Amen! ;-)

Posted by Noel Hurtley on 8 January 2009 @ 12am

Derek, it sounds like your thoughts are in line with UU too.

Posted by Paul on 8 January 2009 @ 4am

I get it, I think. I’m not Jewish, but my boyfriend is. The first time he told me that his parents wouldn’t like the fact that we were dating didn’t come down to God, it came down to culture. Jews, he said, are born Jews. If you’re not, you’re not (me!). If you are, you are (him!), and it has nothing to do with God. I don’t know if that’s universal thinking, but it might as well be for me, considering he -or his parents? - have already decided our different cultures will eventually divide us.

Posted by Megan on 8 January 2009 @ 7am

I love this post. I guess I am a Jewish atheist too. But I don’t have a rabbi so maybe a little less Jewish.

I’m glad I found you blog (where the hell have I been). I’ll be back.

Posted by tangobaby on 8 January 2009 @ 10am

That intersection area is actually quite large, at least my experience seems to indicate that. My rabbi also says it’s okay!

Posted by jessamyn on 8 January 2009 @ 10am

You know, I’m a person of faith. And there are some of my faith who would argue that I should try to change your thinking. You know, I don’t want to … I would rather work with you to try to make this world a better one. We each have our own reasons for doing so, and we’re both gonna have our own visages of what that better place looks like, but dammit … we’re gonna agree on enough stuff, I bet, that it’ll be really fun to strive together. :)

Posted by Geof F. Morris on 8 January 2009 @ 10am

I’m in the same (or a similar) boat. When I ended up googling “open source” and “judaism” I ended up at Douglass Rushkoff’s book “Nothing Sacred”. It’s pretty great. http://www.rushkoff.com/nothingsacred.html

Posted by jpb on 8 January 2009 @ 10am

A parallel graphic, but replacing “Jews” with “Christians” would pretty much fit me. I guess the name they have for that kind of sort is “agnostic”. There are plenty of questions about what makes the whole universe work and function the way it does that organized religion simply can’t answer in a convincing way - and when they do, they leave you with more doubts than facts. Considering we’re all but a tiny speck in the gigantic vastness of the whole universe, we end up giving ourselves (and our beliefs) way more importance than we really have in the whole scheme of things, all things considered…

Posted by beto on 8 January 2009 @ 10am

You’re in good company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheist_Jew

Posted by thau! on 8 January 2009 @ 10am

That describes my wife and I. Judaism is about much more than just the notion of a “god”

Posted by Ethan on 8 January 2009 @ 10am

you’d probably enjoy reading some Lloyd Geering

Posted by sue on 8 January 2009 @ 11am

Wheeeeeee! We can start our own church… Evangelical Atheism…spreading the good word of no word.

Posted by Dawn on 8 January 2009 @ 12pm

Evangelical Atheism! I love it.

Posted by WonderMike on 8 January 2009 @ 12pm

Haha, reminds me of the old joke about “There is no God and Mordechai Kaplan is his prophet”.

However, I think the idea of Jewish Atheist is rather different from Atheistic Judaism. Also, there really isn’t anything terribly innovative about this position. It isn’t and will never be mainstream Judaism, but it has been and always will be a fringe. It has typically been fashionable in Jewish diaspora outside of Israel.

As long ago as 500BC we have records of Maccabean kings speaking out against emmanationist sects, munging Judaism with emmanationist philosophy is practically synonymous with Philo of Alexandria, and there is some record of the Rabbis speaking out against a similar philosophy in the Jewish community after the bar koba rebellion. Shaye D. Cohen’s book covers the history of the various trains of thought fairly well.

Posted by Joshua Allen on 8 January 2009 @ 2pm

If i had a more positive experience in my 30 years with members of the jewish community i was brought up in, then i may share your position. But, the cultural association is one i am apt to equally reject as the religious faith.

For those Jews i know with varying levels of faith (often very little), i have become disappointed that the values perpetuated along with the lovely traditions can include: bigotry, social (group)isolation, greed, and a sense of entitlement or elitism.

In addition to this i know many jews who can debate their positions on the support of israel quite well (although i often personally believe their support goes way over the line of reasonable and fair to all humans). On the other hand, there is another group of uneducated, indoctrinated blind supporters of the state, that year after year donate money and time to support the state or an organization they know little about.

So i think I’m trying to say. I’m just plain atheist.

Posted by JC on 8 January 2009 @ 6pm

Ditto. Couldn’t have said it better.

Posted by Seth Rubenstein on 8 January 2009 @ 10pm