Thread: Is Judaism a racial thing or a religious thing?

For a long time they were considered a religious thing, until WWII, Judaism was somehow considered a racial thing; if I am not mistaken.

it is a faith, a bloodline and a nationality.

The only people who think Jews constitute a race are racists, like the Nazis.

There is nothing in Jewish theology that suggests Jewishness implies any particular race. And there are plenty of cases that make clear that racism is bad.

Judaism is extremely old, and has evolved drastically over the millennia. Because of this, it defies norms that apply to other religions.

Judaism is a religion, but if you were born to a Jewish mother but don't believe any of the theology and don't even believe in God, you're still Jewish. Judaism doesn't have a dogma, or required beliefs. It does have required behaviors, which change over time and which different Jewish groups define differently, but even if you don't adhere to those behaviors and were born Jewish, then you're still Jewish.

But Judaism is also akin to a family. You can be born Jewish, but you can also be adopted into the family through a formal process of conversion.

Both. You can be ethnically and/or religiously Jewish

Jewish answer: Religious. There are Jews of every ethnic group. It's astounding that so many persist in spreading the nonsense that Jews are a race. Scoots has seen the actual answers from REAL Jews long enough

It is NOT a race nor ethnicity because there are Jews of every ethnic group.

You can change your religion and no longer be considered Jewish.

You cannot change your ethnic background.

Here's an experiment: look up photos of Yaphet Kotto, Alyson Hannigan, Adam Sandler, Natalie Portman, Lauren Bacall and Harrison Ford

Are Jews one ethnic group? Obviously not - all of them were born Jewish.

Being born Jewish refers to Jewish law – there are responsibilities and privileges in Judaism and laws were established to determine who is a Jew and who isn’t. That does NOT mean being Jewish is a race or ethnicity.

For example: one cannot partake of communion in a Catholic church unless you are Catholic and have recently gone to confession. A non-Jew cannot read from the Torah scrolls at synagogue.

Both The race was so religious for much of their history that you could not separate the two.

Its a religious thing.But Jew is a racial thing.