You cannot be more wrong about the "rules", M&B. What the Buddha's teaching does, is point out the laws of cause and effect. If you perform an action, its result will come back at you like a boomerang. And it does not matter if the action is positive or negative, you still reap the result of it. There is no mystique to Buddhism. All it teaches is, if this happens, that happens, period.
Based on this, Buddhism has recommendations for what to do to become free. This is what the precepts (refraining from killing, lying, stealing etc.) are for. They are practical ways to purify one's mind.
You either practice to purify the mind, or you don't. It's totally up to you. If you are up for it, this Sangha is here to provide support as needed. But there is little point in empty talk about this or that.