Rules, Rules, Rules

‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us

not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities,

namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols,

from blood, from meats of strangled animals,

and from unlawful marriage.

If you keep free of these,

you will be doing what is right.  Farewell.’
                                                    Acts 15: 28-29

The excerpt above comes, of course, from today's first reading.

The Apostles compose the letter after their first Council -- the one where they have to determine whether or not non-Jewish men have to undergo the blade before becoming Christians.

We all know the sigh of relief that resulted from that meeting.

But I kept thinking this morning was how simple the taboos became after this Council: don't eat meat offered in pagan sacrifice (seems tacky enough to be banned), don't drink blood (what were people up to that they needed this rule?!?), don't eat from strangled animals (fair enough), and avoid unlawful marriage...

Ah, that would be the doozy, wouldn't it. How many early Christians nodded approvingly at the first three and then did an embarrassed double take at number four.

But more to the point, what does it say about our modern world that we can't even adhere to these four basic rules?

What does it say about us that we can't even handle marriage in a more mature way than people who have to be told not to drink blood?