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oar
2007-05-01 11:59 pm UTC (link)

Like many people here, I have no idea what to make of pester. She'll be all cool and snarky most of the time, but then every once and a while she'll bust out the dogmatic crap. And not even in a this-is-what-I-believe-just-letting-you-know way, but in a lol-I-am-so-superior-to-all-you-heathens way.

I am not a theologian, nor do I play one on the internets, but I was always given to understand that Judaism as a religion is not evangelical in the least, and that conversion is often extremely difficult or outright discouraged. Because of this, non-Jews aren't really expected to hold to Jewish traditions or standards of behavior. So . . . why are she and her husband making a point of letting us all know we suck, again?

And . . . shit, I just got all srs bsns on you all. Sep's gonna mod-attack me for not bringing teh funneh. Here, have a macro:

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

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	sepiamagpie 2007-05-02 12:36 am UTC (link)
	the killing urge is sated. for now. (Reply to this)(Parent)

mmanurere
2007-05-02 01:55 am UTC (link)

They're not evangelizing, per se, just letting everyone who's not Jewish -- as well as (especially) everyone who's Jewish but not Orthodox -- that they're not Jewish enough, and hence inferior. (The goyim, really, are just caught in the crossfire -- as with any religion, the full wrath of the True Faithful is usually directed at others within the same religion.)

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	dragonfangirl 2007-05-02 11:10 am UTC (link)
	as with any religion, the full wrath of the True Faithful is usually directed at others within the same religion. Any religion, including Interweb Religions such as shipping! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	vergilsparda 2007-05-02 03:04 am UTC (link)
	So . . . why are she and her husband making a point of letting us all know we suck, again? Because they are in a 1337 treehouse, and you can't come in! Neener neener! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	airborne_rodent 2007-05-02 03:30 am UTC (link)
	Time to get out the chainsaw. ;) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	dragonfangirl 2007-05-02 11:09 am UTC (link)
	Is it the Chainsaw of Natural Selection? :O (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	The stupid people are breeding again! yattara 2007-05-02 12:51 pm UTC (link)
	'"With your powers combined, I am CHARLES DARWIN!" (Reply to this)(Parent)

	vergilsparda 2007-05-02 09:04 pm UTC (link)
	We can only hope! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	goldberry 2007-05-02 10:32 pm UTC (link)
	You rang? (Reply to this)(Parent)

	irised 2007-05-03 03:53 am UTC (link)
	BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMM BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRM! (Reply to this)(Parent)

khym_chanur
2007-05-02 04:19 am UTC (link)

I am not a theologian, nor do I play one on the internets, but I was always given to understand that Judaism as a religion is not evangelical in the least, and that conversion is often extremely difficult or outright discouraged.

I'm not Jewish, but I've done some reading on the subject, and this is my understanding:

Proselytizing isn't explicitly or implicitly favored in
the Tanakh (the Old Testament that the Jews use). It doesn't explicitly say "You must go out and convert", and it also doesn't say that a person must convert to be moral and/or avoid going to Hell, which would be a cause to go out and convert even without explicit commands. However, there isn't anything saying that you can't go out and convert. Long ago, there were certain groups of Jews who were fond of proselytizing, but this practice got stamped out during the anti-Judaic phase of European history. Currently conversion is discouraged because:

1) a non-Jew can be moral by simply by following the commandments God laid down to Noah, which is much easier than the rules of Judaism, so why make things hard on yourself?

2) once you convert, you can't unconvert, so you should be really sure about doing it

3) The rabbis don't want someone converting and then doing a half-assed job of it because they aren't fully committed.

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	chibikaijuu 2007-05-02 04:48 am UTC (link)
	Also, converting to Judaism, especially Orthodoxy, is not in the least like converting to Christianity. It's a long, involved, complicated process, mostly designed to make sure those who convert really mean it. It's not like just "letting Jesus into your heart" - you actually make a covenant with God. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ayezur 2007-05-02 05:18 am UTC (link)
	That, and you're also being initiated into a whole cultural thingy. It really reminds me of a saying about how to become Cajun I wandered across once - you can only do it "by blood, by marriage, or by the back door," not just by announcing you are. The community as a whole has to accept you. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	seiberwing 2007-05-02 04:18 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah. We have the mikvah at our house (by which I mean ritual bath, by which I mean Melton Hill Lake) and there's a whole lot of stuff that goes into it even before they go skinny-dipping. (Reply to this)(Parent)

janegraddell
2007-05-02 01:13 pm UTC (link)

My husband converted a couple of years ago (Reform), and ultimately I was the one who had to convince the rabbis that no, really, I *don't care* what religion he chooses, and no, really, I *don't care* what religion, if any, my daughter is raised in. If it makes my husband happy, and my daughter gets some kind of consistent code of ethics/morals, I'm all for it. Honest. But they wanted to be sure that I was going to support him, and that he wouldn't convert and then never be seen again because he was having to fight me over it. Once the rabbis realized that I had no problem with raising my daugher Jewish, I guess they figured I must really be okay with it. :)

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	:3 semtex 2007-05-02 11:48 am UTC (link)
	makes tiny squeaking sound urge to punch a classist h0r over tcp/ip quelled for now (Reply to this)(Parent)

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