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Jewish Atheists?

Riders

Well-Known Member
Yes I know they exist in every religion. However my friend who goes to synagogue but also attends Christian service ;

She says a guy who responded to her romantic add insisted everyone in her synagogues is Atheist because most Jews are Atheist.

I've also heard this but she says people in her synagogue believe.Ive met 2 Jewish men who said they believe.Which statement is true?

Are all Jewish people atheist.
 

rosends

Well-Known Member
I'm sure that some biologically Jewish people are atheists, and I'm sure that the number/percentage increases in certain congregations, but it isn't true in a large chunk of Jewish communities.
 

ADigitalArtist

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
You probably won't find many atheistic Jews attending services at a synagogue. But there are Jewish people who are atheist. Whether they outnumber practicing Jews I couldn't say.
 

SabahTheLoner

Master of the Art of Couch Potato Cuddles
I've never met an atheistic Jew. All I know is that you can be an ethnic Jew and identify as atheist. It's probably rarer than most sorts of religious Jews though.
 

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
My brother in-law is culturally very Jewish. But he isn't much more theistic than I am.
We don't talk about religion. So, I'm not sure. But I think he's rather like me, a deist. We believe in God, but not religion. He's culturally Jewish and I am culturally Catholic and we all get along just fine together.

The devil is in the details. God is not.
Tom
 

shunyadragon

shunyadragon
Premium Member
Yes I know they exist in every religion. However my friend who goes to synagogue but also attends Christian service ;

She says a guy who responded to her romantic add insisted everyone in her synagogues is Atheist because most Jews are Atheist.

I've also heard this but she says people in her synagogue believe.Ive met 2 Jewish men who said they believe.Which statement is true?

Are all Jewish people atheist.

I believe atheism and agnosticism is common among Jews, particularly among intellectual Jews, When I was in Israel I had conversations with a number of Israeli Jews. There was a prevalence of indifference toward the belief in God, and some stated that Judaism is not a religion it is a cultural identity of Jews. The belief in God is stronger among Orthodox Jews and Messianic Jews.
 

shunyadragon

shunyadragon
Premium Member
There's even a term for it. Ethnoreligious group - Wikipedia




THEY ARE NOT JEWS.

I do not take such an offensive strong assertion about what people believe, but nonetheless I would not consider them traditional Jews, I did find that the Isreali Jews also firmly stated they were not Jews. I take a more detached view and simply consider objectively what people believe.

Nonetheless the indifference (agnosticism?) toward the belief in God was very common, and among the intellectual Jews like Einstein was common.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
I think we need to draw a distinction between "atheists" and "agnostics", and when we do that there are a great many more agnostic Jews than atheistic Jews. Here's how I differentiate and define these terms:

atheist: one who believes there are no deities.

agnostic: one who is unsure as to whether there are any deities.

Technically, an agnostic may be considered an atheist since the root words of atheist are a[no]-theist[god(s)].
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
I think we need to draw a distinction between "atheists" and "agnostics", and when we do that there are a great many more agnostic Jews than atheistic Jews. Here's how I differentiate and define these terms:

atheist: one who believes there are no deities.

agnostic: one who is unsure as to whether there are any deities.

Technically, an agnostic may be considered an atheist since the root words of atheist are a[no]-theist[god(s)].
Be advised that offering a definition of "atheist" invites chaos.
 

Desert Snake

Veteran Member
No, they aren't.



Messianic Jews, can't be atheistic, because the religious beliefs don't allow for that perspective without contradicting /religious practice.


*I don't think that you can be an atheistic christian, however that is another subject
 
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Kilgore Trout

Misanthropic Humanist
Jewish is a religion.

Jewish is a cultural identity.

Many don't fall into the overlap.

Having known many Jewish people throughout my life, the one thing I can say is that whatever it is that actually believe, it's often hard to get a clear answer on what it is that they actually believe. There seems to be a lot of focus on family, community, tradition, and ritual, and much less so on the details of theological beliefs. Perhaps that's why I've been friends with so many Jewish people.
 
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