Ritual Sacrifices

I am going to talk about this subject a lot more later, but something I was thinking about is the "religious rituals no longer performed." You read in the history books about these rituals, all across history...and not just religious history. Think about how we treated the insane back in the day, or rituals of human sacrifice, or the Dorje Shugden practice being banned by the Dalai Lama. For the most part the logic provided as to why these rituals are stopped is this "we have learned they were not good", or "they are not wholesome", or "it's now against the law", and my favorite "we have learned better."" Heck we even do this with food, one day something makes you fat, the next it stops cancer, the next it's bad again.

You take all of this into account, and everything but religion seems to be changing at a much faster pace. Why is religion so much slower to catch on to change? How can something be totally right a years ago and now horrific to even talk about? If we all lived by the old testament of the Bible that would make for interesting days! If we are always learning what's right/wrong...why fear different perspectives so much...what better way to learn, and possibly quicker?

So, to my point...how can anyone stand over me and preach that I must conform to a set of rules and rituals in order to achieve happiness and inner peace if in fact the very ritual I am practicing now could be condemned tomorrow? Do we ever stop to search out the true origin of a ritual/belief before we do it, or do we blindly leap in because our flock, sangha, etc...is doing it? Don't tell me that's faith...you have to base something in fact...everything cannot be shrouded with mystery! What if that practice you have taken up is completely wrong...what if you believe in an Almighty God and you are basically slapping him/her in the face every time you practice it?

I am not saying all rituals are false, not at all...I think many rituals are important, they develop structure, but I revert back to saying "who are you to tell me I have to do this in order to achieve that?" In school you learn that you can achieve the same goal in math a number of different directions, and you are told to learn whatever makes it easier on you. If I can't sit Indian style for three hours and chant, but I can take 10 minutes out of my day to reflect, and I can learn to love more, live better...are you going to discourage me by saying it's this way or no way?