Teaching as Commands, The Traditions of Men

If there's one thing reading church history has shown me, it's that we're swimming (or drowning) in 2,000+ years of religious traditions that we've been told are a necessary to stay in a good place or in good standing with God. But the problem of religious tradition has been around longer than that. Jesus confronted this issue with religious Pharisees of his day when they question why his followers didn't observe their religious traditions:

"Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 'Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.' He answered them, 'And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?'" (Matthew 15:1-3)

What are some of the religious traditions we've inherited from church history that organized religion has told us are necessary to keep God happy with us, but are nothing more than empty obligations to a system of conformity? Let's talk...