Judaism Is a Religion. Is Jewishness its Own Thing?

Posted by on May 22, 2007 in Rants | 4 comments

I’m not quite sure what I mean by “own thing”. I don’t know about race; however, it has an obtuse definition. According to dictionary.com, “a group of persons related by common descent or heredity” constitute race. So, then is Jewishness a race? I try to steer away from the term when speaking of the Jewish people because it brings up so many negative connotations somewhat due to Hitler’s beliefs against the “Jewish race”. I will sometimes use culture or even heritage; however those same words are often used to define race. Many atheists are familiar with such bloggers as The Atheist Jew and The Jewish Atheist, so it doesn’t strike me as odd that it’s possible to not believe in god or any of the religious texts while still identifying with the Jewish culture.

Many true believers in the Jewish faith may disagree, believing that Judaism is a religion and all of us atheist Jews are just atheists. I can understand that point of view. However, I’m still unsure where I really stand on the issue. I feel a part of the Jewish culture, for whatever reason. Perhaps, its just societal brainwashing (as it all is). It can’t be that my mother is Jewish, as in the Jewish religion ‘you are what your mother is’. That’s their religion, not mine because I don’t believe in the indoctrination of children.

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  • BEAJ

    There is a Jewish culture just like there is an Irish Catholic culture.
    Family defines us, and most atheist Jews have many family members who are theist Jews, and we wind up going to Jewish weddings, funerals and seders, etc.
    Hitler didn’t care if a Jew believed in God or not. Yes, anti-semites help define us too.
    Most of the world identifies me as an ethnic Jew, and I am not here to argue it.

  • Intergalactic Hussy

    Well put!

  • Chris Bradley

    It’s something I face every day, hehe. The novel I’m writing, Simon Peter, is about . . . Jesus’ friend, Simon Peter, and Jesus, Peter, and everyone else around them, are Jews. BUT, they are also the first CHRISTIANS. How do I, as an atheist, address this dilemma? I have chosen to write the book as directed at Christians, so I’m using the Christian beliefs about these characters rather than trying to describe 1st century Judaism, but I do it with some reservations.

    Still, “what is Jewish” is a harder question than with most other religions. Back in the Day, most religions had a tribal character, but most religions, nowadays, are “universal” (in the sense that they are open to everyone, after a fashion). Jews are one of the few religions where the religion also describes, to some extent, an ethnicity. (There are a few other people who are like that, like the Parsis, and people who are still literally in tribes with literally tribal religion, but it has mostly gone away. The Jews are probably the only fairly large group of people who are “modern” whose religion also, to some extent, defines their ethnicity.)

    I think. ;)

  • jazzman633

    I can relate. Take a look at my post on “Being Jewish” and let me know what you think.

    shalom,

    Alan

    http://www.thejewishatheist.com