Is a theory of forms essential to an understanding of philosophy

By most accounts God is merciful. I am willing to learn all those skills necessary to live a good and moral life, and if that requires that I do an end around organized religion which is a mere form of relationship, then I will sooner get to that good and moral life. Is this not what Jesus said of the Priests: Do as they say; not as they do. What the priests did in their formal relationship with God was not good. That is why they show up in the story of the Good Samaritan. What is the good of a religion that cares more for making money than for service to humanity? Look at what Jesus did: He touched the sick. In the famous words of St. Bob Dylan: Before you can heal the sick you must first forgive them. Who have you touched today? Who have you engaged deeply with in a dynamic relationship. You have had as much of me today as anyone. Do you feel touched by me. Because I would touch you. I am not afraid of your disease. I recognize you as human, which is part of the purpose of forms, and more than that, I want to help make you real. All of this talk about the hereafter does not make you seem real, and quite the opposite. Jesus said as much in the question of the many spouses: who would you be married to after death. Jesus said: You cannot imagine, my paraphrase; and it is because we tend to look at the next life as an extension of this life, and this is because no matter how hard we try we cannot imagine death as the nothingness it likely is. But if you truly believe, while you lie and rot; isn't the love of God enough to make heaven for you? And while we should, like Job, Curse God and Die; we do not, because if we cannot be certain of God's love for us, we can always be certain of our love of God by giving our only lives for the caring of God's own children. A God who has created the cosmos has no need of a relationship with me. I am the one who needs the relationship with God. Yet, I am not given a reward in this relationship; but a task: To care for my fellow human beings; and if I recognize this as a form of relationship, one in which I get what I need while helping the other to get what they need; how do I go about this other than consciously? All forms are forms of relationship. Mathematics is a form mathematicians and scientist generally relate through, and yet everyone who understands the most basic elements of the concepts involved can relate through math. Religion is also a form of relationship, with your God, if you believe; but also with anyone who generally accepts the same faith, or even a life of faith. But there is no doubt that many madmen also believed deeply and acted on their beliefs. Can you say you relate well with madmen only because they are people of faith? In the wider view, we can relate as human beings which is our ultimate form of relationship. If we are relating purely as human beings with some one who may not even hold our beliefs or speak our language does this mean we should not do so consciously. It is all the better if we understand forms when we try to relate to those we have nothing but our humanity in common with. Consider language as a form. Do you grasp how people who cannot speak another common tongue can often relate through music, art, math, or science? They still have the form as a structure and that structure has rules, forms and formality; but just as important for them is the relationship. To understand the form is to grasp the relationship. To grasp the relationship is to understand the form. We see examples like religion where the form is empty of relationship. As a Catholic I would go through a certain set of physical motions during the course of a mass. It was like a mini workout: Stand up sit down kneel stand up sit down stand up turn around say hello shake a hand, and etc, which I called the Catholic hokie pokie. Everyone is going through the same formality and no one can say the meaning of it, and few do it with a true relationship in mind. Where I mostly went to church the conservatives did not mingle with the liberals. Many of the people were simply not at all friendly or engaging. The came and paid their God bot, and got out of the house. So I understand this is not much of a counter; and yours seems like not much of a reply; but I still maintain some theory of forms is necessary to understanding, not just philosophy, but all forms of relationships. And this is because you cannot find a totally informal relationship any more than you can find a form entirely free of relationship.