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This made me look up the term secular in context to Judaism. How did I not know that until now?
How did I not know that until now?
Unironically, I’d like to know. Not having a go at you. There seem to be lots of people who don’t know that. But without that bit of knowledge, the holocaust doesn’t make sense.
The nazis defined anyone with jewish grandparents to be part of a jewish race, by law. That even included a few christian priests. Of course, the nazis didn’t invent the idea. People never liked converts much. When you prosecute someone, you want to get the loot. It’s never about selflessly helping people go to heaven.
Historically, it’s a truism that a race is a result of racism. First, a group is hated or subjugated. Then membership - and supposed negative traits - become defined as unalterable, heritable facts.
I think it was something I’d been told beforehand, but it wasn’t filed away correctly. For me, the Holocaust was always a tragedy. Such a massive loss of human lives will always be a tragedy. In that regard, I didn’t see it as more of a tragedy because secular Jews were caught up in the mix. It’s a tragedy because any life was caught up in the mix. But I also feel the Trans-atlantic Slave Trade is a tragedy and we continue to feel and reap the rewards of that to this very day, where there’s a bunch of people that don’t even realise Africa is a continent.
For those that don’t know, being Jewish is the only ethnicity in the world that also refers to religion and (though now seldomly used due to antisemitic usage) national identities. Secular Jews are quite common in less Orthodox communities
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
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!
Yeah my dad is a Jewish atheist (or agnostic, depending on how much he feels like placating my catholic mom lol)
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).
pattern buffer
I’ve checked the logs myself, there’s no anomalous readings from the pattern buffers. Shhhhhhh
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 NewmanEven (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.
I am also a Jewish atheist married to a formerly Christian (although not since she was a child) atheist.
Haha me too!!
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.
Also Bernie Sanders
Sadly, he is not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhsjmKDwPAw
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
Good luck convincing people either Larry David or Woody Allen aren’t Jewish.
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
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.
Something something XKCD 10000 mumble mumble
Mara is fantastic. I especially like her voicing „The Old Woman Who secretly lives in your house“ in „Welcome to Nightvale.“
Came here looking for this. She was excellent in that role.
That’s her? Lmao I had no idea
Other nightvale fans!
Daniel Radcliffe is Irish and Jewish?
Daniel Radcliffe is allergic to nickels??
Everyone’s allergic to nickels, if you eat enough of them
Anyone can be allergic to nickels if you throw them hard enough.
What if you attentively wrap the nickels in a nice sock & repeatedly hit someone with it?
Can that cause a reaction?Of course, it will be equal and opposite to the hit action.
If he had a nickel for every time he’s seen that reaction, he would be hospitalized
No, he’s English. Though according to Wikipedia his mum is Jewish and born in South Africa and his dad is protestant and born in Northern Ireland, which I guess to an American is “half Irish and half Jewish” because of their weird way of describing their ancestry like it’s their nationality.
What did you say, Loyalist? You dare question my resolve? I am a soldier of the Continental Army, trained in the art of guerrilla warfare, honed by the fires of battle. I have crossed the Delaware, faced redcoats on the field, and I possess a skill set beyond your comprehension.
You think your king and army can intimidate me? Think again. I have the will of liberty coursing through my veins, and a mind sharper than any bayonet. I have fired my musket with unmatched accuracy, and I’ve outmaneuvered your kind at every turn.
You are nothing to me but a loyalist lackey, and I will rain down a hail of rebellion upon you. You’re not prepared for the force that is the spirit of independence! I will take to the battlefield and make you regret ever crossing paths with an American patriot.
I’ll unleash a storm of cannon fire that will echo through the ages. You can’t even begin to fathom the lengths to which I would go to defend my freedom, and when I’m through, you’ll be begging to be part of my cause.
So, while you sit there in your fine London attire, clutching your tea, remember this: I fight not just for myself, but for my countrymen and the very ideals of liberty. You’ve mistaken my humility for weakness, but I assure you, the wrath of a free man is something you cannot comprehend.
Try me, you loyalist fool.
Has a copypasta just been born?
Aren’t you considered Jewish if your mother is Jewish?
Soooo his mom is Jewish and his dad is Irish…feels like you’re reeeeeeeally reaching for an “America Bad” here
More just “America odd”. From a British perspective Americans seem to be very obsessed with their ancestry and talk about it like it’s their nationality. Just a culture difference.
Also be careful about assuming a Northern Irish protestant identifies as Irish!
That’s what happens when almost everyone in the country had ancestors who only came here in the last 200 years. The “American identity” is founded in the idea that either we or our ancestors were born somewhere else and then came here. It’s much different than someplace like the UK where so many are probably within a days walk of where one of their 10th great grandparents lived.
Nah bro. Elsewhere in the Americas people identify with the country they were born at. It’s a cultural trait. When you start justifying with fake exceptionalism is when you make it weird.
Not sure what your point is. The US is incredibly diverse, and that diversity has very modern roots (when compared to many other diverse countries). That’s not exceptionalism, that’s just demographics. It’s not a competition. Combined with large internal migrations over its history and its large size, many Americans live in cities and regions they have no historical family connection to. So when answering a question about why “Americans seem to be very obsessed with their nationality” it seemed relevant.
No, thats not just a British protective, that all of the world.
It is well known how Americans use their ancestry, just as you described.
And yes, it’s just odd, perhaps irritating (for Europeans), but it’s just how they decided to (self-?) identity, let them express themselves. And it’s not like they are keeping it a secret :).From a British perspective Americans seem to be very obsessed with their ancestry
Oh ok, well, in the mean time, say hi to your King and the Royal Family and your other nobility by ancestry for us.
Don’t worry, most of us find it pretty odd too, but apparently American media fucking loves them!
American media love a spectacle… just like how non-Americans seem to delight in watching Americans self-immolate.
Mara seems like a really cool person. I just listened to the behind the bastards episode with her and she felt exceptionally genuine.
she was active in the Weird Twitter scene (pre musk) and blew up a bunch of mine and my friends dumb joke tweets.
She also wrote a great book that I recommend.
How you gonna recommend a book but not drop the title lol
We know the author, can’t be too hard to figure out :)
Assuming she only has one book.
“Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame”
Same here, I actually got this post from the Behind the Bastards sub. She was a great guest.
Usually Robert and Sophie are good about getting the guests that vibe with the show back for more so here’s hoping! Ed Helms wasnt bad either but he didn’t riff as well with Robert
I liked the Ed Helms episodes. He approached the subject as more of a journalist than a comedian. Which sort of changes things up. Robert got to rock some of his own journalism.
I think with a slightly different subject matter the two could mesh quite well.
Maybe something that Ed Helms has some passing knowledge of.
Oh I really liked them too, and I agree that Robert appreciated Ed’s questions, but I also think he had more fun with Mara. And I know Robert doesn’t give a personal fuck that he was talking to someone as famous as Ed Helms, but I got the impression he was trying to be as professional as he’s capable of being because it would be really good for Cool Zone overall if they get more big names like him on.
I just learned that her cousin is Ben Shapiro…
Oh really? Damn… Based on her appearance on Behind the Bastards the other week, I’ll just say it sounds like we’d have something in common, I hate my idiot cousin too. lol
Yeah, I bet family gatherings are… interesting to say the least, lmao
