For those that don’t know, being Jewish is the only ethnicity in the world that also refers to religion and (though no longer used due to antisemitic usage) national identities. Secular Jews are quite common
The Jewish religion is entirely separate from the Jewish ethnicity.
There may be a good amount of overlap but one can be ethnically Jewish and not religiously Jewish (Woody Allen), and likewise one can be religiously Jewish but not ethnically Jewish (Ivanka Trump).
Sincerely, a Jewish atheist who celebrates Christmas.
Lineage plus culture. There’s a lot of unique Jewish culture that has developed over the centuries. Some of it has spread to the general public- bagels, the word “schmuck,” etc.
how much he feels like placating my catholic mom lol
Please tell me she has, at least once, made a reference to “your people killing my savior”
I know an ethnically jewish/religious catholic couple that do this every time they get into an argument and realize it’s stupid to argue about, one of them will go “WELL YOU KILLED MY GOD!” and that’s basically the end of the argument because they’re too busy giggling.
I wish! My mom is DEVOUT. She has no sense of humor about it. If any of us tried to joke about it she’d send us right to purgatory (aka the catholic pattern buffer).
I also have a few friends who are practicing Jews (I don’t know if that’s the right phrase), and also atheists. Judaism appears to be more focussed on orthopraxy (doing things correctly) than belief, which was confusing to me at first, as someone who grew up steeped in Christianity
I just looked this up. The idea is called an ethnic religion, where a religion is closely tied to an ethnicity as opposed to universal religions like Christianity or Islam. It’s far from the only one, but it is the one that has the most mind share, at least in the West.
For those that don’t know, being Jewish is the only ethnicity in the world that also refers to religion and (though no longer used due to antisemitic usage) national identities. Secular Jews are quite common
Yeah my dad is a Jewish atheist (or agnostic, depending on how much he feels like placating my catholic mom lol)
I am also a Jewish atheist married to a formerly Christian (although not since she was a child) atheist.
And for those who say that you cannot be an atheist and a Jew, the following people are/were atheists:
Larry David
Sarah Silverman
Both Carl and Rob Reiner
Gene Wilder
Jerry Lewis
Randy Newman
Even (although I hate to bring him up) Woody Allen is an atheist. Good luck convincing people either Larry David or Woody Allen aren’t Jewish.
David Duchovny too!
Yeah, but he wants to believe.
Just wait for some talking head asshat to coin the term “JINO”.
there are episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm where LD has other Jews yell at him for being a terrible Jew. that man is a maniac genius
Yeah… if telling fascists you don’t practice didn’t make a difference, bc “you’re still a Jew,” then you can be Jewish and anything
Also Bernie Sanders
Sadly, he is not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhsjmKDwPAw
In practice, would that be like being atheist but still celebrating Hannukah or Christmas?
Or is it just Jewish heritage from a lineage perspective regardless of one’s perspective/practice on religion/god?
The Jewish religion is entirely separate from the Jewish ethnicity.
There may be a good amount of overlap but one can be ethnically Jewish and not religiously Jewish (Woody Allen), and likewise one can be religiously Jewish but not ethnically Jewish (Ivanka Trump).
Sincerely, a Jewish atheist who celebrates Christmas.
Lineage plus culture. There’s a lot of unique Jewish culture that has developed over the centuries. Some of it has spread to the general public- bagels, the word “schmuck,” etc.
Haha me too!!
Please tell me she has, at least once, made a reference to “your people killing my savior”
I know an ethnically jewish/religious catholic couple that do this every time they get into an argument and realize it’s stupid to argue about, one of them will go “WELL YOU KILLED MY GOD!” and that’s basically the end of the argument because they’re too busy giggling.
I wish! My mom is DEVOUT. She has no sense of humor about it. If any of us tried to joke about it she’d send us right to purgatory (aka the catholic pattern buffer).
I’ve checked the logs myself, there’s no anomalous readings from the pattern buffers. Shhhhhhh
I feel like if the Catholic is Italian it can get funnier with a “no you did”
I also have a few friends who are practicing Jews (I don’t know if that’s the right phrase), and also atheists. Judaism appears to be more focussed on orthopraxy (doing things correctly) than belief, which was confusing to me at first, as someone who grew up steeped in Christianity
I just looked this up. The idea is called an ethnic religion, where a religion is closely tied to an ethnicity as opposed to universal religions like Christianity or Islam. It’s far from the only one, but it is the one that has the most mind share, at least in the West.
Only tangentially related, but I find it interesting how wildly divergent the valence of the word “Jew” can be based almost exclusively on context.
Jews are wonderful people with a beautiful culture!