8 ms·

I am sorry, could you kindly explain what you mean when you say that you’re Jewish, but not religious? I thought that if one did not observe certain tenants of

by leyth 8y ago

I am sorry, could you kindly explain what you mean when you say that you’re Jewish, but not religious? I thought that if one did not observe certain tenants of Judaism that they were longer Jewish?

myegorov 8y ago
This is a common misconception. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions
- leyth 8y ago
  I’ve heard about converting to Judaism. If it is an ethnicity how can that be possible?
  - icelancer 8y ago
    Uh. It's both, man. EDIT: Downvotes? For stating a fact about Jewish ethnicity and religion? OK, I guess.
    - leyth 8y ago
      Not possible.
      - icelancer 8y ago
        ... Alright man. It is, though. I am not sure how this is confusing to you. You're the first person I've ever met who has this problem.
      - goldenkey 8y ago
        https://nypost.com/2010/06/13/genetic-testing-raises-an-age-old-question-are-the-jews-a-people-or-a-religion/ https://nypost.com/2010/06/13/genetic-testing-raises-an-age-...
      - albedoa 8y ago
        You are making it difficult for us to assume good faith. What is wrong with the explanations that have been provided to you?
    - leyth 8y ago
      I was down-voted until I’ve lost all karma points! I wonder what harm or disconvert I may have caused by asking a simple question about a users comments.
  - lsc 8y ago
    >I’ve heard about converting to Judaism. If it is an ethnicity how can that be possible? I am not qualified to offer an opinion on Judaism specifically, but people have been "converting" to different ethnicities for all of recorded history. I personally have a Scottish last name; but that branch of my family is catholic, which is a little unusual, but not impossible. Tracing back the paperwork, my "Scottish' ancestor arrived in America on a boat that came from Ireland during the famous famine in the mid 1800s. Now... maybe it was a Scottish person who just happened to be living in Ireland... but it seems a lot more likely to me that it was an irish dude who looked around, saw the difference in how people were treated, and gave his landlord's name to the immigration agent. I'm imagining the guy running around new york hamming up a brogue James Doohan style. But, I mean, today? I get to claim I'm as Scottish-American as anyone else, and there's not a lot you can say otherwise. But there are countless stories like that where a person integrates themselves into another ethnicity to the point where they are accepted and they (or their children) become indistinguishable from other members of that ethnicity. This is one of those major problems of racialism; most people define ethnicity by "looks like X" which often doesn't really line up with, well, anything.
    - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
      Scots are a people group, Irish Scots are a thing. Indeed, my understanding is that Irish Scots invaded Gwynedd in N.Wales after the Roman departure. The Tudors -- the English Royal family, Henry VII & VIII -- hail from Gwynedd, so they're Welsh English Irish Scots (from Scandinavia before that I imagine?). Anyway, lying and converting seem different. Assuming an identity as a Jew and being a Jew are surely different.
      - lsc 8y ago
        sure, but my point is, who decides what ethnicity you are? I mean, your average man on the street, when asked to identify ethnicity is still pretty much with Blumenbach; "what do you look like?" Functionally, there is what ethnicity you say you are, and what ethnicity other people see you as. I don't have a complete picture of my genealogy, and even if I did, even if I could say I was descended from some ur-scott and you could say the same of all of my other ancestors, you're still just pushing the problem back in time. People migrate. People have been migrating for as long as people have been people; You could, with enough work, figure out that some of my ancestors were in country X at time Y... but I don't think that is going to line up with your common definition of ethnicity. If I think I'm ethnicity X and if most people perceive me as ethnicity X... well, then I very clearly am ethnicity X... regardless of what my great great grandparents may or may not have been. It's more complex if I think I'm X but others perceive me as Y... but it's still all about perception, as far as I can tell.
RichardCA 8y ago
It's perfectly acceptable to be secular and still consider yourself to be Jewish. http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm
- leyth 8y ago
  Based on your understanding Christianity is also an ethnicity?
  - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
    Many people treat it that way. If you're "Christianed" or "Baptised" CofE and Catholics will both mostly consider you Christian even if you're an atheist by confession. The issue is that religious actions become cultural actions. And that religious leaders claim people as their own. People who live in Thisistan are Chrewslims; or people whose parents were Chrewslims are also that. Silly.
    - kaitai 8y ago
      Overall silly, but that history and location are important to understanding the ground in which a person grew, so to speak. There are some quips about "the God an atheist doesn't believe in" that have a point -- a person's worldview is shaped by ambient society and the philosophy they were exposed to as a child. It is weird how culture and religion become decoupled and religious actions become cultural markers.

by leyth 8y ago

I am sorry, could you kindly explain what you mean when you say that you’re Jewish, but not religious? I thought that if one did not observe certain tenants of Judaism that they were longer Jewish?

myegorov 8y ago

This is a common misconception. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethnic_divisions

leyth 8y ago
I’ve heard about converting to Judaism. If it is an ethnicity how can that be possible?
- icelancer 8y ago
  Uh. It's both, man. EDIT: Downvotes? For stating a fact about Jewish ethnicity and religion? OK, I guess.
  - leyth 8y ago
    Not possible.
    - icelancer 8y ago
      ... Alright man. It is, though. I am not sure how this is confusing to you. You're the first person I've ever met who has this problem.
    - goldenkey 8y ago
      https://nypost.com/2010/06/13/genetic-testing-raises-an-age-old-question-are-the-jews-a-people-or-a-religion/ https://nypost.com/2010/06/13/genetic-testing-raises-an-age-...
    - albedoa 8y ago
      You are making it difficult for us to assume good faith. What is wrong with the explanations that have been provided to you?
  - leyth 8y ago
    I was down-voted until I’ve lost all karma points! I wonder what harm or disconvert I may have caused by asking a simple question about a users comments.
- lsc 8y ago
  >I’ve heard about converting to Judaism. If it is an ethnicity how can that be possible? I am not qualified to offer an opinion on Judaism specifically, but people have been "converting" to different ethnicities for all of recorded history. I personally have a Scottish last name; but that branch of my family is catholic, which is a little unusual, but not impossible. Tracing back the paperwork, my "Scottish' ancestor arrived in America on a boat that came from Ireland during the famous famine in the mid 1800s. Now... maybe it was a Scottish person who just happened to be living in Ireland... but it seems a lot more likely to me that it was an irish dude who looked around, saw the difference in how people were treated, and gave his landlord's name to the immigration agent. I'm imagining the guy running around new york hamming up a brogue James Doohan style. But, I mean, today? I get to claim I'm as Scottish-American as anyone else, and there's not a lot you can say otherwise. But there are countless stories like that where a person integrates themselves into another ethnicity to the point where they are accepted and they (or their children) become indistinguishable from other members of that ethnicity. This is one of those major problems of racialism; most people define ethnicity by "looks like X" which often doesn't really line up with, well, anything.
  - pbhjpbhj 8y ago
    Scots are a people group, Irish Scots are a thing. Indeed, my understanding is that Irish Scots invaded Gwynedd in N.Wales after the Roman departure. The Tudors -- the English Royal family, Henry VII & VIII -- hail from Gwynedd, so they're Welsh English Irish Scots (from Scandinavia before that I imagine?). Anyway, lying and converting seem different. Assuming an identity as a Jew and being a Jew are surely different.
    - lsc 8y ago
      sure, but my point is, who decides what ethnicity you are? I mean, your average man on the street, when asked to identify ethnicity is still pretty much with Blumenbach; "what do you look like?" Functionally, there is what ethnicity you say you are, and what ethnicity other people see you as. I don't have a complete picture of my genealogy, and even if I did, even if I could say I was descended from some ur-scott and you could say the same of all of my other ancestors, you're still just pushing the problem back in time. People migrate. People have been migrating for as long as people have been people; You could, with enough work, figure out that some of my ancestors were in country X at time Y... but I don't think that is going to line up with your common definition of ethnicity. If I think I'm ethnicity X and if most people perceive me as ethnicity X... well, then I very clearly am ethnicity X... regardless of what my great great grandparents may or may not have been. It's more complex if I think I'm X but others perceive me as Y... but it's still all about perception, as far as I can tell.

RichardCA 8y ago

It's perfectly acceptable to be secular and still consider yourself to be Jewish. http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm

leyth 8y ago
Based on your understanding Christianity is also an ethnicity?
- pbhjpbhj 8y ago
  Many people treat it that way. If you're "Christianed" or "Baptised" CofE and Catholics will both mostly consider you Christian even if you're an atheist by confession. The issue is that religious actions become cultural actions. And that religious leaders claim people as their own. People who live in Thisistan are Chrewslims; or people whose parents were Chrewslims are also that. Silly.
  - kaitai 8y ago
    Overall silly, but that history and location are important to understanding the ground in which a person grew, so to speak. There are some quips about "the God an atheist doesn't believe in" that have a point -- a person's worldview is shaped by ambient society and the philosophy they were exposed to as a child. It is weird how culture and religion become decoupled and religious actions become cultural markers.