Victor Frankl once put it this way. An airplane is an airplane even when it's on the ground, but it is not really an airplane except when it is flying. The airplane flies, not when its components are working, but when they are working according to a plan, following instructions. Only by accepting that authority can man find the meaning of the instructions for himself, as part of his potential nature. C. Finally, there is one element of halakha as a system of law that may appear strange even by comparison to secular laws.
Laws require exact definitions.
Good deeds may perhaps be defined by whether a good feeling ensues, but laws, as we see in law books, require exact definitions. Since we do not always take our laws that seriously, we tend not to pay attention to these definitions in practice. For instance, if it is against the law to drive over the white line on the street corner, we understand that the line has to be drawn in a particular spot, but would be amazed if a policeman would cite us for going over the line by a mere 5 cm. Legally though, one side of that line is permitted, and one side is prohibited. In halakha, exact definitions are as binding as the laws themselves.