Quote:
Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout
The point I was making is that in order to be Christian you have to follow the teaching of Jesus. A fairly low bar, in my opinion.
However, if you don't follow the teachings of Christ, if you do the opposite an actively work against the teaching of Christ, then you cannot be Christian.
Essentially, just calling yourself a member of a group does not make you one.
I've never read the Torah, I've never had a bar mitzvah, so even if I called myself Jewish, I wouldn't be. I don't meet the requirements of the faith.
If you're born and raised in China, with Chinese ancestry without any European ancestors, I don't think it's a fallacy to say you're not a Scotsman.
Am I falling into the True Scotsman fallacy on that? I don't think I am as I'm not saying "If you say you're Jewish/Christian/Scottish/whatever without meeting the requirements, I'm saying not a True member of the faith/group", I'm saying you're not at all.
Hey, I could be misunderstanding. I could be wrong, and am open to having my mind changed (hence the thread and trying to lay out the background).
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With regard to being Jewish, you are incorrect. So long as your mother is Jewish (or, in some denominations, your father), then you are a Jew, regardless if you follow all or none of the tenets/traditions/dogma. Even Jews who convert to another religion are still considered Jewish, they have simply just gone "off the way".
A Jew who eats pork is still a Jew. A Jew who works on the Sabbath is still a Jew. No one in Adam Sandler's Hannukah Song is an observant/religious Jew but they are all Jews just the same. Jesus was a Jew who preached a different message from the norm of the times. All these Jews are welcome in my orthodox synagogue.
Having a bar/bat mitzvah is a right of passage, not a determination of faith or belonging. Many Jews who were not allowed to have bar/bat mitzvahs due to coming of age during WWII or in the USSR has them later in life.
If good Christians read the bible, then they have read the Torah. It is likely they have not read the Talmud (which most Jews haven't either).
A Rabbi Professor of mine in University had another track - If someone stands up and says "I am a Jew" and is willing to take upon them the joys and hardships of being a Jew, then we must consider them a Jew.
Judaism is not an all or nothing deal.
(Now, I am not sure how this fits in with your post/question. Just wanted to add what I know.)