James Finn
1 min readDec 13, 2024

--

Yes, but belief in monotheism is not what makes them Jewish. Membership in the Jewish tribe makes them Jewish. Shared persecution in some ways binds them together. Not that that's the only thing that binds them together.

But belief doesn't, because even quite strict Orthodox Jewish rabbis recognize that belief is not required for membership. (It's preferable to them, obviously, but it's not required.)

I once wrote an article about a group of racist neopagans who purchased a church building in a small town in the United States. They used their religious beliefs to obtain tax exemption and other societal privileges, despite the fact that their racist values are abhorrent to most Americans. The same group uses their religious beliefs to obtain privileges in prisons in the United States, which I also wrote about in that article.

They claim privileges because they hold voluntary beliefs in supernatural phenomena, among other beliefs like racism.

It's their voluntary belief in supernatural phenomena, however, it gets them privileged in our society.

My point is that we should not be doing that. Voluntary belief should never be privileged. Only facts should matter.

--

--

James Finn
James Finn

Written by James Finn

James Finn is an LGBTQ columnist, a former Air Force intelligence analyst, an alumnus of Act Up NY, and an agented but unpublished novelist.

Responses (1)