Sacrilizing Purity

Glenn Hand (374)

By sacrilizing purity, that is by associating purity with the divine, religion elevates itself beyond societal norms. The desire to please, be like, or actually unite with the divine, that which is outside of the physical realm of existence, when believed to be life’s essential pursuit, then becomes sacred and purity is the measuring stick by which that pursuit is evaluated; it is also the barometer by which it rates other world’s lack of recognition of the importance of that enterprise. What is acceptable physical, moral, or spiritual behavior for those outside of any religious world, any lesser standard, is deemed impure, unclean, devalued, unethical, or sinful in nature. Religious purity’s aspiration, its goal and ideal is separation; dividing the physical, moral, and spiritual world into pure and impure, good and evil, acceptable and unacceptable. To be separated from the impure is to be closer to the divine.

Judaism’s dietary laws are a good representation of the sacred ideal of purity. In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 God, through Moses, clearly explains foods that are pure and those which are impure and outlines the rules clearly. “Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat.” (Lev.11:1-3 NKJV) For the Children of Israel the meat of any animal that falls outside of those conditions stated by God were not to be consumed; they were an abomination, and to consume them would make one unclean/impure and an outcast/separate. Staying within...