90%d7%9e%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%9d/%d7%94%d7%9b%d7%a8%d7%aa-%d7%98%d7%95%d7%91%d7%94-%d7%91%d7%99%d7%9f-%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%a1%d7%a8-%d7%9c%d7%90%d7%95%d7%a0%d7%98%d7%95%d7%9c%d7%95%d7%92%d7%99%d7%94/