jewish-conversion-diary

[jewish-conversion-diary]

#anti christianity

[jewish-conversion-diary]

If another white goy says "we need to give Nazis the benefit of the doubt" because they might have changed, I am going to lose my mind.

Someone on "Oh Look It's a Bunch of Red Flags Sewn into the Shape of a Person" (the Facebook group) posted a conversation where a dude with a swastika taking up HIS ENTIRE CALF asked about a cover up, and literally half the comments are people going "clearly he learned his lesson. He's changed. 😇" (Comments have, of course, since been closed.)

No! He learned that he can't get jobs with a huge swastika on, I repeat, HIS ENTIRE CALF.

Stop giving the benefit of the doubt to these people. Swastikas should be left uncovered so minorities can see what exactly we're dealing with. I think Jews, Roma, queers, disabled people, and PoC deserve at least that much. Don't let them hide it now.

If he wants it gone that badly, he should take a scalpel and remove it himself.

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So if you want a good example of something that is *actually* cultural Christianity, check out this AITA post where the OP wants to know if they’re an asshole for telling their father in law not to tell their kid that Santa Claus (and the Easter Bunny, tooth fairy, etc) is real, because they and their husband made the decision to not raise their kids with that myth.

When I first read it, every other comment was some variation of “Well you sound joyless and miserable, children NEED to believe in magic and whimsy! Santa Claus is an INTEGRAL part of EVERYONE’S childhood and you’re an asshole for taking that away from them!”

I would hope I don’t have to explain how shitty it is to imply that all non-Christian faiths are “joyless and miserable” for the crime of not celebrating Christmas, or that non-Christian childhoods are “cold and lonely”. But I honestly think most of those commenters weren’t thinking of it in religious terms at all. Some of those that did backpedalled with “well of course it’s alright if you have a DIFFERENT religion they can believe in”, which isn’t any better. But THAT’S what cultural Christianity is. An element of Christianity that is so ingrained in the culture that people forget that it’s religious and insist that it’s mandatory for everyone, to the point of harassing and insulting anyone who doesn’t participate. Even people who are otherwise very open and accepting!

Worth noting is that OP never stated their religion. They mention they didn’t grow up with Santa Claus for religious reasons - whether they are non-Christian religious, atheist, or a Christian denomination that doesn’t do Santa is unclear. But it doesn’t matter because all of these people are targeted by cultural Christianity. All of these people get pressured to participate in Christmas because “it’s not even really religious” and “how could you hate Christmas you grinch!” All of these people are forced to constantly defend their right to not follow Christian traditions, and all of these people should be able to live their lives how they want without having to constantly defend their reasoning.

You don’t need a reason to opt out of Christianity, you don’t need a reason to opt out of Christmas, and I shouldn’t have to say this but telling anyone that they sound “joyless and miserable” because they don’t have the same beliefs as you is insanely fucking rude.

[jewish-conversion-diary]

that cultural christianity thread is interesting because

when jews on tumblr use that term we mean “this person does not practice christianity, but they are upholding the hegemonic aspects of christian culture, which is not the same as practice or belief״

but when atheists from christian backgrounds hear it, they hear “we don’t believe that you’re an atheist, we think you secretly hold christian theological beliefs”

this feels like a good reason, among others, to maybe stop using the term, but i feel like this disconnect is itself really interesting

it’s also kind of impossible to explain to people what christian culture and cultural hegemony look like. it’s hard to get people to frame this in any other way than religion & belief

[jewish-conversion-diary]

Religious freedom shouldn’t exist

Ok now that you’re reading, let me clarify.

We need laws that explicitly protect people’s rights to do anything that does not cause harm to others. We need protections that specifically target non-harmful cultural and spiritual practices. I cannot deny that, in fact, much of my heritage comes from the persecution of Sephardic Jews in the Inquisition and the Ashkenazi Jews in the Holocaust.

However, a simply put “freedom of religion” is not actually a useful idea. First off, this has never been truly given to all American people. Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and many other religious minorities face discrimination when practicing their religion.

Second, “freedom of religion” is vague. How far does this freedom extend? Does it mean that you’re allowed to believe whatever you want? Sure!

But in the US, “religious freedom” allows for people (specifically Christians) to commit acts of bigotry. In the US, “freedom of religion” allows Christians to discriminate against people based on their identities/statuses that are otherwise protected classes (like sex, gender, race, ability).

Religious buildings are often inaccessible because they don’t have to abide by the ADA; after all, that’s placing an unfair limit on people based on their religion, right? (/s) In the name of religion, people can legally perform torture on their children due to their sexuality or gender; to say otherwise would be to limit their ability to practice their religion! If an employee of yours uses birth control, well, you can fire them because this is a Catholic establishment and that’s morally wrong! (/s) Those are just a few examples.

“Freedom of religion” is too loose. It’s too forgiving, and it’s too poorly defined to ever be a useful framework to protect religious minorities. Instead, it allows for legal loopholes for (white) Christians to perpetuate violence towards marginalized groups.

#antisemetism mention #jewish #xtian #christian #freedom of religion #legal

[jewish-conversion-diary]

I refuse to capitalize “nazi”. Fuck autocorrect. Fuck grammar.

#jewish conversion #antisemetism mention #antisemetism tw #jewish

[jewish-conversion-diary]

Honestly, I want to highlight this, separate from my advice to other gerim:

To the halachic Jews by birth who do not treat halachic Jews by conversion like any other Jew, I would say this:

Would you tell your brother's adopted child that he will never be your nephew, actually, and intentionally exclude him in favor of your blood-related nephews and nieces? Would you walk up to a naturalized citizen and tell them that they'll never be real Americans and will always just be immigrants? Would you walk up to your rabbi, who has sponsored students for giyur, and tell him that he is making a mistake and is an idiot for trying to make a gentile into a Jew?

If not, why not? Because treating Jews who have completed their conversions as interlopers is basically doing all of those things at once.

[Context]

[jewish-conversion-diary]

shabbat shalom! שבת שלום

#shabbat

[jewish-conversion-diary]

Christians complaining about “appropriation of Christianity” is so fucking hilarious

[jewish-conversion-diary]

Thinking about how the Jewish sages recognised capital punishment as a thing that existed per the Torah and then spent hundreds of years establishing complex arguments and conditions so that it would almost never actually be instituted, because they also recognised that condemning someone to death casually did not sit right with them

But that in xtianity, it is accepted that mortality is a generational punishment for crimes no one alive committed, and that eternal torment is the default outcome unless very specific criteria are met for you to avoid being tortured forever. In order to save people from this fate, it is encouraged to harass, bully, frighten, and threaten nonbelievers, because whatever harm you do to them in this life is a kindness if it helps them avoid eternal damnation

Thinking also about how this is one example of how differently Jews and xtians interact with their respective texts and what it says about the understanding of the worth of human life, the morality of punishment, and beliefs about God’s relationship to and expectations of humanity, yet they are the same topics the “anti-religious” extians blame all religion for, as if every religion worked the same as xtianity, and how abusive they become towards Jews especially when that is pointed out, because they have internalised 2000 years of xtian antisemitism and believe that Judaism=“Old Testament” and even more to blame than xtianity for introducing these concepts to the world (despite the fact that Judaism has neither a concept of eternal damnation, the need for saving, or any desire to convert non-Jews).

What you need to understand is that the “Old Testament” and the Hebrew Bible are not the same thing. Judaism is not “unfulfilled/incomplete” xtianity. Xtianity invented that as a foundational concept in order to retroactively legitimise their own religion, by intentionally misinterpreting things from the Hebrew Bible as prophesying their religion, and most importantly, in inventing a problem that didn’t exist: the problem of a need to be saved. Xtianity shows you the “Old Testament” and how cruel and arbitrary Gd is, without regard to nuance, real practice, or the fact that Jewish scholars had been grappling sincerely with their questions about these things for much longer than they have. It becomes the “Old Testament” specifically to argue the case for a “New Testament.” Gd is cruel and can crush you at any moment, but not to worry! Join our organisation, follow our arbitrary laws, give us money and power, and we will sell you the solution. Xtianity is fundamentally antisemitic.

No, this is not open for debate from any goy, especially not culturally-xtian anti-religious people, because you are not the authority on whether your culture is antisemitic; we are, and we say you can either open your eyes to it and change your thinking or you can close your eyes to it and continue to actively perpetuate this violence against Jews.

I guarantee that every word, every mark on every letter in the Torah, has been analysed and argued about for centuries by scholars whose lives are dedicated to doing so. Whatever moral conundrum you may think of as a result of your xtian indoctrination has been argued by Jews for a long time. That does not mean there is no value in you asking these questions yourself. Judaism sees this as an act of religious devotion, not rebellion. But you are being arrogant and foolish if you think that your understanding, so limited that you believe Judaism works the same as xtianity, is the first time anyone’s ever asked that question and makes you a more definitive expert than Jews or gives you the right to direct your hatred of xtianity against us. Every time you substitute “judeo-xtian,” “Abrahamic,” or just plain “religion” when you mean “xtianity,” you are committing an act of violence against us, erasing us and our culture (from which the religious story is inseparable, being an ethnoreligion), and exerting a culturally-xtian privilege and reinforcing xtian hegemony, regardless of whether your opinion is favourable or unfavourable, because they are not the same religion and you are repeating xtian propaganda that has been used to murder and scapegoat Jews for millennia. These religions are dissimilar in far, far more ways than they are similar.

I’ve seen a few troubling posts in the extian circles of Tumblr lately, the ones that not only do this out of ignorance but are denying their role in it after having it brought to their attention and going on antisemitic and sometimes islamophobic tirades about how evil Jews are for having the gall to not accept being slandered in a way that has murdered so many of us. This is the definition of privilege, to expect to be able to harm the not-privileged without any backlash or repercussion, and to believe that being asked for accountability is identical to oppression. You were oppressed by religious xtianity as a non-religious or otherwise nonconforming person in that world. No one is saying that you weren’t, when we tell you that you are being antisemitic. That does not mean you no longer have culturally-xtian privilege, because your understanding is inescapably xtian regardless of your faith about it, and that is the majority, and it does not get you off the hook for your passing that oppression on to people who lack that privilege.

The fact that you were lied to about Judaism is not your fault. It was intentional indoctrination. The fact that you were ignorant about the fact that you were lied to about Judaism at all is also not your fault. How can you know that if you never had any other perspective? But once it is brought to your attention, you have this choice to make. You will continue to exert the force of that privilege until you actively work to undo what you’ve been taught, not just about heaven and hell and sun and guilt but also about the universality of xtian morality and philosophy and its foundations. Choosing not to do so because it is temporarily, minorly uncomfortable is an option that only exists for the privileged, by default. Every time I see someone thinking that their trauma at the hands of xtianity gives them the right to hurt others, it is an obvious sign that they still believe that their own comfort is more important than the lives of others. We have been traumatised by xtianity, too. We have every right to push back against your violence. I know this is not a pleasant thing to accept, but I promise that you’ll get over it. I say that as a genuine promise without hostility, but at the same time, if it pisses you off, I don’t really care, because that’s a “you” problem and we’re not going to roll over just because it hurts your feelings. Direct your anger against the ones who are actually responsible for your suffering, not against a defenceless third party. You will never truly unlearn the harm xtianity taught you until you understand that the lies and the manipulation and the philosophies go deeper than theology, so you might as well start here.

(ETA: I highly highly encourage goyim to reblog this, but it should go without saying that non-Jews are not invited to try and change Jews’ minds about antisemitism. Although it does take a lot of my time and energy to always respond as in-depth as I would like, I am perfectly amenable to answering sincere questions about this, or at least directing you to resources to learn more, but any dumbass xtian or culturally-xtian atheist who tries to come on here and goysplain to me that “actually Judaism is just xtianity-lite and Abrahamic religions are more similar than they are different” is going to catch these hands. You will be publicly excoriated for being a dumbass and then blocked. This is not open for debate. It is a statement from a minority group telling you to stop hurting that minority. Also, inb4 “I don’t have to listen to you because censoring the word xtian is oppression just like the Holocaust,” the ‘x’ is a convention that comes from the prohibition against saying/writing the names of false idols, and also, you’re a racist cunt. Hope that helps.)

[jewish-conversion-diary]

Thinking about how the Jewish sages recognised capital punishment as a thing that existed per the Torah and then spent hundreds of years establishing complex arguments and conditions so that it would almost never actually be instituted, because they also recognised that condemning someone to death casually did not sit right with them

But that in xtianity, it is accepted that mortality is a generational punishment for crimes no one alive committed, and that eternal torment is the default outcome unless very specific criteria are met for you to avoid being tortured forever. In order to save people from this fate, it is encouraged to harass, bully, frighten, and threaten nonbelievers, because whatever harm you do to them in this life is a kindness if it helps them avoid eternal damnation

Thinking also about how this is one example of how differently Jews and xtians interact with their respective texts and what it says about the understanding of the worth of human life, the morality of punishment, and beliefs about God’s relationship to and expectations of humanity, yet they are the same topics the “anti-religious” extians blame all religion for, as if every religion worked the same as xtianity, and how abusive they become towards Jews especially when that is pointed out, because they have internalised 2000 years of xtian antisemitism and believe that Judaism=“Old Testament” and even more to blame than xtianity for introducing these concepts to the world (despite the fact that Judaism has neither a concept of eternal damnation, the need for saving, or any desire to convert non-Jews).

What you need to understand is that the “Old Testament” and the Hebrew Bible are not the same thing. Judaism is not “unfulfilled/incomplete” xtianity. Xtianity invented that as a foundational concept in order to retroactively legitimise their own religion, by intentionally misinterpreting things from the Hebrew Bible as prophesying their religion, and most importantly, in inventing a problem that didn’t exist: the problem of a need to be saved. Xtianity shows you the “Old Testament” and how cruel and arbitrary Gd is, without regard to nuance, real practice, or the fact that Jewish scholars had been grappling sincerely with their questions about these things for much longer than they have. It becomes the “Old Testament” specifically to argue the case for a “New Testament.” Gd is cruel and can crush you at any moment, but not to worry! Join our organisation, follow our arbitrary laws, give us money and power, and we will sell you the solution. Xtianity is fundamentally antisemitic.

No, this is not open for debate from any goy, especially not culturally-xtian anti-religious people, because you are not the authority on whether your culture is antisemitic; we are, and we say you can either open your eyes to it and change your thinking or you can close your eyes to it and continue to actively perpetuate this violence against Jews.

I guarantee that every word, every mark on every letter in the Torah, has been analysed and argued about for centuries by scholars whose lives are dedicated to doing so. Whatever moral conundrum you may think of as a result of your xtian indoctrination has been argued by Jews for a long time. That does not mean there is no value in you asking these questions yourself. Judaism sees this as an act of religious devotion, not rebellion. But you are being arrogant and foolish if you think that your understanding, so limited that you believe Judaism works the same as xtianity, is the first time anyone’s ever asked that question and makes you a more definitive expert than Jews or gives you the right to direct your hatred of xtianity against us. Every time you substitute “judeo-xtian,” “Abrahamic,” or just plain “religion” when you mean “xtianity,” you are committing an act of violence against us, erasing us and our culture (from which the religious story is inseparable, being an ethnoreligion), and exerting a culturally-xtian privilege and reinforcing xtian hegemony, regardless of whether your opinion is favourable or unfavourable, because they are not the same religion and you are repeating xtian propaganda that has been used to murder and scapegoat Jews for millennia. These religions are dissimilar in far, far more ways than they are similar.

I’ve seen a few troubling posts in the extian circles of Tumblr lately, the ones that not only do this out of ignorance but are denying their role in it after having it brought to their attention and going on antisemitic and sometimes islamophobic tirades about how evil Jews are for having the gall to not accept being slandered in a way that has murdered so many of us. This is the definition of privilege, to expect to be able to harm the not-privileged without any backlash or repercussion, and to believe that being asked for accountability is identical to oppression. You were oppressed by religious xtianity as a non-religious or otherwise nonconforming person in that world. No one is saying that you weren’t, when we tell you that you are being antisemitic. That does not mean you no longer have culturally-xtian privilege, because your understanding is inescapably xtian regardless of your faith about it, and that is the majority, and it does not get you off the hook for your passing that oppression on to people who lack that privilege.

The fact that you were lied to about Judaism is not your fault. It was intentional indoctrination. The fact that you were ignorant about the fact that you were lied to about Judaism at all is also not your fault. How can you know that if you never had any other perspective? But once it is brought to your attention, you have this choice to make. You will continue to exert the force of that privilege until you actively work to undo what you’ve been taught, not just about heaven and hell and sun and guilt but also about the universality of xtian morality and philosophy and its foundations. Choosing not to do so because it is temporarily, minorly uncomfortable is an option that only exists for the privileged, by default. Every time I see someone thinking that their trauma at the hands of xtianity gives them the right to hurt others, it is an obvious sign that they still believe that their own comfort is more important than the lives of others. We have been traumatised by xtianity, too. We have every right to push back against your violence. I know this is not a pleasant thing to accept, but I promise that you’ll get over it. I say that as a genuine promise without hostility, but at the same time, if it pisses you off, I don’t really care, because that’s a “you” problem and we’re not going to roll over just because it hurts your feelings. Direct your anger against the ones who are actually responsible for your suffering, not against a defenceless third party. You will never truly unlearn the harm xtianity taught you until you understand that the lies and the manipulation and the philosophies go deeper than theology, so you might as well start here.

(ETA: I highly highly encourage goyim to reblog this, but it should go without saying that non-Jews are not invited to try and change Jews’ minds about antisemitism. Although it does take a lot of my time and energy to always respond as in-depth as I would like, I am perfectly amenable to answering sincere questions about this, or at least directing you to resources to learn more, but any dumbass xtian or culturally-xtian atheist who tries to come on here and goysplain to me that “actually Judaism is just xtianity-lite and Abrahamic religions are more similar than they are different” is going to catch these hands. You will be publicly excoriated for being a dumbass and then blocked. This is not open for debate. It is a statement from a minority group telling you to stop hurting that minority. Also, inb4 “I don’t have to listen to you because censoring the word xtian is oppression just like the Holocaust,” the ‘x’ is a convention that comes from the prohibition against saying/writing the names of false idols, and also, you’re a racist cunt. Hope that helps.)

[jewish-conversion-diary]

Oh no, Christianity is dying. Reblog to make it die faster

[jewish-conversion-diary]

a chassidic tale- a young boy woke up every morning hours before he needed to be awake just to go into the woods before school. when he got home, his mother would ask him what he was doing awake so early again. he told her “i go into the woods to talk to Gd”, to which she replied “you don’t need to go to the woods for that. you know Gd is the same everywhere, right?” and the little boy said “i know. but i’m not.”

[jewish-conversion-diary]

There can be individual Christians who are good, non bigoted people, but Christianity itself has a lot of foundational beliefs that are sexist, antisemetic, and otherwise bigoted.

Individual Christians may not be bigoted people, but Christianity as an institution always will be.

#xtians don’t touch this #if you’re here to argue or prosletyze suck my d #anti christianity #ex christian #ex catholic

[jewish-conversion-diary]

Hello!

About Me

I am Infinity (alternatively, Galaxy), and I am a genderqueer bisexual mess. I am a leftist and believe in the liberation of all marginalized people.

I’m Latine, specifically a mix of Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Indigenous Andean, and Indigenous Caribbean descent. In other words, I’m not white. I’m a second generation American immigrant and I speak Spanish fluently.

I’m currently converting to reform Judaism for a multitude of reasons and this blog is for me to organize my thoughts and learning about Jewish spirituality, religion, and practices!

You’re not welcome here if

You’re an xtian who wants to proselytize

You’re an xtian who gets butthurt about people being critical of xtianity

You talk about Christianity in general

You’re an anti-theist

You’re a “messianic Jew”

You’re a TERF or any other kind of queer exclusionist

You’re going to argue with me about my own experiences with racism, queerphobia, xenophobia, and ableism/sanism

You are absolutely welcome here if you’re Jewish and are going to point out any antisemitism or Christian normativity that I accidentally play into.

My other blogs:

@galaxys-hoard : my main and also my gender hoard

@the-angry-autist : Autism stuff

#jewish conversion

[jewish-conversion-diary]

Question: i was baptized as a baby into the catholic church. if i took a dip into the mikveh (aka converted) would that nullify the baptism or would the catholics still consider me one of them even if i was then a fully observant jew?

(don't really know who else to ask lol since you're the only catholic->jew blog i know of)

This is an EXCELLENT theological quandary. In the theology of the Catholic Church (to the best of my knowledge) once you are baptized Catholic, you are marked Catholic forever. Unless you are excommunicated, which is a SUPER intensive process that really is only done for like,,,, the worst of the worst these days (you used to be able to request it but they’ve stopped fulfilling requests in recent years).

Here’s my perspective: I no longer give half a damn what the Catholic Church thinks. I’m Jewish. I know I’m Jewish. Hashem knows I’m Jewish. That’s all I need, personally, but I get it if it feels,,,, just a smidge off to still be considered one of them.

#“I no longer give half a damn what the Catholic Church thinks #YES THIS #Just because I was pushed into a Catholic baptism and confirmation #by a Catholic pseudo cult #does not mean I have any duty or forced ties to the manipulative shitheads #when I convert and pass through the Biet Din #I am Jewish #not Catholic!

[jewish-conversion-diary]

hey other jewish people how are y’all feeling about people going ‘why don’t we all just convert to judaism’

#why don’t they just convert to satanism #Judaism is based on millenia of culture and spiritual practices #and also millenia of persecution #so it is rightfully difficult to convert into #and it’s absolutely disrespectful and fetishistic to say lol just convert to Judaism #especially since the religious freedom of Jews in the USA is not respected to begin with #meanwhile satanism was created for people who just wanna convert on a whim #and even encourages people to convert just for abortion access #do your fucking research and just convert to a religion made for you #chances are #if you just want to convert to Judaism for abortions #Judaism isn’t for you