Non-Christians on CS Old Thread Please Lock

[SugarCooki + Birdfly]

Kirbyme.

My Religion? Undecided. I am Genetically Christian but, I am undecided.

[champeo]

Champypaw. I'm Agnostic, Undecided about Christianity.

[Mycorrhizae]

My friend and I were just debating that, but I don't think it's true. Buddhism isn't quite atheistic, because they still believe in reincarnation - life after death. But Atheists don't believe in anything after life...so...I don't think we can say that if you're a Buddhist, you're an atheist.

Atheism only means lack of gods, not lack of spiritual beliefs. Although the term is commonly applied to those who have no religious beliefs whatsoever, it can be applied to anyone that doesn't believe in gods, regardless of other spiritual beliefs. Jediism is another atheistic religion, which is why you can quite easily be a Christian Jedi or Hindu Jedi or Heathen Jedi or whatever else you've got. I even know Christian Buddhists. I think in some cases, there are conflicting beliefs in such things, but I wouldn't really know much about that.

[Scarf]

...I am Genetically Christian...

Ah. Heh. I'm happy to see the whole 'genetic' thing be adopted by people, but I don't think people are actually thinking it through.

For background, I coined the term genetic Judaism and people've been picking it up around the forum. First time I've seen it applied to Christianity though.

Genetic Judaism (and I only use a capital because I'm starting a sentence, 'genetic' has no reason to be a proper noun in this context) is my way of fitting my [traditional Orthodox Jewish] ancestral background into my life, as an atheist with no loyalty towards the cultural aspects of Judaism. Many non-practicing Jews who still like the insular cultural componants of the community (because it is a community centric religion) will call themselves cultural Jews. My sister for example. I don't really like the cultural stuff myself, but there is a background Jewishness that I can't deny, being biologically minded and reasonably pissed off at the biology of the culture, so I made up a term.

It makes more sense if you know a bit about Judaism.

1. Judaism is not a missionary religion [anymore, ignoring absorption of people thousands of years ago and one ill fated attempt at conversion]. Therefore it's not looking to grow its population by gaining new people (and new blood) from other places.
2. Judaism is really hard to convert to. Like 'we are actively trying to be snobs dissuade you from converting' levels of hard. You have to request the Rabbi's permission to convert three times before you can even begin the conversion process.
3. Jews are only meant to marry Jews. No matter how much this has been adhered to through history, there was a great huge chunk of time when it was strictly followed.
3a. For a great huge chunk of time lots of Jews lived really insularly in the backwaters of Europe (my family included; half are from nowheresville in Poland, and the other half walked from Russia to Israel, realised they'd forgotten to bring [appropriately related] women to marry and had to walk back). They married within their communities, because other communities were a long way away, which meant that in production animal management terms, they all came from the same stock.
4. Judaism has been like this for 6000 years (though probably only quite this strictly since the Romans, so let's say 2000 for argument's sake).

If you're noticing some biological implications from these features, you get a gold star. Ashkenazi Jews in particular (the Eastern European ones) have had a small gene pool for a long time. Seriously, they are genetically distinct enough to be a seperate category in this genetic ancestry study. They are genetically distinct enough to have inbred some recessive genetic conditions to stupidly high concentrations in comparison to the rest of the population (including other groups of Jews).

Being 'born' [insert religion here] is...not really a valid statement. You weren't born Christian, I wasn't born Jewish. We were raised our respective religions and it goes from there. As a religion with a big [and more readily expandible] gene pool, there is nothing biological and genetic that distinguishes Christians as Christians.

It is however a [reasonably] valid claim to make, to claim to be genetically Jewish, when thousands of years of religiously inspired inbreeding has been written all down your genome the way it has with mine (or with any Jew who can count 10 generations of really tangled monocultural Ashkenazis behind them wanting to borrow the label, should they not feel connection to religion or culture but still want to attach themself somehow).

Sorry I've done the essay on you, I don't mean to be aggressive. In hindsight I shouldn't've used the term here, because people seem to've taken it without asking what it actually means and I'm too much a biological pedant to let my term fly off into the horizon in the wrong shape :) But people can't be genetically Christian.

[Mycorrhizae]

Wow, very nice Scarf. I didn't see the "genetically Christian" post, but yeah, I think I would have to question how you could be genetically Christian.

[Ventru]

Clive - Atheist

Although I am fascinated by religions, I don't believe in a God.

[SugarCooki + Birdfly]

Wow, very nice Scarf. I didn't see the "genetically Christian" post, but yeah, I think I would have to question how you could be genetically Christian.

I meant genetically Christian by, My whole Family (but me) being Christian. Me being around Christians my whole life, and I also meant it by my coming from a big line of Christians (I feel like the Runt ).

[Mycorrhizae]

That's not genetically anything. It's just coming from a Christian family. Same as me. But no one could take our DNA and look at that and say that we came from Christian families. Therefore, we are not genetically Christian. I don't know about you, but I'm genetically Mexican. And other stuff. Northern European something or other. That's what I am genetically. Unless your religion is like how Scarf described Judaism, you really can't genetically be that religion.

[Black Rhino]

Username-Okapa
Religion/Philosophy-Agnostic

Since last year I haven't seen real life proof.Maybe on TV but how can you be sure?

[jayseph]

I am marshvegas and I am Greek Orthodox. Please do not ask what it is because it would be a pain explaining, considering that I have no idea how to explain.