How I Can Be Both a Jew and an Atheist
And why I’m not agnostic.
No, I swear, questioning everything is part of being Jewish! Israel means to struggle with God!
I think you just think that because it’s what you do. I don’t think most Jews would say that.
Remember when I brought you to Temple? And the rabbi opened it up for discussion?
Yeah, it was like a college class. It was so much cooler than a church sermon.
See, Judaism’s about orthopraxy, not orthodoxy. You can believe anything. It’s about keeping traditions.
Yeah, I don’t know… maybe.
In our 9 years together, my husband and I have had this discussion so many times. He’s an atheist who was raised Christian. Since he was brought up in an orthodoxic religion, that’s what he thinks religion is: believing the same thing as everyone else.
I’m an atheist who was raised Jewish, and who is still a Jew. Since I was raised in an orthopraxic religion, I know religion can instead be about doing the same rituals and mitzvahs. I can believe whatever I believe and still be a Jew.
We’re raising our kiddo Jewish, and atheist, and we plan to keep exposing her to all the many different ways there are to be human.
I always knew my Judaism was different than my peers’ Christianity, despite always hearing about Judeo-Christian values, but it wasn’t until a college professor spelled out the orthodoxy/orthopraxy difference that I really understood.
The Wikipedia entry for orthopraxy includes this unattributed, but totally legit, assertion:
“…some argue that equating the term ‘faith’ with ‘religion’ presents a Christian-biased notion of what the primary characteristic of religion is.”
(So, if someone wants to edit the Wiki page to put my essay as the attribution, go right ahead!)
Yes, religion is a tough concept to define, so most Americans uses a Christian…
