Why would the Church setup the Precepts w/ defiance assuming the grave risk of death and an eternity of Hell?
I understand the Church can do this: “what will be bound by you…”
I understand why the Church does this: “to ensure the minimum…”
I don’t understand the severe penalty placed on anything but 100% adherence (esp. to 55 Sunday masses/year, meat on Fridays and few exceptions) to the 5 precepts.
There are so many other motivating alternatives to the eternal fires of Hell motifvation techniques, appealing to the spirit of membership, strongly worded guidance, some typical corporal punishment, some extreme corporal punishment, torture (awful thought) - but eternal fire???.
Seems so many people are already struggling with truly evil forces in the world today (confusion of faith, sensuality, abortion, horrific family problems, environmental problems, wars great and small, etc. etc.) - why would our Church layer on such a severe punishment to these transgressions?
Thoughts?
NOTE: The following explanation is based on the understanding I have right now, so if it
misses the mark 
do tell.
Though the Church can make binding disciplinary decisions and such, she does not have the power to decide what is sin and what is not – in the sense of what is objectively Right and Wrong. Sin is “missing the mark” of God’s Law. The Church cannot one day say that rape is not grave matter, for example. The reason eating meat on a fasting day is grave matter is not the eating of meat* per se* but the disobedience that the act entails. It is the saying “NO!” to the Church. One who fully understands the significance of a Church Precept but deliberately goes against it indeed commits a mortal sin, and this makes sense. Think. If one comprehends a rule to come from the God-instituted Church, which has been granted authority to bind and loose (Mt 16:17-19; 18:18) for the spiritual growth of her children, and if that person selfishly decides to make his own rule and shove the Church aside, then he or she is essentially throwing God aside, too.
The question with which to speculate with is: How often does someone actually commit a mortal sin by eating meat on a fasting day? More specifically, how often does one commit a FORMAL mortal sin (as opposed to material sin)? The “formal” means that one not only commits the act but is guilty of the wrongness of the act due to engagement of the conscience (He knows it’s wrong). This question is important, because, in the abstract, saying “eating meat on a Friday of Lent is a mortal sin”
does seem harsh. But I would grant there are other items of grave matter dileneated by the Church that are just as hard to understand as to how committing one act could “send someone to hell.” The question of the relationship between Precepts of the Church and mortal sin really does invite the larger understanding of mortal sin in general. At its core, mortal sin a rejection of God. So if any act a person commits ultimately rejects God, then it is a mortal sin. How many people are really fundamentally rejecting God when they eat meat on a fasting day? They could be doing so through ignorance, or out of necessity (e.g., starvation). In addition, if one knew the law of the Church but still chose to eat meat anyways, even then the act does not equate to a formal mortal sin. A Catholic teenager may feel social pressure from his friends if they are having pepperoni pizza, for example. The teen’s culpability would be lessened from complex social factors. In cases of sin, there are often emotional factors, issues with the passions, psychological factors, and problems of ignorance.
Eating meat on a fasting day, as with any act of grave matter, is not like turning on a light switch: In the latter case, you either have light or no light, but the external act of sin does not automatically lead to a formal mortal sin every time.
It is often said that, when you die, you see St. Peter at the gates of Heaven. St. Peter (along with his successors) may have been given the keys, but it is not he who judges souls. God does that, because every sin is ultimately between the individual and God. With the keys, though, the Pope and the bishops in union with him can make rules for the good of the entire Church. The Church leaders cannot make up what is sinful and what is not – only how the disciplines are expressed and therefore what circumstances call for obedience to the Church. The Church is God’s, and it is because of this that disobedience to the church is grave. Remember Christ in Matthew 18 – right before the binding/loosing statement: “if he will not
even listen to the
church, then count him all one with the heathen and the publican.” It is the Church that is Christ’s representative, as it is His Body, and He shepherds us through its shepherds.
