I see it as a central practical issue that most religions face, actually, if the divine is a lofty, perfect, Absolute, and people are what they are, pretty ordinary most of the time - how can the gap possibly be bridged? Some religions (Islam, Shinto), have a concept of ritual purity - a proper sequence of performative actions will render people temporarily acceptable so that they can approach God or the gods. Christianity has the psychologically useful concept of "grace" to make up the difference between humans and God, and my lay understanding is that the Catholic Church offers the sacrament of penance to restore it (or at least people's awareness of it) again and again as needed. I'd be interested to know how Judaism handles the issue, as it's even more fussy about rules and meeting impossible standards than Christianity (the idea that the home is to be cleaned of any possible crumb of leavened bread before Passover, for example, sounds extremely stressful), but doesn't focus on individuals and their psychological needs like Christianity does.

That link you shared about "scruples" - fascinating! I'm glad the church has such a humane attitude about it. Thank you!