Posted by: Scot Penslar
Comment: #1
Sat Jul 26, 2008 2:56 PM
Why are the majority of American Jews non-religious, and why do so many even doubt God's existence? Rejection of nationalism is only a small part of the answer. Jews have traditionally placed a high value on learning and literacy. In an age of scientific rationalism, surrounded by a secular culture, the well-educated are naturally more likely to see religion -- ALL religion -- for what it is: a set of myths and superstitions invented thousands of years ago by people who were trying to make sense of nature without the benefit of science.
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As for embracing Jewish "group identity," collective identities, whether national, racial, ethnic, religious or otherwise, only foster divisiveness and an "us-vs.-them" mentality. And I'm not spouting platitudes about being a "world citizen" or "a member of the human race" either -- those are just other forms of collective identity. An accident of birth and geography made me an American citizen; an accident of genetics made me a white or Caucasian person; an accident of genealogy made me a Jew. None of those have anything to do with my identity. I have but one identity: I am ME, an individual, a self-directed conscious being, existing in voluntary association with other such beings. If all people saw themselves that way, the world would be an infinitely better place.
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