Talk Elections

And if you actually were, just vote if you do or not.

I vote no because:
1-I dislike legalistic religious practices and
2-If I was raised non-Christian I would've converted.

Obviously I do.

Then shouldn't you not be on the internet now?

Probably. I recognize Catholic days that require me to do stuff, so if I was raised Jewish I'd probably still do the same. I tend to follow rules.

Only the Orthodox observe an internet blackout.

Yeah, I'm Jewish, and I'm fasting, but we (i.e. Reform and possibly Conservative: I'm Reform) can use the internet.

Then we should unban NY Jew today just for the lulz.

He was banned? That makes my day much better!

No because I like food.

I was raised Jewish, but not into the whole religion thing so whatever. Totally over it.

I'm into tradition and ritual, so I guess yeah.

Probably would've stopped practicing after a while.

Unetaneh Tokef Kedushat Hayom.  Behold the holy power of this day, it is awesome and full of dread.

If you were Jewish, attending Yom Kippur services is the one thing you do not skip out on.  Period.  The point I stopped going to Yom Kippur is about the point that I realized I wasn't really Jewish anymore at all.

Judaism is the one world religion that completely confounds and puzzles me.

That's always been my favorite part of the service, along with Kol Nidre.

I always had an issue with Unetaneh Tokef.  It implies predestination, which doesn't seem very fitting with the religion otherwise.

Kol Nidre is fascinating.  The prayer begging God to release one from promises one was unable to keep, it is a favorite of anti-Semites saying that Jews don't have to keep their deals.

Kol Nidre always interested me because it's not a prayer; it's a legal document.  I found its usage interesting on such a religious occasion.

Really? It's not the one with the golden plates, seer stones, and proxy baptisms?

I did until I left the faith a few years ago, so yes.

LDS is probably not a 'world religion' in the way he used the phrase.

Yeah, I dislike Unetaneh Tokef.
Also,
If you're Christian, you might have a tough time with that, because Christianity is kind of based on Judaism, with the added confusion of whatever the hell the Trinity is (How can Jesus be his own father? What the hell is the Holy Spirit?). You know what, just read the first half of your holy book if you're Christian. Take it almost literally. You have Orthodox Judaism. Then, do what some of the more moderate Churches do. You have Conservative Judaism. Then, consider what the United Church of Christ has done and add that. You get Reform Judaism. And finally, do what the Unitarians have done to Christianity. You have Reconstructionist Judaism.

Really? I'd love to try and explain it to you. You're Japanese (right?) and I just wanna flat-out admit that I have basically the same reaction to Buddhism...

I do recognize Yom Kippur, and I always fast, but I'll admit my record on actually attending services is kinda sparce.

Um...there's some pretty fundamental, important differences.  The emphasis on prayer in a holy language as opposed to praying in the vernacular (one that requires at least being able to sound out a ridiculous script), centuries of custom and tradition worked into the very fabric of the Jewish liturgy that is utterly at odds with what one would guess, the very confusing ethnicity/religion fusion...There's a lot of weird stuff going on in Judaism.

Anyway, I'm off to go listen to a Youtube video of some jackass in a tallit blow a shofar because somewhere deep inside I feel it's a necessary part of starting the new year.

Time to see if there's a video of some idiot passing out trying to do a tekiah gedolah!

If you find it, please send a link :)

Well as said, I'd almost certainly have converted to Christianity anyway so that would apply.

You would still be Jewish though. Anyone whose mother is a Jew is a Jew, belief has nothing to do with it.

And magic underwear! But I'm at least somewhat familiar with Christian ethics because there are a lot of Christians in the world. So American television/movies/literature, even if I don't watch a lot, tend to be infused with that kind of stuff, even if they're otherwise secular. And I don't think say, the moral system of the LDS Church is that far from most other Christian denominations. I don't understand Calvinists though.


I am not a Christian. I have never read the Bible. And it would not be an exaggeration to say that the majority of my knowledge about the Bible comes from an almost eponymous-named and dreadful porn I had the misfortune of experiencing during middle school. I really having no idea what you're talking about.

Also, taking it literally? So uh, Christian fundamentalism?


Not really. It's complicated. But ultimately irrelevant.

I have a strange relationship with Buddhism. I wouldn't say I understand it. But I've been exposed to it a great deal, at least the East Asian variant. So I couldn't really engage in a theological discussion about it, but I could probably look at Buddhist stuff and go "oh, that makes sense". Which is pretty much the relationship most other people in East Asia have to it. Which is probably the same relationship many Americans, especially the less educated/devout, have with Christianity.

Ah, sorry, I'm from the US so I'm kind of used to people knowing about Christianity.

I really dislike "ethnoreligion" and basically refuse to recognize it. Also based on this logic what happens if a girl raised Jewish converts and then gets married and has her own kids that she raises Christian. Are those kids also Jewish even though no one in the family would identify as a Jew?

Dumb question. If I was raised Jewish such a significant amount of my upbringing would be different I would inevitably view the world differently in a number of ways. How would I know how such a me would think?

Yes. There are plenty of Jews whose beliefs completly contradict the established beliefs. Some Jews are even atheists.

For the record, I see a considerable difference between a person having Ashkenazi or Sephardic ethnic descent and being an automatic "Jew."  Though Judaism might consider a person as such, it's absurd to take, say, a Jewish convert to Christianity and claim that he is still a Jew.

EDIT:  And it also raises the question of what happens when that belief collides with Islam's patrilinear belief that the child of a Muslim man is a Muslim.  Child of a Jewish woman and a Muslim man?

Yeah I get that such a person would remain still Ashkenazi or Sephardic ethnically, but to still insist on them being still a Jew is kind of absurd. In the example above the children of the hypothetical convert wouldn't know much about Judaism even, and if any are male they might not even be circumcised. They are certainly half-Ashkenazi (most likely if it's in the US as we are assuming) ethnically, but by no useful standard are they "Jews".

I was reminded if this recently.

And no, it sounds miserable just like Ramadan. Hence why I say a hypothetical Muslim or Jewish BRTD would've converted to emergent Christianity.

None of us have any idea of what we would be like if raised in different situations.

Well perhaps as much as I observe Christmas as a non-Jew (as to Christmas I might give a present or two, maybe some lights around the front door (in white, I don't like colors), but that is about it). As to the Jewish holiday, I might have the traditional meal with some ritual attending it (yes, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday), but skip the fasting, and of course, skip going to Temple. I would make some gesture to honor my culture, but nothing that is too demanding or inconvenient, as one who is not religious.

I voted "yes," but consider it a quite pathetic yes.

That's simply not true. Basic personality traits would remain intact.

Of course I would.

I mean, I'm not a gigantic fan of religious rules/organized religion, so nah, I wouldn't go the full way.

I would be a totally different person if I grew up with different parents and that is true of probably over  90% of people.


I had the best and most loving mom and dad in the world so I consider my self-lucky

I miss this classic genre of threads that poses the eternal question:

"If BRTD was born as someone other than BRTD, would he nonetheless end up turning himself into BRTD?", to which BRTD always answers "yes".

My God what a retarded thread. Anyway, I kept Yom Kippur this time (and the five times before), both the fast and all the other commandments - though I wasn't raised to do it. Kol Nidrei and Neilah are probably the two most awe-inspiring services of the year.

I'm half Jewish (technically 3/4 mom's mom was Jewish, but my mom was raised Catholic, and my dad was raised Jewish and identifies as a secular Jew).

I was raised with some Jewish and some Catholic traditions but not raised to be a person of faith.

Judging by how I love food and don't care for many rules/traditions, I almost certainly would not have fasted.