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Are the Jews a "race"? (1 Viewer)

lpast said:
I dont believe thats right at all still....Being Jewish is neither a race nor an ethnicity...its a RELIGION period...no different that Irish Catholics...Roman Catholics...African Catholics...Castillian Catholics.

A jew can be of any ethnicity or race...they choose to identify themselves wholly as a religion
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On the contrary, Jews identify themselves as a People, a culture, and an ethnicity.

And the Jews exhibit all the hallmarks of an ethnicity, in fact several ethnicities.
 
Thunder said:
On the contrary, Jews identify themselves as a People, a culture, and an ethnicity.

And the Jews exhibit all the hallmarks of an ethnicity, in fact several ethnicities.
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Thats what I said...they " choose" to identify themselves as an ethnicity but it is not...Judaism=Jew is a religion not an ethnicity...thats why jews hail from many countries....
 
lpast said:
Thats what I said...they " choose" to identify themselves as an ethnicity but it is not...Judaism=Jew is a religion not an ethnicity...thats why jews hail from many countries....
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No, Jews are an ethnicity because they reflect all the qualities of an ethnicity.

common language, dress, ancestry, foods, etc.

there are at least 4 seperate Jewish ethnic groups.
 
lpast said:
Thats what I said...they " choose" to identify themselves as an ethnicity but it is not...Judaism=Jew is a religion not an ethnicity...thats why jews hail from many countries....
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You are quite wrong for at least two reasons. First of all, Jews living in post diaspora communities mostly kept to themselves and seldom married outside of their ethnicity. Secondly, since Judaism is not a proselytizing religion like Islam or Christianity, there have been relatively few converts to Judaism the religion -- thus having little effect on the d.n.a. of the group as a whole.
 
Gardener said:
You are quite wrong for at least two reasons. First of all, Jews living in post diaspora communities mostly kept to themselves and seldom married outside of their ethnicity. Secondly, since Judaism is not a proselytizing religion like Islam or Christianity, there have been relatively few converts to Judaism the religion -- thus having little effect on the d.n.a. of the group as a whole.
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but the effects are there. the very fact that Jews are now white, black, Asian, and brown....is tribute to that.
 
Gardener said:
You are quite wrong for at least two reasons. First of all, Jews living in post diaspora communities mostly kept to themselves and seldom married outside of their ethnicity. Secondly, since Judaism is not a proselytizing religion like Islam or Christianity, there have been relatively few converts to Judaism the religion -- thus having little effect on the d.n.a. of the group as a whole.
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The Diaspora began around 400 BC.. and there were many Berber converts.. Look at the Jewish population of Alexandria.
 
sharon said:
The Diaspora began around 400 BC.. and there were many Berber converts.. Look at the Jewish population of Alexandria.
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before around 400 AD, there were many converts to Judaism. Whole tribed converted.

but yes, our DNA for the most part, is of Eastern Mediteranean origin.
 
lpast said:
I stand by jewish is a religion not an ethnicity....israeli is an ethnicity ..italian is an ethnicity
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I just wanted to memorialize this, this most Ridiculous post EVER made on DP. (or up there)

"Jews aren't an ethnicity", but "Israelis", who are 20% Arab by population, are an Ethnicity?
You are Utterly, Utterly, Utterly, clueless about the difference between 'nationality' and Ethnicity.
100% Non-conversant.

(Thunder also seems very confused)
 
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lpast said:
Thats what I said...they " choose" to identify themselves as an ethnicity but it is not...Judaism=Jew is a religion not an ethnicity...thats why jews hail from many countries....
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Judaism is both an ethnicity and a religion, or an "ethnic religion".

Ethnicity: Affiliation or identity within a group of people bound by common ancestry.

They don't really have a choice to "identify" as a jew or not, because there are so few of them. There around 15m jews total (7m in North America, 5m in Israel, the rest scattered) Out of a population of over 7 billion, they're .21% of the world population. I know a lot of agnostic Jews, yet they still identify themselves as Jewish. If you ask a Jew "what he is", he won't identify himself as Polish or Russian or whatever, they say Jewish. If you go up to most white people in America and ask them "what they are", they won't identify themselves as Christian. Christians don't have their own language or homeland. Judaism is also extremely exclusive compared to Christianity.

Claiming they hail from many countries isn't a valid argument either. You can probably find a Satanist in every country, but like Jews, they are a minority. Judaism is more than just a religion, its a way of life; a culture that unites a group of people. It's like being Amish. Amish is an anabaptist christian religion, but I think we all know there's more to being Amish then just worship. Their own language, culture etc.
 
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Thunder said:
No, Jews are an ethnicity because they reflect all the qualities of an ethnicity.

common language, dress, ancestry, foods, etc.

there are at least 4 seperate Jewish ethnic groups.
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I disagree
 
Esch said:
Judaism is both an ethnicity and a religion, or an "ethnic religion".

Ethnicity: Affiliation or identity within a group of people bound by common ancestry.

They don't really have a choice to "identify" as a jew or not, because there are so few of them. There around 15m jews total (7m in North America, 5m in Israel, the rest scattered) Out of a population of over 7 billion, they're .21% of the world population. I know a lot of agnostic Jews, yet they still identify themselves as Jewish. If you ask a Jew "what he is", he won't identify himself as Polish or Russian or whatever, they say Jewish. If you go up to most white people in America and ask them "what they are", they won't identify themselves as Christian. Christians don't have their own language or homeland. Judaism is also extremely exclusive compared to Christianity.

Claiming they hail from many countries isn't a valid argument either. You can probably find a Satanist in every country, but like Jews, they are a minority. Judaism is more than just a religion, its a way of life; a culture that unites a group of people. It's like being Amish. Amish is an anabaptist christian religion, but I think we all know there's more to being Amish then just worship. Their own language, culture etc.
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Nope there is no country named Jew...where they were all born...thats why the JEWISH country Israel...they call themselves Israelis...
Yanno this argument is nonesene really.....They "CHOOSE" to be called jews...thats great I dont have a single prob with it...but its not an ethnicity its their religion that they choose to be their identfier..
 
lpast said:
Nope there is no country named Jew...where they were all born...thats why the JEWISH country Israel...they call themselves Israelis..
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There was the Kingdom of Judah.

Then there was the Roman Province of Judaea.

Today, there are the Judean Hills, in the middle of the West Bank.
 
Thunder said:
There was the Kingdom of Judah.

Then there was the Roman Province of Judaea.

Today, there are the Judean Hills, in the middle of the West Bank.
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Look..you can spin it the way you want...I dont see it that way...I dont fault it or think a bad thing about it...I just dont believe being a JEW is an ethnicity I believe its their religion and it is how they want to be identified...and im just fine with that and find no fault...every jew ive ever known and ive know ALOT always hailed from a specific country..or had heritage in a specific country.

Polish Jew...Russian Jew German Jew...American Jew..etc....
 
lpast said:
Look..you can spin it the way you want...I dont see it that way....
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spin?

there's no spin. You said there never was a country or land named after the Jews, and I proved you were incorrect.

the fact is, like Indians of today, and like all nationalities 2,000 years ago, Jews are an ethno-religious group. Yes, non-Jews can convert to Judaism, but when they do so...they not only join our faith..but they also join our people.
 
Thunder said:
spin?

there's no spin. You said there never was a country or land named after the Jews, and I proved you were incorrect.

the fact is, like Indians of today, and like all nationalities 2,000 years ago, Jews are an ethno-religious group. Yes, non-Jews can convert to Judaism, but when they do so...they not only join our faith..but they also join our people.
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Ok your right :)
 
No.
Judaism is a religion – and while there are multi-generational Jewish families, they are not of a separate race. Seeing as anyone can join the Jewish faith…
 
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