Mike Pearl says he's Jewish

[docmom]

You may not know, but I’m Jewish and I’ve been to a lot of Jewish meetings.

These "Jewish meetings" , are they anything like the gay agenda meetings and feminist meetings the fundies claim happen all the time? Or is this psychopath refering to actual Jewish religious services? Oh, and Mikie, a "Jewish" seder at your Christian church doesn't count.

[uber frau]

"Jewish" can mean a number of things in fundidom but mostly falls into two separate categories: Messianic/faux Jewish. All the fun of fundie Christianity with a liberal sprinkling of anything from an attempt at keeping all the rules in the Pentateuch to adopting a few of the cultural practises of modern (or more modern than Moses) Jewery. Lina at her best (or worst ).

Having Jewish heritage. Usually only from a geneological POV. (Hence, Doug Phillips is a tool also claims to be Jewish, so does Older Botkin. Wait, does he? Well, he claims he's a lot of things anyway.) I suspect that's what Michael Pearl claims as will.

[Hane]

my father is a full Russian Jew, and my mom is Irish Czech. Does that make me not Jewish? I really don't like it when people tell me I'm not, because being half Jewish has always been a huge part of my identity.

My cousin, who is Catholic, married a Reform Jewish man, and agreed from the beginning that their children would be raised Jewish.

I have heard of cases, in Conservative and Orthodox Judaism, in which the child of a gentile mother and a Jewish father is expected to "convert" in order to be recognized as an "official" Jew. My cousin's children never had to go through such a thing--they simply had naming ceremonies and bat mitzvahs like any other Jewish girls would.

[2xx1xy1JD]

My cousin, who is Catholic, married a Reform Jewish man, and agreed from the beginning that their children would be raised Jewish.

I have heard of cases, in Conservative and Orthodox Judaism, in which the child of a gentile mother and a Jewish father is expected to "convert" in order to be recognized as an "official" Jew. My cousin's children never had to go through such a thing--they simply had naming ceremonies and bat mitzvahs like any other Jewish girls would.

Yes.

Reform Judaism recognizes someone as Jewish if one parent is Jewish AND if the person has clearly been raised as Jewish.

Conservative and Orthodox use the matrilineal descent rule: you are Jewish if your mother was Jewish, or if you were converted according to traditional Jewish law. If your mother was Jewish, the status of the father is not relevant and you can't "lose" your Jewishness by lack of observance.

Regardless of category, you are the child of your parents and may identify with their backgrounds.

[melk]

There are lots of folks - including some cousins of mine - who are technically Jewish according to traditional Jewish law, but who don't know it and are actively practicing other religions/no religion. Somewhere in your background, a relative of yours was no doubt organizing in the shtetl to overthrow the Czar.

I draw the line at embracing Michael Pearl, though.

We need a crazy fundie category on this website: http://www.jewornotjew.com/ (not breaking link b/c it's not fundie, just fun)

[OkToBeTakei]

There are lots of folks - including some cousins of mine - who are technically Jewish according to traditional Jewish law, but who don't know it and are actively practicing other religions/no religion. Somewhere in your background, a relative of yours was no doubt organizing in the shtetl to overthrow the Czar.

I draw the line at embracing Michael Pearl, though.

We need a crazy fundie category on this website: http://www.jewornotjew.com/ (not breaking link b/c it's not fundie, just fun)

I know that some of my forebears were different religion.

I really just do not get the right wing christianity obsession with Judaism. Out with my own cradle religion Judaism would be normal to me. For no other reason than we knew Jesus was not catholic HAHA!

I am far from being religious, but I genuinely feel sorry for those who practise their faith in a peaceable way having to put up with the cherry picking christians trying to make it up as they go along. Religion I do not respect really, people I do. As I do history. They just fail at intelligence and going to be a snob here. They are just ignorant.

[Arete]

OKTBT, aside from needing Jews and Israel to die in order to fullfill Revelations to a T :roll: , the right wing US Christian obsession really is easy to understand. To quote from "Fiddler On the Roof", it's "tradition". Well, actually the combination of tradition, ritual, and continuity. They can't admit to themselves that they are starving for ritual, because that is as good as admitting that the evil Catholics really have a few things and know a few things they could learn from and use. Since Catholicism literally represents the whore of Babylon to them, they have to go further back into Judaism. The irony is that they don't understand that a lot of the particular rituals of Judaism they are trying to appropriate were not developed until the medieval period.

[OkToBeTakei]

OKTBT, aside from needing Jews and Israel to die in order to fullfill Revelations to a T :roll: , the right wing US Christian obsession really is easy to understand. To quote from "Fiddler On the Roof", it's "tradition". Well, actually the combination of tradition, ritual, and continuity. They can't admit to themselves that they are starving for ritual, because that is as good as admitting that the evil Catholics really have a few things and know a few things they could learn from and use. Since Catholicism literally represents the whore of Babylon to them, they have to go further back into Judaism. The irony is that they don't understand that a lot of the particular rituals of Judaism they are trying to appropriate were not developed until the medieval period.

So incredibly sad. No respect for history or what it cost humanity to form that history. Why can't they just I dunno pick a symbol any symbol and make it their own. Jews have the Star. Catholics have the wee bloke on the cross. Maybe they could go with that fish thing they like. Would not look too bad on a chain :lol:

[FlorenceHamilton]

I understand that, but it still bothers me. Part of me asks, if I'm not Jewish, what do I call myself? I'm not half Russian. I'm half Russian Jew. That's what part of my ethnicity is, and it's so impressed on one half of my family, that that's what they were/are. Most of my relatives died in the Holocaust at the hand of the Nazis. They would have killed me, too. How am I not a Jew?

It's a rhetorical question, I suppose. It has just always bothered me. Even though it is not my religion, I take so much from the culture of my family. I know the Jewish law says I'm not one of them, but if I'm not, what am I? I don't care what they say, I am a Jew, and I will always be proud of that, and I will always correct people when they tell me I am not.

Ari, in the reform tradition, if your dad was Jewish and you embrace your Judaism, then you are Jewish. My parents, who ascribe to the Mother-descent rule, have an interesting take on it. They feel that if the Nazi's would have taken you out, then Jews should take you in. They would however, ask you to study, learn and be called to torah under the tutelage of a Rabbi.

[FlorenceHamilton]

So incredibly sad. No respect for history or what it cost humanity to form that history. Why can't they just I dunno pick a symbol any symbol and make it their own. Jews have the Star. Catholics have the wee bloke on the cross. Maybe they could go with that fish thing they like. Would not look too bad on a chain :lol:

I just made a Baptist-Jewish wedding. The cermonial traditions that stood out were the Chuppah and the glass breaking. The Baptist side were also completely fascinated by the Horah dance and the chair raising. They are SBC. Some of the them did drink. Some not. There did not seem to be any guest opposed to dancing, but the Egyptian, Greek, Italian and Irish friends and family of the bride sucked those stiff white folks right into the party. And my daughter had a "best gay" too. My Cuban friends call such events arroz con mangos. It actually worked out really well. They should try this in Congress.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Ari, in the reform tradition, if your dad was Jewish and you embrace your Judaism, then you are Jewish. My parents, who ascribe to the Mother-descent rule, have an interesting take on it. They feel that if the Nazi's would have taken you out, then Jews should take you in. They would however, ask you to study, learn and be called to torah under the tutelage of a Rabbi.

FWIW, Israel follows the "if the Nazis would have killed you, we'll take you in" rule. My husband has a bunch of Russian cousins who are Jewish on the paternal side, who moved there in 1991.

[cindyluvs24]

I don't like his whole "Jewish blood" thing. It's a religion with an accompanying culture. It can't be clinically diagnosed