Can anyone please explain Atheist Jews? I was having a conversation with someone about this the other day and the concept is going over my head. It seems like an oxymoron to me.
by 
FaerieWhings
ANSWERS: 10
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I can see that. Ethnically the person is Jewish with a Jewish heritage, her/his family is Jewish in religion but this person is an atheist.
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Someone who is ethnically Jewish and genetically Jewish who is an atheist. Judism is the religion, he/she doesn't believe in.
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Someone who is born to a Jewish mother is considered Jewish by heritage. They do not need to convert to Judaism. When they choose to be an atheist they essentially repudiate their Jewish heritage. They are no longer religiously Jewish but their heritage remains intact.
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Jewish is a community, an ethnic group based on an ancient cultural heritage. One can be Jewish without following Judaism. Atheism is simply a lack of belief in any supernatural deities. One can belong to a Jewish family and community and be truly loyal to them without observing a bunch of dusty old books written many thousands of years ago.
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Judaism is a culture as well as a religion...Many people, including myself, observe Jewish rituals like the Passover Seder and being called to the Torah as a way of honoring and preserving the culture while, at the same time, not believing in a traditional concept of God, if we believe in God at all...since we encourage thought and questions, many Jewish people engage in an ongoing dialogue as to what divinity and God really mean...many who do believe in God think of him/her/it as an abstract entity like one's conscience, instead of a divine entity as espoused by orthodox Judaism and the traditional Christian denominations...among Christian denominations, Unitarianism is more like Judaism in this way...
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I know lots of Jewish friends who aren't religious, they keep the holidays and even kosher homes in some cases, like Catholics who don't eat meat on Fridays and then just go about their worldy business until the next high holiday. Not necessarily atheists, but not seriously practicing.
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"Jew" can refer to someone's ethnicity or their religious beliefs. People who have no Jewish blood in them can follow Jewish religious beliefs, and people who do have Jewish blood in them can be atheists. It's a matter of whether you're talking about their heritage or their religious beliefs. Two totally different things.
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My grandfather was an atheist Jew. He practiced all the traditions and rules of Judism but did not believe in God. He got comfort from following tradition.
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Some people may not believe in God but still follow and believe the morals of their religion.
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they are jewish by blood but dont follow judaism, nor any religion.
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